jonost24 Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Hi fellas, Just trying to suss the V8 in my defender. It was fitted before I bought it. Believed to be a 1988 RRC donor. How do you tell if its a flapper or hotwire ? When I start it, it takes maybe 10-15 seconds to catch, which I understand is the norm for a flapper. I have attached a couple of photos to help. During this cold weather I've had trouble starting, but I this this is due to a knackered battery, which I have now replaced. Should a hotwire system start quite quickly ? I've had a gander under the dizzy and noticed that the plastic insualtion cover is broken, could this have and effect on the starting ? Again a couple of photos attached. Where could I get a replacement ? Once started, it runs fine, good pick up, no mis-fires. Thanks in advance, Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 How do you tell if its a flapper or hotwire ? It's a flapper. The easy way to tell is from the plenum chamber, there is a cold start injector on teh side of the plenum chamber. If you're having problems starting it, try unplugging that injector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 It's flapper, there's a full diagnostic manual in the tech archive. Plastic cover is unlikely to make much difference to anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonost24 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 Thanks for your answers . You learn something new everyday Thanks, Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonost24 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 DaveW, wouldn't disconnecting the cold start injector make it more difficult to start in cold weather . Or not ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonost24 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 Another question on the ignition side.....How do I tell if I have the Lucas OPUS system ? Is it worthwhile fitting one of these RPi A&R power amp ? Thanks, Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 DaveW, wouldn't disconnecting the cold start injector make it more difficult to start in cold weather . Or not ?? That depends on the nature of the problem ! Most of the real problems that flappers get themselves into is that the cold start injector manages to flood the engine before it starts. It's there, obviously, to richen the mixture when cold but it seems to be a bit over enthusiastic at times. When SWMBO's Rangie had a flapper system it would regularly (once a month) fail to start when it was cold and require me to get out of bed and burn off the spark plugs before it would start. It's a really crude EFi system, a lot of flapper engines will start and run quite happily without the cold start injector and it reduces the risk of flooding significantly. It only takes a few seconds to unplug it and give it a go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonost24 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 Thanks DaveW, I'll give it a go. It almost catches and then just turns over. When I jump it with my other car it fires up ok. But then it just chugged away to the point of almost stalling. I revved it up (burn the fuel off I suppose) after which it ticked over a treat. As I said I've changed the battery, which should help. If we have a good frost tonight, I'll disconnect the cold-start injector, and start it from cold to see if it fires up better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Another question on the ignition side.....How do I tell if I have the Lucas OPUS system ? Is it worthwhile fitting one of these RPi A&R power amp ? Thanks, Jon Don't bother with the RPI amp, they are rather unreliable and for similar money you can go MegaJolt & EDIS which is exponentially better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonost24 Posted February 8, 2009 Author Share Posted February 8, 2009 Thanks for that FF. I might go for MJ in the future when I've got a bit of spare cash. I disconnected the cold start injector this morning when it was quite frosty and it started just as well, so I'll leave it disconnected and see how I go. Thanks for the info guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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