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September 29th, 2008

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Q & A: Electrontic Ignition

Tuesday July 03rd, 2007
Q & A, MGA, MGB, MGC, MG T-Type, Midget
Hi John,

I have a 1976 MGB with California specifications, I recently rebuilt the engine. Before I had a problem with the starter but thanks to you it has been fixed. The starter has a good cracking speed, but the engine won’t start, I noticed no spark in the spark plug. I used an Ignition spark check; I confirmed I don’t have spark in spark plug. It looks like I have a Lucas 45D distributor. Distributor cap, rotor and cables are new. I proceed to check the white and light green wire going into the + of the coil with a 12 volt test lamp and power is going into it. With the ignition on I checked the white and brown wire going into the fuse box and both have power. Then I replaced the coil with another one, still doing the same. The prior owner removed the point and condenser it and replaced with an electronic ignition kit with a black box. The black box I turned over, on the label does not have any information about model num. or the serial num. only states it was made by Allison Automotive co. and produced Aug 1, 1983. Also has instruction of installation I verified the installation is it corrects. (red wire into the + of the coil, the black wire into – of coil and purple wire ground), are three thin wire coming out of distributor 1 black , gray and white. Another female connection from the old system with three wires one is white with blue, white and white with black but this wire doesn’t have any male connection. I don’t know how to troubleshoot this electronic ignition kit; do you think this electronic ignition could be the problem with missing spark? Or is there another check I could do?
Thank you very much again
Jorge





Jorge,

All you can do with an electronic ignition that is not working is this:
1) Ensure the amplifier wiring is correct -- Red power, Purple earth, and Black to the rear side of the coil.
2) Ensure that th... read more