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Strange (electrical?) problem

  • 09-01-2004 09:02PM
    #1
    oscarBravo
    Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 28,859 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    I've a 1998 Rover 400 1.6 with a personality all it's own.

    Lately, it developed a charming new habit of cutting out when I drove through puddles (Fiat Ritmo, anyone?) Waiting about ten minutes would usually allow it to start again.

    It got worse - more recently, it decided it wouldn't start on rainy mornings. It would turn over and over without a sign of ignition, except for an occasional cough when I stopped cranking. Again, sometimes leaving it for a while and trying later worked.

    A few days ago, when it wouldn't start, I lifted the bonnet - again. Nothing looked wet, although it all looked mildly damp - the way everything does in the humidity of a wet morning. I couldn't see any obvious problem with the coil or distributor, so I decided to check if there was water near the plugs. I removed the cover from the head, and unplugged the leads one at a time. All four looked clean and dry, so I reconnected them. When I tried again, it started instantly, and it hasn't given a problem since.

    I mean, WTF? It's not like one of the leads wasn't connected, surely - it ran very smoothly once it did decide to run. Is it possible that one of the leads was almost not connected, and it took a cold morning for it to become a problem?

    I'd love to hear some informed opinion on this. It's not like I can be certain it's fixed, so I'm not sure how much I can trust it. Having said that, her indoors tells me she's driven through several puddles since, without a problem.

    On a probably unrelated note, there's a lot of whitish cruft around the positive terminal of the battery. It has a pale blue tinge that to my untrained eye suggests copper sulphate - does this mean that leaking sulphuric acid from the battery is corroding the copper battery lead connector? How big a problem is this likely to be?


Comments

  • #2
    Victor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 78,789 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Sounds like the water was shorting something and/or something was slightly loose.

    How old is the battery? Get a clean (no grease dirt etc) and clean all the contacts, then use a wire brush on the corroded one until you can see clean metal and no corrosion. Corrosion tends to feed on corrosion.


  • #3
    Turner
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 3,933 Mod ✭✭✭✭Turner


    Had the same problem with a rover 620, even driving behind a truck in rainy weather would cause it to cut out.


    If you are stuck some rainy morning take the leads and distributor cap out and pop them in the oven / get a hairdryer to them for a while.....

    Or else buy a new distributor cap and leads and it should sort you.


    I remember all the wet rainy days getting out my extension lead and Peter Mark hair dryer... unplugging all the leads and drying each spark plug one by one.


    Rovers=sheite unless its a 75.

    Chief.


  • #4
    Stephen
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,484 ✭✭✭✭Stephen


    I had a similar problem with an old scooter a few years ago. The spark plug (it only had 1 :)) was loose, making it very hard to start and very easy to stall at traffic lights etc. Cleaning and properly installing the plug fixed the problem.

    Edit: Oo! 6000 posts. I truely have no life.


  • #5
    oscarBravo
    Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 28,859 Mod ✭✭✭✭oscarBravo


    Update on this:

    Seems it's a problem with the coil. If the cover gets cracked or damaged, moisture can get into the coil, shorting it and causing ignition failure - apparently not an unusual problem with Rovers.

    Due to get it looked at in Galway tomorrow - I'll be dosing it with Damp Start and avoiding puddles. If y'all see a green Rover weaving around damp patches on the N17 tomorrow, gissa wave! ;)


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