1971 Type 3 with f.i. condenser not grounding
Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 5:04 pm
Okay, so I drove with the new points/condenser.
At ~105 miles there was a bad stuttering issue, to the point where I pulled off into a town, looking for a place to mull things over. But not long after getting into town, the car ran fine again. I ate some lunch or whatever and went on my way, which was another ~150 miles, with no problems. Over 28mpg even.
The car sat for over three days. I went to start it this afternoon, and it's stumbly and rough as all get out. Thinking I'm gonna have to mess with the timing again, I loosen the distributor. Hey! Fires up and runs fine now. I check the timing with a strobe anyway and, since everything seems to be in order, start to tighten up the dizzy. Oops, car's stumbling again. ALSO! There are little sparks down there at the dizzy tightening nut as I tighten it. Hmmm.
I think, there was trouble tightening that condenser down; the threads on that screw looked a little flat. Stripped? Probably. Sure enough, when it runs and I put some pressure on the condenser, little sparks dance around that screw. My verdict (tell me if I'm wrong): poorly grounded condenser is the root of my trouble.
So (finally) here's my situation: I'm 250 miles from home. The car runs well when the condenser is pressed up against the fan housing (grounding it, I assume), but when I tighten down the dizzy, it stumbles. I likely have no access to another one of those teeny little screws. Is there another way to ground the condenser if the screw isn't doing its job?
At ~105 miles there was a bad stuttering issue, to the point where I pulled off into a town, looking for a place to mull things over. But not long after getting into town, the car ran fine again. I ate some lunch or whatever and went on my way, which was another ~150 miles, with no problems. Over 28mpg even.
The car sat for over three days. I went to start it this afternoon, and it's stumbly and rough as all get out. Thinking I'm gonna have to mess with the timing again, I loosen the distributor. Hey! Fires up and runs fine now. I check the timing with a strobe anyway and, since everything seems to be in order, start to tighten up the dizzy. Oops, car's stumbling again. ALSO! There are little sparks down there at the dizzy tightening nut as I tighten it. Hmmm.
I think, there was trouble tightening that condenser down; the threads on that screw looked a little flat. Stripped? Probably. Sure enough, when it runs and I put some pressure on the condenser, little sparks dance around that screw. My verdict (tell me if I'm wrong): poorly grounded condenser is the root of my trouble.
So (finally) here's my situation: I'm 250 miles from home. The car runs well when the condenser is pressed up against the fan housing (grounding it, I assume), but when I tighten down the dizzy, it stumbles. I likely have no access to another one of those teeny little screws. Is there another way to ground the condenser if the screw isn't doing its job?