Accuspark misfire

[Dan Tweed grey]

Fitted the Accuspark electronic points a couple of years ago and now i have a misfire after about 30min drive, so I fitted a new kit and they are worse.
Tried a new coil etc. Still the same.
Put the old points and condenser back in and all good.
Anyone else had problems with these?
It runs ok untill warm on the accuspark the misfire and no acceleration....

[Peter Laidler]

I say stick to the devil you know Dan. With a proviso. Keep a spare condenser, a set of points and suitable screwdriver in the spare wheel well.

[Oneball]

Did you change both pick up and magnet? And check the clearance?

If it’s not that I think theres something going on that’s nothing to do with the Accuspark. I’d check all the usual ignition stuff before it leaves you stranded.

Did you change both pick up and magnet?


Cap
Leads
Earth
Dissy play
Wired correctly
Etc.

[wantafaster1]

Something to check is that the block is clean where the dizzy is clamped to it. I had one of those fail actually, no warning, changed to a unit from H&H ignitions.

[Costafortune]

Accuspark is known to be crap.

123Ignition is vastly superior.

[111Robin]

What type of HT leads are you using ?. These units are not supposed to be used with copper core leads according to the manufacturers, only suppressed leads should be used. Personally I would just leave the points in now though. I'm always suspicious of parts that are vastly cheaper than their competitors, for example Aldon Ignitors for the 25D4 are £130 vs £39.95 for the equivalent Accuspark unit. I've used the Aldon unit in my Cooper for thirty years with no issues, I haven't tried Accuspark but always thought they must be cheap for good reason.

[Dan Tweed grey]

Yes I fitted the new ring and arm, she ran perfectly for about 40 mins out ona drive then suddenly started spluttering and not wanting to revv.
I did the usual fault finding ; leads. cap, coil and plugs with no change,
Fitted the old points and condenser and all was well again.
I even checked running voltage was not over 14v so probably not too high to cook anythig.
I'm sending it back and i'm not sure weather to stay with the original points set up.
I've been stranded a couple of times with condenser failier (not on same car) that prompted me to go contactless......
I don't know,,,,,,,,,,,Dan

[111Robin]

There's no reason for a points setup to be unreliable unless you are using a cheap Chinese (eg. "Lucas" green box) condenser as most readily available ones from the usual places are. If this is the case then you would be a lot cheaper to buy a couple of condensers from the Distributor Doctor and keep one in the car for easy roadside replacement. As I mentioned previously it is also not recommended to use copper core HT leads with the electronic setup as poor insulation resistance can result in voltage spikes that can kill the module. It doesn't necessarily mean immediate failure but it can happen over time as the insulation breaks down.

[Allen Brzeczek]

All very nice I am sure, there must I presume be some merit in fitting electronic ignition however, for me you cannot beat the original S points. Easy to set up and maintain, more than adequate even at high revs and with basic tools relatively simple to fix even on roadside.

[Peter Laidler]

I think that there is your answer Dan, following on from the great and as usual, straight and sound advice from Robin and Allen.

[Dan Tweed grey]

O.K
That's it decided.. Stick with the original kit.
Cheers chaps and thankyou.

[timmy201]

I’m up to nearly 10 years with my Accuspark electronic modules and I’ve never had a problem with them

Electronic modules have several advantages over standard points. The only disadvantage I can see is that if they stop working that you can’t fix the module on the side of the road if it was ever to stop working. However the exact same problem applies to literally every part on a points setup (and for that case the whole mini). If your condenser dies on the side of the road there’s no way you can fix that either

If your solution to points is to carry a spare pair of points so you can fix them if they ever go wrong then surely the same solution can apply to an electronic module - carry a spare or carry some backup points.

[Peter Laidler]

In my very limited experience Tim and others, you can feel when something is going tits-up with points/condenser/coil. It'll splutter a bit or not run as smoothly as it did an hour ago. Not so with electronic. It's going well - and then it's gone. Leaving you stuck with a dead Norton Commando on the outskirts of Leeds. If braking down with a duff ignition wasn't bad enough, imagine the same just outside Leeds..... how much worse could it get

[DougR]

I fitted a POWERSPARK module to my 66 Cooper. It worked fine for several months. Then passing a truck on the motorway from the airport with my son and his new girlfriend the engine died. We were lucky to get to the hard shoulder without being demolished. They weren't impressed with my Cooper. They hailed a taxi. Lucky I had points and condenser in the boot. That was 2 years ago and the points are still working. I'll never fit an electronic module again.

[Peter Laidler]

Maybe the answer to add-on electronic ignition is for some technical wizzard to design into the usual offerings a 'GET-YOU-HOME' mode that seems to be the norm now on cars fitted with electronic wizzardry.

A little mechanical switch (you'll have had enough of electronic switch=gear by this time) that you can switch over to bypass the wossisname thinggy that's failed

[Spider]

These Electronic Modules are generally very reliable I found, WAY better than the shitty offering of condensors available now days, went through lots of them, in different brands in recent times for a friend's wife's car. We also tried different coils here too, but it was the condensor every time. They'd last anything from minutes to maybe a few weeks.

There's a few of our guys running the Accuspark Modules, which have been through hell and high water without missing a beat for many years now. This is what I fitted to my friend's wife's car, it's been in a few months now and never failed her.

I'll add though, one issue that can arise from some of these modules is the magnet ring doesn't seem properly aligned / timed and they give a spark when the rotor button isn't aligned with a terminal in the cap. This seems to be more apparent at high engine revs when there's a few extra degrees of advance dialed in.

Points and Condesors were once reliable, but I've seen not only the issues mentioned above, but the plastic used in the Points wear very fast under the heel in some and others that melt from the small heat of the points. Yes, simple, and easy to pin point issues with, but today's offerings in them is only rubbish.

[111Robin]

That's why I would never fit the rubbish sold on Ebay or by many of the reputable suppliers. Distributor Doctor make their own points, condensers and rotor arms to original specification and are as reliable as they were when every car on the roads had them. There's no right or wrong approach to this, you pay your money and take your choice. I have cars running both and have never had any issues with either. I've only ever used the Aldon Ignitor points replacement setup (identical to Petronix) so can't comment on other brands. For points & condensers I always use NOS Unipart wherever possible. Back in the day we used whatever the motor factors had, usually Intermotor, and never had issues even though this is seen as aftermarket rubbish these days but still probably better than the Chinese "Lucas" ones.

[mk1]

I fitted an Accuspark Dizzy to my Lotus 7 last weekend. It had a misfire straight out of the box. Spent a day faffing around trying to find the issue. Failed. Replaced the new unit with the original, problem solved instantly.

[Dan Tweed grey]

Well to round up...........
Accuspark ask no questions and replaced the kit for the third time, so I,ve given them a final chance and removed the points and condenser again.
Fitted the new kit, timing was a mile off this time but reset the timimg and all is well so far. 100miles done and all is well althugh points kit is in door pocket and noted the dizzy will need a turn to get me home.....
Cheers Dan

[BAD942B]

We used to have a procedure for setting the 'phasing' when fitting an after market Aldon / Pertronix electronic ignition to a points distributor to stop misfires, i'll see if I can find it