GT having hiccups

[jayhawkjesse33]

Well, in the past couple of months I have changed out my spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor. And just last week I put in a new Flamethrower coil, 3 OHM. I have always seemed to have a slight miss from time to time, just while at idel, but after putting on the new coil I have noticed the car 'choking' or wanting to die when i stop at a light. While I'm driving it I'm experiencing no problems at all...it runs fantastically well. Its just the time at idle that gets me. If I throw it in to neutral and rev the engine while at a light it doesn't act the same way at all. I have recently bought a new electronic ignition, but haven't put it on yet.

Will putting that on, and then setting the timing properly get this problem fixed? Or could it be a carb issue?

[trlmr]

Just an educated guess, but have you set your points? As points wear the timing changes a little. The symptoms could be quite a few things including the carb. Put your new ignition in and see if things improve. Does your new coil have the internal resistor? I am assuming it does when you say 3 ohm. Did you replace the factory resistor wire when you installed it? BTW: love your wheels! and the side skirts look good too.

[jayhawkjesse33]

I haven't set my points in a while...since I got the car actually, which was about 2 years ago. And I didn't replace any wiring with the coil, however i did change out the female adapter on the wire going to the coil. I need to get the ignition on there, but I have to set the timing first....and I've never done that myself. I borrowed a neighbors light, but he says its pretty weak. Any suggestions for this process?

And thanks for the compliment. I got them just a few weeks ago and am loving them. Thats another reason I want to get this engine thing figured out because of the new wheels and tires and the all new interior. The motor is the only thing giving me fits! Go figure though, right?

[trlmr]

You won't have the correct voltage to the coil when the engine is running if you have both resistors in place. Check and see if you really have the factory resistor wire in place, the insulation will be clear. I wouldn't bother timing the motor until you put the new ignition in if it were me - you will only have to do it again. I am going to get the 501's also. I just haven't decided If I will get the black or silver. I read your post some weeks back and used your links to find the websites that sell them, thanks.

[jayhawkjesse33]

i don't think i follow you with the 'both resistros in place' line. i disconnected the wires from the stock coil and reconnected them to the new coil. other than changing the female adapter on the wire that originally went to the connector bolt, i didnt change or rewire a thing. And i wasnt planning on doing the timing until i install the new ignition.

And I'm definitely glad that my wheel post helped out...

[trlmr]

Opel came from the factory with the wire going to the coil having resistance in it ( about 2.6 ohms I believe ) they called these resistor wires. When the motor is running and the ignition drawing power the power to the coil will only be about 9 volts. If you have more than this you will burn points up fast. When you start the car the coil will have 12 volts to help with starting. The wire going to the starter provides this. If you still have the factory wire in place along with a internal resistor in the coil you won't have much spark. If you have a volt meter check it when the motor is running. Also if the insulation on your wire is transparent is is most likely a factory resistor wire. BTW if you need to replace the wire to the coil you need to go all the way to the terminal on the fuse box, cutting a resistor wire is a no-no

[jayhawkjesse33]

The wire that I changed the adapter on is green and is split to two different locations. The wire comes off the coil and is split, with one section going to the distibutor and the other to the the wire bunch that goes in to the fuse panel. This stuff is all pretty new to me, I used to have my dad help me do this stuff when I lived in my hometown, but now I'm trying to get it done myself. But now that you mention it, since I have changed the coil, it hasn't been firing right up like normal. Its more of a struggle to get it going.

[gt crazy]

You probably missed my HUGE topic over my engine firing on 3 cylinders then got knocked down to 2 cylinders. But I did everything from ignition switch to new plugs. After about a month of fighting with it Opelbits came over and looked at it. But the problem wond up being the pertronix magnet. It was not even a minute to change out but that what was causing me to run on 2 cylinders. So if you have a new electrionic igntion and you already have one on your car try to change out the magnets and see if that helps.

[jayhawkjesse33]

thanks for the info, but i haven't installed that yet. however i did figure out one problem today...my new coil has an internal resistor, well i also have an internal resistor wire on the car as well. so i'm doubling up, when i definitely don't need to be doing that. i'm actually in the middle of trying to get that old resistor wire out of there and run a regular wire there instead...then i'll try tackling the electronic ignition, since its doing nothing but raining here today and supposed to for the next couple of days as well. i'm really hoping ill get this put back together and he'll fire up okay...

[trlmr]

Just make certain that you still have the factory resistor on yet if you think that is the problem. The only way to be certain is put a voltmeter on the + side of the coil when the motor is running. If you have less than 12 volts you most likely do. The - side of the coil is connected to the distributor (points) and the tach.

[jayhawkjesse33]

I definitely had a resistor wire on it. i called OGTS and spoke with Dennis (giving him the situation up to today) and he said it sounded like my points were off quite a bit. seeing how i haven't mokeyed with them since i bought the car 2 years ago, i'm guessing he was right. but i informed him of how i was planning on switching over to the electronic ignition. he suggusted that i ditch the resistor wire (which was definitely clear on the inside of my car but not in the engine bay) to a regular wire and see how things play out. now here's my update on the work i've done today and current problem.

I took out the points and condensor and installed the Hot Spark electonic ignition, put in a regular wire in place of the resistor wire, cleaned up the connection points/female adapters going on to the coil. And started it up...or should I say try to start it up. Well, actually it started, but it was rough. the tach was jumping around from abot 500 to 2000 rpms, not that the engine seemed to match that. although the engine was definitely not running smoothly. leads me to believe that my timing is WAY off...
also the AMP guage was reading between 10-20, where its normally been around 0 or just a bit on the + side. I shut it off and made sure connections were good, which one wasn't...which was the bypass wire. but fixed that and then had a helluva time gettin it started and once it did start it ran, but not well. then it died.

any other thoughts here?

[trlmr]

I don't claim to know much about electronic ignition conversions since mine still has points. If the tach didn't seem to match the actual rpms I would say the ignition trigger isn't picking up the signal correctly. Perhaps the clearance to the trigger isn't right? The tach picks up it's signal from the same place as the trigger does. I'm sure you are right about the timing needing adjustment. As far as the amp gauge goes, I don't know why that should be any different than before.

[jayhawkjesse33]

Okay, here's what I have connected and where i have it connected to:

On the + side of the Flamethrower coil:
red wire from Hot Spark electronic ignition
black wire (which I believe it a bypass wire)
new wire that replaced the resistor wire

On the - side of the Flamethrower coil:
black wire from Hot Spark electronic igntion
green wire that is coming out of a wire bundle...this wire was spliced together with another green wire that originally came off the - side of the coil which when the two were spliced together, it became 1 wire that went to the distubutor and condensor.

Two questions:

1) what is the green wire coming out of the wire bundle really for?

2) I am still getting a TON of + power according to the AMP guage, how do I fix that issue and am I missing something here?

[grslightng02]

Sounds like you're doing an excellent job addressing all the electrical concerns. I scanned your articles but didn't see if you have addressed all the air and vacuum hoses to see if there is a leak. Also you may want to check the gasket between carb and intake manifold, it may have been overtightened or decayed due to no heat shield. All of these can cause your car to stall when idle. I've been told to take some WD-40 and spray it on all of you air intake hoses and even at the base of the carb, while the car is running. If the idle suddenly goes up while you spray the WD-40 on it, then you have an air leak that's drawing the WD-40 into the fuel mixture and causing the idle to jump.

Make sure you read other articles on heat shield between carb and intake manifold, as well as replacing gasket between carb and intake and not overtightening it. Do you still have original (problematic) Solex Carb? or have you changed to a Weber? You also may want to consider cleaning out fuel tank, removing fuel sock filter in the tank, installing new venting lines to tank, installing new clear filter under fuel tank, changing fuel lines, install a new fuel filter in engine compartment, check fuel pump output.

Neil

[jayhawkjesse33]

Right now I know my problem seems to be electrical...I wasn't have any problems like these at all until I put the new coil on. And now its not even really wanting to start after putting on the Hot Spark yesterday and doing some rewiring...ie taking out the resistor wire, getting rid of the points and condensor and the wire going there. My car was running great, with the exception of at idle, until I started yesterday's ''upgrade''.

And I have a Weber 32/36 on the car. I know it probably needs a good cleaning and/or rebuild, but these problems I'm having, especially with the TACH jumping all over the place (which the green wire out of the wire bundle seems to be linked to the tach becuase when i disconnected it, the tach just sat at the bottom of the guage) and then the AMP guage being high on the positive side...

And I'm not thinking that having the AMPs up so high is a good thing...am I right in thinking that?

This issue is definitely driving me nuts....

[sawdust]

Originally Posted by namba209 According to my DESTEC schematic, there are three male spade lug connections. Two close to each other and one by itself. The one by itself is a Red/Black wire that powers the tach and comes from the positive terminal block between the speedo and ammeter/oil gauge. The center wire is the Green one that goes to the coil negative side via the Green IP connector Pin #3. The last one is a ground Brown wire that connects to the ground lugs on the back of the speedo. HTH.

That's the best I can do for you is SEARCH for 'green wire'

[Anonymous D]

Correctly tuning an Opel, is a "Deductive" process. What that means, is that you need to work to eliminate ALL possible causes, to find the problem.

As you say you've deferred maintenance for the past 2 years, you need to go through a "checklist" of all possibly related items: Including cleaning and checking the carburetor, verifying you don't have a vacuum leak at the manifold, verifying you're getting sufficient fuel to the carb, verifying your engine compression is adequate and valve clearances are within spec, verifying your ignition system is complete and working, and so on.
(These are online in the June 2006 Blitz download).

Otherwise, you'll be on a "hunt," hoping to find one faulty component or procedure (when, in reality, your issues may be from two or more problem areas).

[namba209]

The Green wire does indeed go to the tach. Having it bounce all over the gauge is indicative of a loose ground wire on the back of the tach or bad points. The ammeter going full scale after starting the engine is normal for a few minutes, then it should go slowly to midscale. If it stays full scale, that is indicative of a low battery charge. You could let the engine run for awhile and see if the needle does drop to midscale, or, put a charger on the battery overnight and see if that helps speed up the transition from starting the engine and going from full scale to midscale. HTH.

[jayhawkjesse33]

I am guessing that I have a faulty ground to the tach...or maybe that the wire itself it too old/weak/small to take the power from the new coil. I did a voltage check and things checked out normal...including the battery. How do I fix this problem though?? Change the wire to a better guage? Find the connection point? I don't know in all honesty...and regarding the bad points, I have the electronic ignition installed right now.

And regarding the ammeter reading, for as long as i've owned the car (2 years) the needle never gets over more than +5 on the guage (and would drop with each turn signal flash), now its in between the 10 and 20 marks, with it being closer to the 10, more like 13-14...which is where its supposed to be.

I've had the vaccum checked recently and it was strong everywhere.

The carb is in need of a good cleaning I'm sure. And I actually just took off the air cleaner and gave it a cleaning (probably just going to get another one).

The one thing that I'm 99.99% sure of, is that the timing is way off. And until I can get the timing set, I'm going to be fighting the rough running. It won't idle at all right now. But if I set the idle up at higher rpms, it will run...once it finally starts.

[dcm013]

Have you set the timing since installing the hot spark?

My car wouldn't even start after I installed a Pertronix unit until I rotated the distributor a bit, and my timing was set dead-on with the points.

Don

[jayhawkjesse33]

Boy am I glad to hear that your car didn't start right up when you put the electronic ignition on!! That made me breathe a bit easier. But I have not been able to set the timing yet...my car used to fire right up when I had the points in it, although it wasn't dead on (timing or the points), it still started and ran alright. I've never set the timing myself before and I'm not totally sure how to do it....I know its sad, but its the truth. I am still learning how to do a lot of this stuff on my own...

[namba209]

Anytime you do anything with the distributor, it's automatic, recheck the ignition timing. It's not too easy to see, but there is a hole in the rear passenger side of the block, where the bellhousing bolts to, that has a pointer in it. There's a little ball pressed in to the flywheel that is aligned with the pointer when the timing is correct as checked with a timing light. HTH.

[jayhawkjesse33]

Alrighty...here's the deal.

I am still fighting the jumping tach guage. its all over the place. When the car is running with nothing else on, it jumps around. When I turn the lights on, it quiets just a bit, and if I turn the bright lights on then it gets even steadier. Of course that ammeter guage starts out strong, but as I do each of the previous things, the meter drops to about 5 or 6.

I know I need to set the ignition timing, I just need to get some assistance to get this done. i know that will help the rough running. Ron, thanks for the insight as to where to find everything, I really appreciate it.

The tach is just driving me up a wall...I can't get a good grasp on what the problem is....

[namba209]

Double check the instruction sheet that came with your new electronic ignition and see if there is a tach connection anywhere. It could be the module is overpoweing the tach circuitry, or not giving enuff power to operate it correctly..

[jayhawkjesse33]

I just re-read the instructions, from cover to cover, and there is no mention of the tach guage. I just went out to the garage and installed the ballast resistor that was sent with the ignition, and it didn't help either. funny thing though...I had the lights on when starting the car, and it would fire right up. as soon as I turned the lights off, the car would die. is that strange or what??

I am getting close to putting the old coil back on the car and see how that responds. Because i'm just stumped with this issue...