Don Del Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 In the last 25,000km I have managed to get through four distributor modules. The first was a Britpart unit fitted as preventative maintenance (I know - if it ain't broke don't change it!) which lasted about 25 km. Then another fitted on a new replacement distributor partially gave up the ghost after a good soaking, not total failure just a very weak spark and diifficult starting. The replacement Bearmach unit gave up this morning after about 8,000km for no apparent reason, just wouldn't start. A replacement Lucas unit was good for one start and then it too gave up the ghost. I have replaced that one with a Britpart unit and all is well though on previous performance I am not holding my breath! I am now all out of spares and though I can source them locally they go for US$200 a pop. My other alternative is to forget about using the truck amd wait a month for delivery from the UK. Am I just jinxed or is my eperience par for the course? Are there any differences between the various suppliers because I would have thought there is probably only the one manufacturer supplying this part? Any comments welcome! Cheers, Del Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jode Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Senor Don - Did you smear heat-sink paste between the module and the alu heat sink that forms part of the mounting bracket on the side of the dizzy? The modules must be heat-sensitive, as the work shop manual stipulates that this is necessary. Other than that point, I can offer no other 'wisdom' regarding your problem. La Paz is quite high, so maybe the modules run hotter at higher altitudes (but that doesn't make sense to my very limited knowledge of electronics, so the thought is probably a red herring). By the way, what symptoms does the fault express? I ask because we once had a 110 V8 with twin SUs plus a pointless dizzy, and we ended up with a problem (never fully resolved, although we have subsequently sold the vehicle) whereby the engine would intermittently loose power after running for an hour or so. We replaced fuel filters, plugs, checked ignition cables, replaced the module (yes) - nothing would sort the problem. As I had rebuilt the SUs quite some time before then, I could only guess that the problem was perhaps related to a stretched timing chain (something I hadn't yet got around to replacing). Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Del Posted August 18, 2012 Author Share Posted August 18, 2012 Senor Don - Did you smear heat-sink paste between the module and the alu heat sink that forms part of the mounting bracket on the side of the dizzy? The modules must be heat-sensitive, as the work shop manual stipulates that this is necessary. Other than that point, I can offer no other 'wisdom' regarding your problem. La Paz is quite high, so maybe the modules run hotter at higher altitudes (but that doesn't make sense to my very limited knowledge of electronics, so the thought is probably a red herring). By the way, what symptoms does the fault express? I ask because we once had a 110 V8 with twin SUs plus a pointless dizzy, and we ended up with a problem (never fully resolved, although we have subsequently sold the vehicle) whereby the engine would intermittently loose power after running for an hour or so. We replaced fuel filters, plugs, checked ignition cables, replaced the module (yes) - nothing would sort the problem. As I had rebuilt the SUs quite some time before then, I could only guess that the problem was perhaps related to a stretched timing chain (something I hadn't yet got around to replacing). Good luck! Hi Jode,Many thanks for your reply. I have applied heat sink paste to the ones I have installed. The one on the new distributor was a factory fitted unit. The normal failure mode is total lack of spark, you can hold the HT lead off the coil in your hand and crank the engine without even a tickle. The one on the new distributor when it failed after a good soaking would give a weak spark making starting difficult but once started and hot the engine ran normally. I think you might be onto something with the altitude because it was on the advice of an LR mechanic that I first changed out a module that was running OK because of the high local failure rate. Cheers, Del Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I had very similar problems a few years ago, ended up changing the ignition switch module (sits behind the ignition key) , plugs, leads, rotor arm, dizzy cap and amplifier module before I cured it. Never did get to the bottom of just what was causing it. BUT, using a genuine LUCAS rotor arm did slow down the failure rate for a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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