Van won’t start

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sarahandthebear
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Van won’t start

Post by sarahandthebear »

Our 1984 1.9 dg won’t start. Turns over but dose not catch. We did the old half an egg cup into the carb, and still nothing. Then tested for a spark, no spark at all and the dizzy cap looks fine and clean. Am I right to think the ignition coil may have broke down. For a couple of weeks we have been having a problem of stalling when slowing down. Sometimes when we would pull into a parking space the van would stall. Any other ideas thanks guys
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jrt
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Re: Van won’t start

Post by jrt »

Have you tested the coil/king lead ? Easy and quick to do. I had similar problems and it was the coil. No help to you now but when it's running have a feel of the coil, mine was red hot. https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/brickwerks ... ion-coils/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Also had a rotor arm pack up without warning so i always carry a spare.
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sarahandthebear
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Re: Van won’t start

Post by sarahandthebear »

Thanks jrt I have a spare king lead and checked it to see if it would work, still no spark unfortunately
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Re: Van won’t start

Post by davidoft1 »

Coils very rarely fail but cheap enough to change, from your other symptoms I would suspect the distributor

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Re: Van won’t start

Post by 300CE »

x2 for the distributor/halls sender - i had exactly the same problem with the van cutting out and eventually she wouldn't start at all. I changed dizzy, leads, coil & the ignition control unit etc to no avail, but when swapped over the dizzy to a known good one she started immediately.

You can either replace the halls sender with a kit or have a look for a second hand dizzy. That said, it maybe worth swapping over to a known working one first if there's a member near you just to make sure that it is that.
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sarahandthebear
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Re: Van won’t start

Post by sarahandthebear »

thanks guys is this what we may be looking for https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/t3-parts/e ... vance.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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ajsimmo
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Re: Van won’t start

Post by ajsimmo »

Dizzies also rarely fail. I'd be looking for something simple first, like the earth point on the LHS head, or a broken wire elsewhere. Do you have ignition live at the coil (black wire)? Is the dizzy connector plug (on the side) clean, or green and cruddy inside?

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T25Convert
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Re: Van won’t start

Post by T25Convert »

You can test the hall sender first as well.

Take the king lead off the dizy, and clamp it somewhere near metal so that a spark could jump the gap. After one too many shocks I now use an old spark plug and lead to do this rather than the bare king lead end. If you clamp the spark plug in a jump lead and then earth the other end of the jump lead you have a pretty risk free spark test setup!

Unplug the connector on the side of the dizzy - should be three wires going onto it.

Carefully stick a paperclip or similar up the middle connection - the green wire.

With the ignition on, briefly touch the paper clip to earth (engine or similar) - you should then get a spark at the king lead.

With this test you simulate the hall sender and ignition control module working, so if you get a spark the hall sender or ignition control module is knackered. If you still don't get a spark the do it again to make sure, still no spark then the issue lies at the coil (so either the coil or no 12v feed to it).
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sarahandthebear
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Re: Van won’t start

Post by sarahandthebear »

Little update. The van is running again thanks to all your help. As you pointed me into the direction of the hall sender, I took off the connector and gave it a little clean. I then connected the ignition coil back up after cleaning the connections on there. The van started first try and ran perfectly. I left her standing a tried again and still started. :ok
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sarahandthebear
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Re: Van won’t start

Post by sarahandthebear »

I spoke to soon went for a drive and van cut out and would not start again. So I'm going to get the dizzy kit and the hall sensor and fix that. Dose it sound like the ignition coil or more possibly the dizzy
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Re: Van won’t start

Post by Mocki »

Sounds like bad connections or damaged wiring from your description
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sarahandthebear
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Re: Van won’t start

Post by sarahandthebear »

broke down not far from Home and called the RAC. And to be fair the guy was brilliant he spent and hour trying to locate the problem. He had a new ignition module in his van and put it on and it fired up no problem. Then cut out again so he started looking at the wires. He spent ages moving the wires, sometimes the van would cut out if he moved them, sometimes it would cut out if he did nothing. Eventually he said he thinks it's the hall sensor which is what you guys have said :ok new parts being orderd tomorrow then
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sarahandthebear
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Re: Van won’t start

Post by sarahandthebear »

Is this the right kit to buy :ok https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/distributo ... vance.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Don't want to get the wrong one as you can't send it back :rofl
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T25Convert
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Re: Van won’t start

Post by T25Convert »

It is, but only if you are sure its broken.

Have you tested the old one?

I'd also suggest checking the wires where they enter the top of the connector, I've had two that have shown signs of wear in this area.

Did the RAC man confirm you had 12v at the coil when it wouldn't start? A dodgy ignition switch or wiring seems more likely from the description provided.
RIP - George - 1.9DG '85 AutoSleeper Trident - rusted away

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sarahandthebear
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Re: Van won’t start

Post by sarahandthebear »

Thanks guys :ok I have not orderd the hall sender yet, for a number of reasons. We really don't want to take it off and replace it, if in fact it's fine. I can't say for sure its that so I think a process of elemination may have to happen. We're leaning towards the idea of dodgy wiring or loose connection. Especially after I unplugged the hall sender and it fired up. Possibly the wires are done for as the wireing looks like it has seen better days. Is there a possibility it's the ignition modual. The RAC man replaced ours and it started up every time but then cut out after a while. When we swapped it back to our original, the van would not start. He then put on his one and it started and when he touched it the van cut out. We're thinking checking the wires first then maybe buying a new ingnition modual and maybe even new ignition coil just the simple things to replace first. If it's not the dizzy I really don't want to take it apart for no reason.
1984 1.9 dg petrol westfalia joker

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