After doing a little cleaning on my S1 Fulvia, I was letting the motor warm up and I decided to open the throttle a little bit ( using the linkage pivot under hood) to hear that wonderful induction sound. And what was that? a little flash of spark? Yes, there is spark between the fan mount and the fan. Right under the fan bearing there is a a protrusion on the casting and there the spark is arcing to the fan.
Well its time to clean the grounds(earth) anyway so I remove and clean the grounds. I have one that goes from the cross member (near the clutch cable) to the bell housing and I have the main battery one that goes to the gear box.
The spark is still there,
Should there be another ground and where?
What else could cause such an errant spark?
Im running a Bosch blue coil (no resistor) and Pertronix ignitor and the rest of the ignition components including cables are new.
Sparky
Re: Sparky
I'd first check the wiring diagram to see if the fan motor has a ground wire. If it does, that's the place to start. If the fan motor doesn't have a ground wire, then it grounds through the metal fan shroud to the subframe, and that connection trail needs to be traced and sorted. But that spark is looking for a way around a bad ground.
Re: Sparky
The wire from bell housing to cross member grounds the subframe so the horns will work.
The main battery wire to bell house does not connect body to engine / gearbox.
The ground connection is from dynamo (screwed onto the dynamo housing) to voltage regulator and from voltage regulator to ground.
It is advisable to connect the minus terminal of your ignition unit to the head. One of the studs fastening the engine filler pipe is a good place.
The main battery wire to bell house does not connect body to engine / gearbox.
The ground connection is from dynamo (screwed onto the dynamo housing) to voltage regulator and from voltage regulator to ground.
It is advisable to connect the minus terminal of your ignition unit to the head. One of the studs fastening the engine filler pipe is a good place.
Re: Sparky
Ed Levin Wrote:
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> I'd first check the wiring diagram to see if the
> fan motor has a ground wire. If it does, that's
> the place to start. If the fan motor doesn't have
> a ground wire, then it grounds through the metal
> fan shroud to the subframe, and that connection
> trail needs to be traced and sorted. But that
> spark is looking for a way around a bad ground.
My S1 has a mechanical fan. But I agree about the spark being there due to bad ground
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> I'd first check the wiring diagram to see if the
> fan motor has a ground wire. If it does, that's
> the place to start. If the fan motor doesn't have
> a ground wire, then it grounds through the metal
> fan shroud to the subframe, and that connection
> trail needs to be traced and sorted. But that
> spark is looking for a way around a bad ground.
My S1 has a mechanical fan. But I agree about the spark being there due to bad ground
Re: Sparky
Thanks Huib
Thinking about it last night I thought there must be another ground to connect to the body. I will check those.
By "ignition unit" do mean the ignitor? to the cylinder head.
Thinking about it last night I thought there must be another ground to connect to the body. I will check those.
By "ignition unit" do mean the ignitor? to the cylinder head.
Re: Sparky
I have no idea what an ignitor is. I just assumed it is an electronics box connected between points and coil.
Re: Sparky
Huib
Thank you for your prompt reply.
The Pertronix "ignitor" is a Hall Effect device that just replaces the points and condenser , very simple install. They claim more voltage at the spark plug also. There is no box, and the system looks stock from the outside.
So I checked and tested (ohm meter) the ground from the dynamo and the one at the voltage regulator, all good and clean. It seems the ground cable is very small compared to some cars so I installed a big ground from the oil filler as you suggested, but I took it straight to the body.
All this to say I still have spark at the fan, to be clear it is jumping from the fan bearing area to the fan blades.
It does not seem to affect the running of the Fulvia, is it possible that the rotating fan/bearing assembly is creating its own electrical field?
Regards
Stephan
Thank you for your prompt reply.
The Pertronix "ignitor" is a Hall Effect device that just replaces the points and condenser , very simple install. They claim more voltage at the spark plug also. There is no box, and the system looks stock from the outside.
So I checked and tested (ohm meter) the ground from the dynamo and the one at the voltage regulator, all good and clean. It seems the ground cable is very small compared to some cars so I installed a big ground from the oil filler as you suggested, but I took it straight to the body.
All this to say I still have spark at the fan, to be clear it is jumping from the fan bearing area to the fan blades.
It does not seem to affect the running of the Fulvia, is it possible that the rotating fan/bearing assembly is creating its own electrical field?
Regards
Stephan
Re: Sparky
Stephan,
Sorry; I blanked that you had an S1, with a mechanical fan. Mentally tracking back from the fan mount, I'd say the most likely source is the dynamo; I'd suspect that ground.
Sorry; I blanked that you had an S1, with a mechanical fan. Mentally tracking back from the fan mount, I'd say the most likely source is the dynamo; I'd suspect that ground.
Re: Sparky
Very strange.
Maybe friction of the belt charges the blades part???
Maybe friction of the belt charges the blades part???