International Lancia Forums

Thanks, I will definitely replace points, cap and coil, what spec is best for the coil? According to the Technical Data Books, 3-4ohm for the primary and 6-10k ohm for the secondary.

I have retimed the cams as they were out and reset clearances so that should be all fine, unless one of the valve springs is weak or burnt valve seats...

I'll replace ignition components first and report back...

Thanks!

And how is the chain?

The reason I am asking is simply that all Fulvia's I got in the workshop over the last month all have a chain which has worn way beyond the limit. One of them lost compression on 1 and 3. Might be that valves hit the pistons

How much were the cams out?
A bit under 20 degrees is already enough to bend valves.

total coil resistance should be 3.3 to 3.5 ohm. i used a 1.5 ohm coil with an external ballast resistor to achieve this. with new points and capacitor, very nice spark!

The timing wasn't that much out, just by 2 or 3 degrees, the chain looks new, the previous owner had the head done, skimming, replaced a few valves, exhaust, they weren't bad in my opinion anyway...

Are you able to get any change in the idle by adjusting the idle screw? However I would only start checking this after TOTALLY verifying the ignition system as Huib and Bmarler are suggesting. However I believe it's more related to the one cylinder than an overall problem such as condensor or coil IF the other three cylinders are running right

Did you swap the No.1 HT cable with one of the other cyclinders to see if the problem moves with the cable or stays with the cylinder?

Do you get a good spark at the end of the HT cable when it's put close to a nut on the motor?

Did you swap the offending spark plug with one of the other plugs or are they all new?

What is the condition of the distributor cap? New, Old Used from someone else? Any cracks, is the contact on the inside for cylinder 1 badly pitted? Are there carbon tracks on the inside?

Hi Ralph,

Swopped plugs and HT leads and the same symptoms persist. Having said that, when the HT on No. 1 removed there is a drop in revs/uneven running but not as much as 2,3,4. I also removed the HT leads with the engine running, one by one, and accelerated a little bit and and that had the same affect on all cylinders, accelerating become more difficult and very uneven.

In terms on the spark, with a screwdriver inserted into the HT lead and the shank close to one of the tappet cover bolts, the spark in not consistent. If every spark were a "tick" the sparking pattern would be something like, tick tick tick -nothing - tick tick - nothing - tick tick tick tick... etc...

Any idea's?

Also, I had a strange issue that come up, the RHS bolt that holds the alternator seems to "shoot" a spark when you rev the engine and it becomes more intense the higher you rev...

Possibly an electrical leak?

Possibly related?

There also seems to be some fuel left in the carbs, if you run your finger down the barrel (inside) it is still quite wet... Could that be affecting it? I assume it should be dry?

Did you in the meantime change the points and capacitor?

"Unexplainable" behaviour of the engine is usually caused by a faulty capacitor. Capacitor manufacturers recommend to change the capacitor every two years. I think this is overdoing it a bit but it is true that for every spark some molecules inside the capacitor are destroyed so utlimately every capacitor will fail.

The alternator problem may or may not be connected as you say.

I would suggest to change points and capacitor first and start a new thread for the alternator.

No haven't changed either yet, I'm still trying to locate them locally.

Ok, so this is what has happened so far...

As per Huib's suggestion that it could be the condenser that is causing this issue, I swopped it with another one that I had.

Then she became very hard to start, pulled to the HT lead from No. 1 and the revs dropped close to stalling... checked No. 2 and suddenly the issue I had with No. 1 somehow transferred to No. 2. (removed the HT lead but no change in the engine)

To try to confirm that it was the condenser, I put the old condenser back but this made no difference, No. 1 was back and No. 2, gone...

I also have a spare distributor cap (not in great nick) which I swopped as well but this made no difference at all.

Then I remembered that I had swopped the No. 1 and No. 2 HT leads, replaced them and still no change.

Strange... Any thoughts?

I will be replacing the coil, points and condenser tomorrow. The HT leads btw. are new.