1986 1.3 CL cut out, now won't start + no spark

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1986 1.3 CL cut out, now won't start + no spark

January 10, 2022, 08:56:37 PM

Hello,

I've got an 86 1.3 CL with Pierberg carb, all original has done less than 30k, was standing for quite a while.

I've been tidying the car up over the last year or so, has always run fine though.

I haven't driven the car a great deal, a couple of long drives but generally maybe a couple of hours a week max. The other day (maybe a month or so ago now) I took it out for quite a long drive, did about 50 miles or so and the car cut out while I was driving. Just lost power and the engine stopped, no bang or anything like that. It would still turn over on the key but wouldn't start.

I suspected a failed fuel pump, and the AA guy said the same. So got it towed home, bought a fuel pump and only got round to fitting it last week. Unfortunately the car still won't start.

I've taken a couple of spark plugs out, put them back into their leads and turned the engine over and neither plug sparked. I've put a multimeter on the ignition coil and got no reading upon turning on the ignition.

Dizzy contacts arent the cleanest but look OK, ht leads look OK. Battery was fully charged.

I don't have a manual at the moment though will be picking one up.

Anybody have any ideas or suggestions on other stuff to check? Apologies if this has been covered a million times...

Cheers,

Danny

Re: 1986 1.3 CL cut out, now won't start + no spark

Reply #1 – January 11, 2022, 08:13:18 AM

I'm more familiar with the larger engines, but do the 1.3s have a hall sender?
Hall senders do tend to go, but I'm not sure if you'll have one.

Either way, you can try a new coil on it, that would also stop it sparking.

Re: 1986 1.3 CL cut out, now won't start + no spark

Reply #2 – January 11, 2022, 08:49:07 AM

Quote from: Monkey on January 11, 2022, 08:13:18 AM

I'm more familiar with the larger engines, but do the 1.3s have a hall sender?
Hall senders do tend to go, but I'm not sure if you'll have one.

Either way, you can try a new coil on it, that would also stop it sparking.

Hello, cheers for the reply. Yeah I have a hall sender, which is on my list of possible things to replace. I have ordered a new coil already as they're cheap and easy to replace, so thought may as well. Would be great if that sorts it!

It occurred to me this morning that the car would sometimes cut out when at low revs, mainly when trying to park, which was actually becoming more regular leading up to it dying. Also it would sometimes start a bit weirdly, like it would turn over as normal, then 'bog down' and then suddenly spring into life. I didn't really pay much attention at the time, but I guess these issues are related to it not starting at all now?

Re: 1986 1.3 CL cut out, now won't start + no spark

Reply #3 – January 11, 2022, 10:06:46 AM

It could be, I had a hall sender fail and it would do it when the car was warm.
After an hour or two of driving, the car would cut out and refuse to start.
After about an hour, it would start up again like nothing was wrong.

Re: 1986 1.3 CL cut out, now won't start + no spark

Reply #4 – January 12, 2022, 09:52:13 AM

Quote from: Monkey on January 11, 2022, 10:06:46 AM

It could be, I had a hall sender fail and it would do it when the car was warm.
After an hour or two of driving, the car would cut out and refuse to start.
After about an hour, it would start up again like nothing was wrong.

Did you change the hall sender yourself? I had a look and seems it's easier to replace the entire distributor.

When my car was cutting out it would start again immediately, which is why I wasn't too bothered by it - I just put it down to the Pierberg carb.

I found a Bentley manual online so if the new coil doesn't spark it back into life will carry out the tests detailed in the manual before buying anything else.

Re: 1986 1.3 CL cut out, now won't start + no spark

Reply #5 – January 12, 2022, 10:58:11 AM

From memory the coils are similar to the MK3 spi ones which can be prone to cracking and can cause intermittent faults like this.

Re: 1986 1.3 CL cut out, now won't start + no spark

Reply #6 – January 12, 2022, 11:37:19 AM

Quote from: danny_roulette on January 12, 2022, 09:52:13 AM

Quote from: Monkey on January 11, 2022, 10:06:46 AM
It could be, I had a hall sender fail and it would do it when the car was warm.
After an hour or two of driving, the car would cut out and refuse to start.
After about an hour, it would start up again like nothing was wrong.

Did you change the hall sender yourself? I had a look and seems it's easier to replace the entire distributor.

When my car was cutting out it would start again immediately, which is why I wasn't too bothered by it - I just put it down to the Pierberg carb.

I found a Bentley manual online so if the new coil doesn't spark it back into life will carry out the tests detailed in the manual before buying anything else.

No, I just swapped the whole dizzy out for a 2nd hand unit, sorted it out.
It does sound like the coil

Re: 1986 1.3 CL cut out, now won't start + no spark

Reply #7 – January 20, 2022, 02:32:51 PM

Cheers for the help on this, I just got the car running, turned out to be the ignition module. £13 off eBay and it sprung back into life!

Leaving this here really incase it helps any one else out!

Re: 1986 1.3 CL cut out, now won't start + no spark

Reply #8 – January 21, 2022, 08:03:48 AM

Glad you got it sorted out and posted up the results.