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MG TD TF 1500 - TF Engine Puzzle

Earlier today I had a wee problem with the TF's engine which thankfully I have solved. Rather than relate the full tale I thought in order to provide some brain exercise I would just explain the problem and if anyone is interested and responds I will post the solution tomorrow. I refilled the radiator with antifreeze but spilt a little on the engine. To dry ths off I had to remove and then replace the plug leads to 1 and 2. Prior to this the engine had run beautifully but when I attempted to start it there was just coughing but no starting. I knew what I had done - put the plug leads on the wrong way round. After correcting this I again tried the starter but without any success. I took the plugs out and checked for compression and a spark - both fine. The float chambers were full of petrol and the pump made an occassional tick. The timing was just BTDC. I almost dischrged the battery before I found out what was wrong. The solution took about 2mins to sort. Can anyone guess what I had done? I have checked the archives and there is no mention of this problem.

Cheers

Jan T
J Targosz

I think Scott hit the nail on the head, as it's so easy to do. Right/Wrong? PJ
Paul S Jennings

Paul,
You repsonded while I was editing my post. I originally posted:


Sounds like a Car-Talk puzzler but without a mention of someone lurking in the inky shadows on a dark and stormy night.

I'll take a stab... In working on your wires you bumped the tach gear reducer such that it was shorting out?

Whatever it was, glad that you found it. Give yourself a congratulatory dope-slap.

Nice post, Jan.

Safety? Fast?
Scott Ashworth - '54 TF



Then I looked down the list and saw that Tom Magliozzi had just passed away and figured that was just too coincidental. What a shame. They provided a lot of great listening hours.
S. R. Ashworth

Well, I'd go with Scott's guess but that problem has been discussed here so my second guess would be that you forgot to set the timing back when we changed from Daylight Savings Time but I don't know if you do that in the mother country. That leaves spilling antifreeze somewhere that it shouldn't be but I can't think of where that would be. My best guess is that you doused the #1 and/or #2 plug wire connections to the plugs but I'm not betting much on that guess. Thanks for the puzzler. Jud
J K Chapin

Did you remove the rotor and forget to put it back on?
Christopher Couper

"just coughing but no starting" Don't think he'd have gotten even coughing if the rotor were out or the distributor were shorted out (unless the short were intermittent). Jud
J K Chapin

Very interesting. I thought it may be a loose HT lead but that can't be it as there is spark. Can't be missing the rotor for the same reason. No idea what effect antifreeze has on conductivity. Dizzy shorting is possible as has been suggested. Were the HT leads to 1 & 2 perhaps not fully home on the plugs? Don't think so as there is spark. Can't be fuel as that seems OK so it just has to be an electrical fault of some sort. I give up. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

J K, as my ex wife used to tell me it’s Daylight SAVING not SAVINGS time. It is singular and not plural. Sorry but she was an English teacher and had a habit of correcting ones grammar.
david kirkpatrick

I'm a fan of your wife. The language gets butchered enough without my adding to the slaughter. Jud
J K Chapin

OK then. How about a cracked distributor cap that somehow shorts out?
Christopher Couper

As an honor to Tommy Magliozzi and the Car Talk Puzzlers, I say that the antifreeze and the radiator cap are just a diversion. The problem was ... you forgot to turn on the ignition switch.

The reason that it wasn't in the archives is that no one would admit that they did it. Except me. Done it many times on my '54 Chevy pickup and '55 TF-1500.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Lonnie you may well be right but would there still be power to the coil (which provides the spark) if the ignition wasn't on? Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Interpretation of the statement "engine coughing" certainly led me astray. Case of never presume seek the facts.
G Evans

Found the answer on the floor. When the engine had been coughing and spluttering it had blown out one of the core plugs in the inlet manifold. The engine was thus sucking air rather than mixture. The core plug was fine I simple coated the edge with epoxy glue and tapped the domed head down slightly - job done. One more thing to check if the engine refuses to fire.



Jan T
J Targosz

Holy cow!
Gene Gillam

I didn't see that one coming.
C A Pick

Yes. You got us on that one and it may in fact be the first documented case :-)
Christopher Couper

This thread was discussed between 03/11/2014 and 04/11/2014

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