Club 80-90 Forums

In my twelfth year of T25 ownership and still getting the odd unsolvable (to me) issue. But lm confident someone here will give me sound guidance....

1985 2.1 early cooling sytem, carb, petrol/lpg....

Camper has been mostly reliable until yesterday. Driving on M2 on LPG at 60mph all cool and happy. Diverted off motorway to see a friend and in heavy, slow moving traffic temp gauge goes over to 3/4 but fan not cutting in. Then engine suddenly dies. From experience l assess electrical IMO. Neither starting on petrol or LPG.

Wiggled HT leads. Cleaned rotor. Dodgy lead from coil to dizzy swapped. Van fires up immediately. Okay. Lesson learned.

Five minutes on in heavy traffic and van dies again. Just shuts down and refuses to start. No spark? Fiddled with usual wiring & after fifteen minutes engine good as gold.

Back on motorway, temp back to normal and cruising at 60mph for another 30 miles without issue.

Back in to heavy traffic same again. Engine shuts down. Then restart when cooled. Got home.

Changed out leads and coil from another working camper.
Vans starts on button. Let it warm up to test fan. 3/4 on temp gauge and no flashing light...then van shuts down. Leave until this morning...bloody frost everywhere. Yet camper starts on button.

Before this issue recent rad change and flush out. New coolant on weak side still. Plus new temp switch on thermostat housing.

Any pointers please?
Regards
Stuart

Dizzy earth connection on LHS head breaking down when hot?

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I had similar symptoms and it was the hall sender unit on the dizzy. Trouble is they're not "change it just in case" price but worth a try if you've got a known good one.

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I had this issue on an old Astra. It was the ignition amplifier failing when it was hot, would restart when cooled down.

Righto gents. Plenty to get on with there. Thanks very much. Stuck in Chichester without camper until Thurs. Will report back after trials.
Regards
Stuart

Whitevanman wrote:I had similar symptoms and it was the hall sender unit on the dizzy. Trouble is they're not "change it just in case" price but worth a try if you've got a known good one.

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known good un on t'other van. Will swap and trial

ajsimmo wrote:Dizzy earth connection on LHS head breaking down when hot?

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will clean or replace as needed. Thanks

I would suggest coil overheating or TCI on the way out.

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Stu - don't think I have a dizzy but have several Igintion control units...

silverbullet wrote:I would suggest coil overheating or TCI on the way out.

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Am familiar with coil breaking down. In my experience have found its identified with loss of power when engine is under duress going up a steep incline and such. This is a defined switch off of electrics to my mind...l might be wrong though.
Swapped coil for good one. Still have problem. Will test original coil.

ermie571 wrote:Stu - don't think I have a dizzy but have several Igintion control units...

Cheers Emma, got a spare dizzy and inginition amp l can test with later this week. Stuck in Chichester san van until thurs.

In my experience the TCI (Ignition amplifier) units either work or they don't … they usually fail when switched off, even when you stall the engine.

Ian

Hello Ian,
Noted with thanks.
Back earlier than expected from Chichester...so weather permitting will start the elimination process tomorrow.
Regards
Stuart

While l cannot confirm which single item caused stalling issue, am happily reporting a successful outcome...touch wood! Well lve yet to drive on road...but well up to temp until fan cutting in. Tested for both low and high speeds too. Idled perfectly for 40 minutes.

ln turn but not necessarily in listed order below....
l have thoroughly checked all wiring on wall left hand side of engine through to dizzy and HT leads.
Coil within OHMS spec for Primary and Secondary readings.
Cleaned all connectors and a little spread of Dielectric grease one by one.
Changed two ill looking terminals on temp switch across engine pipe (early cooling setup).
Changed lead from coil to dizzy.
Cleaned dizzy cap and rotor. Pretty clean already though.
Cleaned ignition amplifer and a touch of the above grease.
Visually checked Hall sender and associated wiring.
Thoroughly cleaned brown earth wire on left side engine block. Retightened with a touch of Dielectric grease too.
All plugs out and cleaned, and all leads visually checked and cleaned.

Now for the real test. My drive back home to Margate on friday morning....must remember my Green Flag card.
Wish me well
Much thanks for your support.

Regards
Stuart

I would invest in a spare ignition amp and some thermal grease.