Hi everyone

This is my first post and sheesh have i got a major glitch with my
1979 SD1.

Ok what happens is it has no spark and when turning the ignition to the off
spot......it will kick back with spark....(ok changed the ignition switch x 3 times)

Okay changed coil, electronic dizzy, ballast resistor, i dunno

After checking and chasing every possible wire (still cant fix it)

Then it will start and run for 3 or 4 minutes and stop dead
same rigmorol all over again.

The fuel pump is working fine too........

I am just about to register this car and do a 1400km trip in it.

All available suggestions will be used and looked into.

The jerrycan and a box of matches is on hand otherwise.

By the way I have 2 SD1's the same and the second car is a Gem. But has no aircon working.

John

Possibly something really really stuuupid

SDi is the diesel rover 200!! SD1 is what we have...

Ok thx Bloke
I'll change the posts

[quote="LostRider04]

Ok what happens is it has no spark and when turning the ignition to the off
spot......it will kick back with spark....(ok changed the ignition switch x 3 times)

Roo, If your ignition amplifier or its wiring, was shorting to ground somehow, breaking the circuit at the ign switch would induce a spark, methinks.

Then it will start and run for 3 or 4 minutes and stop dead same rigmorol all over again.

Weird, but would indicate an intermittant problem with amplifier or wiring or something thereabouts. Perhaps the coil, perhaps the suppressor capacitor, perhaps the hall effect transistor in the dissy.

The amplifiers generally play up before failing permanently and have a typical lifetime 60 to 100k imperial miles. More than that, they are are on borrowed time.
[/quote]

PS. dont worry abou your car being non U. If the name and model contain the characters ROVER SD1, jobs a goodun.

I forgot to mention that it is a carb model and when you talk about the ignition amplifier........... I'm at a loss

All i Know of is the Ballast resistor (aluminium Block bolted to the shock tower and the coil. (these i have replaced)..

I have a dizzy out of a series 2 here which (35DM8) I am going to put in it
to see if it is the dizzy. (as there is a bit of wear in the shaft anyways).
But I didnt think it could have been that.

I dunno..........I was talkin to a mate and he suggested running a new wire from the ignition switch to the coil to see if there is not a fault in the loom somewhere.

John

Yeah I Dunno either..........

I gues ya heard the saying RTFM

I might check mine and see if it mentions it. But the manual only covers 1977 - 1981 so it may not even mention an amplifier.

I'll check it out now and see what it says.

John

Hi Everyone....

After much research (RTFM) I have discovered the problem

There is a yellow/white wire which runs from the Starter Solenoid to the Ballast Resistor ( This seems to have something to do with the safety cutoff feature). I disconnected this wire from the ballast resistor and voila.........Problem solved.

My thoughts are that if the solenoid is getting a bit long in the tooth.......the contacts in the solenoid tend to maybe corrode or wear away and and when the engine is cranking the power is non-existent to the coil. When releasing the ignition key this then supplies a surge to the coil allowing it to start but once the charge is gone the motor will not start.

If you are electrically minded your thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanx John

Hi all

I have solved the problem of the dizzy and the car is goin like a charm.

I replaced the distributor all together with a later model 35DM8
and used an after market module. Goodbye to Ballast Resistor and all un necessaries

Hope you all Have a good xmas if i dont catch up with yas

John

good to hear that you sorted the problem out and can enjoy the car again

Hello all,

I've got a similar problem as described above. The starter motor turns the engine but there is no spark getting to the distributor. I've changed the coil and that made no difference so I've got a replacement ballast resistor. The only problem is I can't locate the original to replace it! I've looked all over following the wires from ignition into engine bay and to the coil. Can someone enlghten me?! It's a Vitesse.

Thanks in advance!

The vitesse coil runs 12v at all times so there isn't a ballast resistor as such. If memory serves there is a small resistor that protects the ecu, I think it's for the RPM signal from the distributor?

Is your ignition module (ignitor) working? If it's kaput then the coil won't fire. I'm not sure, but you might be able to detect this by looking for voltage pulses at the coil with a multimeter.

Hmm, well that might explain my difficulty then! That said Rimmers are selling ballast resistors for the efi engine...

I'll try and get hold of a voltage meter and see if that offers any clues.

Cheers