Turbocharger Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 <stands up> "My name's John and I have a petrol engine. I haven't driven it for nine days." The K1.8 in my MGTF is misfiring, particularly at low revs and wide throttle openings, so I took it apart to see what's wrong. In the meantime I ordered plugs and HT leads, but due to a "communicatory complexity" they won't be here until after this coming weekend, so I spent a sunny bank holiday in the LR while my open top car sat in the garage. I decided to do some fiddling needlessly "fault finding" this evening, and I've found the sparks are escaping. The MG forum are only useful to talk about different types of polish and how to fit chrome this and blinged that, so I'm asking on here since it's also a Freelander engine - it has two coil packs and two HT leads, running wasted spark. There's an audible ticking with the engine running; when I turn off the lights there are sparks escaping everywhere I've shown in red: When I swap only the coil packs over, the sparks still escape by #1 cylinder. When I then swap the plug leads over, the sparks escape by #3 cylinder. I'd like an adult to confirm my thinking, because I think I need to replace one lead - well, both the leads because I'm not a real skinflint but only one's misbehaving, according to the swapping test. However, the sparks are arcing from the body of the coil pack that is connected to the faulty lead, not from the lead itself - so does the coil pack need to be replaced too? The coil packs are rather expensive (and I've not ordered any) so I'd like to avoid spending if possible... Can sparks be caused to escape further up the chain by a bad HT lead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 are the leads sptless clean ? dirt can cause shorts like that, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landmannnn Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Stop being such a tight ar$e! Replace both the leads and get on with your life. (even if it is driving a hairdresser's car) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbocharger Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 Yes yes, both leads and a full set of spark plugs are on order. Question is, do I need to replace one or both coils if the sparking problem follows the duff lead when I swap bits, even though it's arcing from the body of the coil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landmannnn Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Very unlikely to be a coil pack. A dodgy lead will leak electric all over the place, the symptoms you describe are just what you would expect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 You need a diesel lump for it John Mo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_d Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I assume you are doing the plugs as well. The spark will, as you say, escape somewhere so if it can't jump the plug gap it will find the next weak link in the chain. It may be that with the plugs in good order the leads will be fine but if it were me I would replace plugs and all the leads. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRecklessEngineer Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 In that vehicle, I'd say it is most likely a short somewhere on the back and sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbocharger Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 Thanks guys - abuse, sarcasm, humour and the (hopefully) right answer, all within three hours of the OP. On the MG forum they'd still be tutting since I haven't washed it in a week... Mo - I was thinking a nice Perkins Prima would fit in the same hole... James - Did someone say I could spam pictures of my <cough> other car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will_warne Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 John, as I've told you before you want a nice reliable Elise :P BTW, if this was mentioned on an Elise forum you'd be advised to replace the Rover lump with a Honda K20, Audi 1.8T or Ford Duratec. Any K-series misbehavior is simply an excuse to fit more power Slightly more on topic. I keep trying to persuade FridgeFreezer that he should put a Ford Duratec lump in his Freelander. They are pretty simple to mount up to a PG1 gearbox and would be a great conversion: cheap (unless you go silly and get something like a hot 2.3l lump), reliable and torquey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Had exactly this problem with my FL - it was britpart ignition components. The electricities will escape under the boot as that's literally the path of least resistance, so cleaning up the coil towers & making sure there's a good contact in the coil end and on the plug will also help massively. Will - there's nowt wrong with the power from my sports convertible, why cheapen it by fitting a Ford lump? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Put a 6.5L GMC diesel in it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts