The Lotus Grand Tourers

Can you swap the coil with another one even from another car make, I had the same problem on my TR6.
Also had spark, fuel, compression and air, It drove me crazy.

weak spark is not enough with a high compresion engine.
It may spark in free air but not under compression!!!

It needs a SUPER FAT SPARK!!!!

good luck, its worth a try

^^^^ Agreed. That crossed my mind too.

Thanks yes will give that a go, I have a spare coil kicking around somewhere. One other thing I noticed is that the fuel pump pumps when the line is disconnected at the carby, but not furiously like you'd expect. But then I manually filled the float chambers to see if it was being starved of fuel. Still didn't kick.....

Just a thought....Are the plugs wet (with petrol) or dry after cranking?

And depending on what you find plug-wise.... you have blown out the idle (progression) jets haven't you?

Hi

Yes all jets and tubes have been blown.

Plugs are wet but not saturated like they should be from my cranking and throttling. Re fuel pump, I can easily stop the flow by putting my thumb over the end of the hose.....which maybe indicates feeble pressure....

Will try the coil.....but I'm now inclined to think it's not getting any juice..might be time to pull those dusty carby overhaul kits off the shelf....

Have this feeling it's just going to come good one day when it bloody well feels like it.....

Hi, does it start if you squirt easystart into the carbs through the air intake? if it does then it is likly a fueling issue, if it does not then it is likely to be a spark issue.
Regards Dan

robertverhey wrote: Plugs are wet but not saturated like they should be from my cranking and throttling. Re fuel pump, I can easily stop the flow by putting my thumb over the end of the hose.....which maybe indicates feeble pressure....

Will try the coil.....but I'm now inclined to think it's not getting any juice..might be time to pull those dusty carby overhaul kits off the shelf....

Have this feeling it's just going to come good one day when it bloody well feels like it.....

Fuel pressure for a carb. car should only be around 3-4 PSI anyway and, as long as the float chambers are full, the car should at least fire if it's getting all 4 things it needs (fuel, air, compression and spark).

I have, in the past, had some horrendous problems caused by HT leads which seemed OK and seemed to producing spark when the plugs were out of the cylinders, but because they were breaking down internally caused extremely rough running (misfires and cutting out) under load. Let's face it - they're cheap and pretty easy to replace.

H/Ts are near new, but yes will have a good look at 'em.

Tried squirting some WD40 in while cranking, no joy. Think I may have tired out the old starter motor, slowing down again even with a full battery.

But that's not a major drama, two XJ6s at the wrecker that also run 3M100s and found a cheap overhaul kit supplier on ebay

'tis educational!

WD40 is not like easystert and will not work as a fuel! easystart is a mixture designed to fire up and engine wd40 is a penetrating oil and water dispersant, completly different. I carry easystart in the toolbox as a quick diagnostic tool to determin whether a starting problem is fuel or spark related. Hi I have just noticed you are in Australia, I gather you have something called Start you B***** which is a easystart alternative made by Nulon
Regards Dan

Thanks I'll get some...yep, also called "start ya bastard"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY1YndLmbXQ

Enjoyed the youtube video, great stuff.

Isn't odd how we have conversations with our cars when they won't Start - usually involving 4 letter words.

For the record - mine wouldn't start a few weeks ago but I had a spark. Regardless, I changed plugs and leads not really expecting it to make any difference but it has started fine since.

G'day all, remember me? Still trying to chase down that elusive fault. Have tried all the suggestions above, including "Start Ya Bastard" and replacing coil, have checked valve and ignition timing again and again. Still plenty of spark to the plugs...

Beginning to wonder if my AB14 ignition amplifier is the culprit. I did replace it with another one I had waiting in reserve, but there's no guarantee that it was any better....

Wonder if someone can tell me, what sort of voltage should I be getting at the side terminals to the AB14 with ignition switch on? I'm geting zero in one and .67 volts in the other, which seems strange. Would have thought there should be 12 volts there...would someone mind checking theirs for comparison?

Thanks

Robert

Hi Robert, With the ignition on, mine gave 0.79V on the red and 0V on the blue. The battery in my multimeter is not new, so the 2 voltages seem comparable to me, and the AB14 seems to work as the car ran fine over the weekend.

Thanks chris, the quest continues. Must say this has me totally bamboozled, I've stripped down and reassembled more motors than I've had hot dinners, but always got there in the end. Might have to get some fresh eyes to look at it

Have you tried another rotor and cap?
Check if the rotor is not oxidized, they seem to be very sensitive to humidity and can upset timing.