B16HBG 0 Posted January 24, 2008 Hi again everyone. I'm at the end of my tether and just want to blow the bloody thing to pieces. I have a peugeot 205 MI16 1905 converted by myself. Unfortunately i cant seem to get rid of this one last problem i'm having. The ht leads are arcing, i'm currently on my forth set of leads in less than 20 miles because as soon as i fit them they start arcing. So i'm pretty sure the problem isn't down to faulty ht leads unless i am the unluckiest person alive. I have also changed the ignition module/amp twice, now running a lucas one, also have a new ignition coil, distributor cap and rotor arm and crank sensor. I tested the ECT sensor and the results are within parameters. I also placed an additional earth from the engine to the negative of the battery. All these things i have changed and still cant get to a conclusion. The symptoms of the leads arcing are that the car is very hesitant on acceleration all the way up to about 4500rpm in first and second and then the revs shoot through the roof as if nothing happened. In the dark with the engine running at idle i can see the sparks jumping from one lead to another. Please can someone help me as i haven't got a clue what to do next or how to get rid of this pain in the ass problem. Thanks Henry Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dani959 0 Posted January 24, 2008 Have you tried another coil? Could be the problem... I would check the engine earth lead and the spark plug gaps (maybe the gap is too big). Also, are you using the recommended spark plugs and are they in good condition?? They might not be earthing well in the block (strange) Looks like the sparks are finding another way to earth other than the engine block... I would go in this order: 1. Spark plugs 2. Coil 3. Check for a good spark with a plug touching the engine block If all this is ok, it should work perfectly well Good luck! Daniel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
B16HBG 0 Posted January 24, 2008 Have you tried another coil? Could be the problem... I would check the engine earth lead and the spark plug gaps (maybe the gap is too big). Also, are you using the recommended spark plugs and are they in good condition?? They might not be earthing well in the block (strange) Looks like the sparks are finding another way to earth other than the engine block... I would go in this order: 1. Spark plugs 2. Coil 3. Check for a good spark with a plug touching the engine block If all this is ok, it should work perfectly well Good luck! Daniel Thanks for the swift reply, The spark plugs are fairly new and gapped at 0.9mm. I would try another coil but which one should i go for as i've had a brand new CI one. when it was delivered i was very paranoid about it, so i checked that the primary and secondary windings were within correct parameters and they were. i will check for a good spark tomorrow evening after work although i'm not sure what to make of the results Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davemar 16 Posted January 25, 2008 With the ignition key switched to the last position before "fire up" you should get a supply voltage to the ignition circuit. It is worth checked the voltage between the +ve of the battery and the +ve of the coil. This should be very close to 0v, if it is any more it might suggest a flakey +ve supply. Do the same between the -ve connection on the ground wire that goes to the ignition amp and the -ve of the battery. This should also be close to 0v. I found a problem with mine this way, where the ground connection was floating around 0.2-5.0v which clearly meant a bad connection. I simply made a new ground wire between the ignition amp and the gearbox ground, and it became more (but not perfect...more on that later!) reliable. What ECU system/distributor system are you running? Currently I'm trying to work out why my ignition circuit sometimes just does nothing. When I start taking bits off to measure things, it irritatingly starts working; so I'm having similar frustrations to you. What I've done is remove the whole circuit and have got it running on my desk. So I've got the ignition amp, distributor (not the cap), coil, HT-lead, spark-plug and the wiring and have connected it up to a 12v supply. When I spin the distributor I get sparks from the plug. Annoyingly it seems to work fine at the moment. Last night it had a moment when it stopped working for a minute, but I couldn't get my meter and scope into enough places to track the fault before it all starting working again for no obvious reason. I might suggest you try getting the system out of the car and onto a table. Don't bother with the dizzy cap and 4 plugs, just use one plug connected to the coil and don't forget to ground the spark plug to the -ve supply. You might find it easier tracking down the problem this way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tom Fenton 1,526 Posted January 25, 2008 Have you tried another set of plugs? It sounds like you have changed a lot of other parts but what about these? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
B16HBG 0 Posted January 26, 2008 With the ignition key switched to the last position before "fire up" you should get a supply voltage to the ignition circuit. It is worth checked the voltage between the +ve of the battery and the +ve of the coil. This should be very close to 0v, if it is any more it might suggest a flakey +ve supply. Do the same between the -ve connection on the ground wire that goes to the ignition amp and the -ve of the battery. This should also be close to 0v. I found a problem with mine this way, where the ground connection was floating around 0.2-5.0v which clearly meant a bad connection. I simply made a new ground wire between the ignition amp and the gearbox ground, and it became more (but not perfect...more on that later!) reliable. What ECU system/distributor system are you running? Currently I'm trying to work out why my ignition circuit sometimes just does nothing. When I start taking bits off to measure things, it irritatingly starts working; so I'm having similar frustrations to you. What I've done is remove the whole circuit and have got it running on my desk. So I've got the ignition amp, distributor (not the cap), coil, HT-lead, spark-plug and the wiring and have connected it up to a 12v supply. When I spin the distributor I get sparks from the plug. Annoyingly it seems to work fine at the moment. Last night it had a moment when it stopped working for a minute, but I couldn't get my meter and scope into enough places to track the fault before it all starting working again for no obvious reason. I might suggest you try getting the system out of the car and onto a table. Don't bother with the dizzy cap and 4 plugs, just use one plug connected to the coil and don't forget to ground the spark plug to the -ve supply. You might find it easier tracking down the problem this way. Hi davemar. I'm running the Motronic ML4.1 system (2 Row ECU). The distributor is a ducellier i think. I was discussing with my colleagues at work about the problem and they have pretty much said what you have said. I have a full day of testing set out tomorrow and i will make the priorities testing those parts first. Any ideas which pin terminals are which on the module/amp and coil? The plugs have been changed twice, last change was about less than a mile ago. Have been thinking about fitting a voltage stabilizer system although i fear i may be wasting my time. the one i have been looking at earths out to 5 different points on the car though. Any thoughts thanks again henry Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
