Vp V8 Stalls

[finarfin]

Recently my VP developed an annoying problem where after a few minutes of running it would carry on spluttering and stuffing around and eventually stop dead.
The problem became very bad after one trip home late one night in the local towing company's tilt tray so i thought it might need fixing.

This type of fault seems to spend time firstly showing up as a problem when motor is hot and you place the motor under load -it dies for a moment and then picks up , it then gets worse until ....

Firstly when cold the car idles fine, gets to operating temp and just dies. No error codes from the ECU so it discounts MAP sensor etc.

I had just recently replaced the Leads, Cap, Rotor and ECU as it looks a bit dodgy.
(MARK the number one position on the cap - very important, firing order is cast into the intake manifold)
That left really only the Distrib, Coil or fuel pump. This is where you can go astray, but after getting sprayed with fuel from the rail ( depressurise fuel system first!) I was reasonably certain it wasnt fuel.

I tested the various componetnts of the ignition system and all checked out and heres the possible trap. The coil tests perfectly when cold and i tested it twice, but its a pain to get at when hot.

The clincher is to check for a spark when the bullshit starts, ie remove a lead and stuck a spark plug and earth it when you can see it when cranking. Dont look directly at plug gap, its quite bright! If the engines hot, you will have no spark, wet plugs in the engine and a strong fuel smell. Replace the Coil and suprise suprise the car will work perfectly.

The replacemnet bosch coil is about $75 and is a smaller epoxy style so you can fit it much easiler than the oil filled type. I hope this saves someone the fun and games i had.

 

[Darren]

Nice work there finarfin, don't worry the same happened to me with the fuel all over me when I changed my injectors. There is a good reason why sometimes it just pays to read the manual no matter how simply it may seem.

I still haven't quite perfected the art of doing the fuel filter without getting it all over me, still it can be quite interesting as you certainly move very quickly once you get that fowl taste of fuel in your mouth

Thanks for your input, hopefully it will help someone out in need.

 

[fergi]

just a hint on changing the fuel filter,take out the fuel pump fuse,run motor until it stops then replace filter put fuse back in and you shouldnt get sprayed,the manual says you have to depressurise the fuel system first before changing the filter
cheers fergi

 

[Garth]

darren, i got the art of doing a fuel filter down pact, i use a shopping bag, wrap my hand up big time, i get under, and undo all the screw's i need to first, hop out of the way, and well, with only the plastic covered hand, i pull like crazy, usualy have feet in the air, and making those old man noises (you know the one old fella's make when doing anything, it's more a grunt) only get the hand covered,

i tell ya what's fun, when i was young and stupid, i new everything, if you didnt beleive me, all you had to do was ask me and idd be the first to tell ya i knew everything, well one day, i wanted to show how cool i was to a girlfriend i had at the time, and well, i deceided to fill up my radiator with the car still running. well, i took the top off, and i got a facefull of alien sperm, aka radiator coolant, it didnt burn, but id did cause all sort's of eye problems, as a result i now wear glasses. pretty cool, what's even funny is that the girl i was trying to impress left me 3 day's later cause she didnt like me wearing glasses. oh well, i kept trying though. that happend about 9 year's ago, might i add, i wasy way to young to be driving anyway, but hey, you cant stop a kid on a farm can ya?


cheers
garth