Thread: Sluggish V8

Nope, that coil is for a resistor type points ignition setup.

Maybe find someone on the forum in Sydney who can lend you a coil for a test. If you were Melbourne or Adelaide I could lend you my spare.

Originally Posted by wolvespaul

Well i have fitted a new lucas amplifier and the same problem persists, this seems to be a heat up issue, it runs fine for 15 minutes or so, and as soon as i give it throttle it starts playing up.

Would the coil have anything to do with it?

Sorry to hear it hasn't helped, as already said it is a classic symtom.
Hopefully trying a different coil will solve the problem

Worth a try, I have replaced a few faulty coils over the last few years. Just make sure you get an original specification coil not a points coil.

fitted a new coil i got from a bloke who said it will fit and still have the same problem.

Not sure if coil he gave me is the right one, all it has on it is GX80R.

Starting to get a bit tired of my disco as i seem to spend more time under bonnet than in drivers seat.

Under the bonnet is better than underneath on your back. Trust me.

From your post you work in the Blue Mountains, and the car goes OK to Penrith?
Then when you start to climb up the big hill it starts to miss and backfire. ie when you put it under heavy load.

It could be one or more sticking exhaust valves .
A fuel pump dying.

BTW the vacuum at the plenum is "ported " vacuum so only has vacuum when the throttle plate is in a certain slightly open position.

Regards Philip A

I live in sydney and drive to wollongong everyday, by the time i get to bulli pass she starts to play up, and coming back up MT ousley the same problem, it does it even when on normal roads , it usually takes around 15 to 20 mins before she plays up, if i turn it off for 30 secs or a minutes she is good again for 15 or 20 mins.
Why does this system have a condenser on the side of the bracket for the coil /amplifier? would this be kaput?
I thought the fuel pump, but why would it not do it all the time?
what can be done to help sticking valves.

leads, plugs ,lucas rotor and cap 4/5 months old,
Its had a new vacuum advance, amplifier, coil.
Fuel filter replaced.
Injection cleaner has been put through it.

I guess what you see is a capacitor ie interference suppressor.

You know I had a similar problem in NT with my RRC 3.9. After much angst I found it to be that some E10 filter material had gone through a small hole in the filter sock of the fuel pump and blocked the inlet.

Every time I stopped the fluff fell out and then worked its way back in gradually on restart. It could be a very weak fuel pump which can only keep up on light throttle.

It might be worth pulling the pump assembly and having a look.

Sticking valves are a bigger problem and need the heads to come off and be physically cleaned as part of a head service.

Depending on how it happens it also could be the TPS. Does it have a flat spot? ie as you put your foot down it drops out then goes?

If it is playing up on idle leave it idle and pull each plug lead off in turn (making sure to ground it) and see if the miss is on one cylinder . If it is try another plug. If it still misses with a different plug and you have a good spark then it could be a bad injector , so although it is time consuming swap injectors and see if the miss moves. If it doen't it is the valves , if it does it is the injector.
Regards Philip A