Ignition Amplifier relocation kit

Blueboy

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Apr 20, 2004
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Thanks Peter. A little premature for me. I have spark comming out of the coil but nothing heading to the spark plugs. Truck stalled out while driving, otherwise no issues. Now it won’t restart. I’ll replace the ignition amp with a standard one and see what happens. View attachment 63413
Rob, this happened to me a couple times. In my case it was the distributor rotor. Was using OEM and it only lasted around 1,500 miles. Engine would stall and then quit. Bought a Powerspark Rotor from Rovers North and no problems since.
8352871F-B4C3-4165-BAFD-0EBD1D8E91D9.jpeg
 
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Frobisher

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Dec 27, 2012
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Pennsylvania
Thanks Peter. A little premature for me. I have spark coming out of the coil but nothing heading to the spark plugs. Truck stalled out while driving, otherwise no issues. Now it won’t restart. I’ll replace the ignition amp with a standard one and see what happens.
I had this issue this past Spring on my 95 Disco. After checking the entire ignition system, it turned out to be a dying distributor. It felt like I was chasing my tail the entire time since there are so few things to go wrong. Replaced it with a used one off the shelf (close to as old but less miles), and I was good to go. Except for the plug wires that had been pulled off so many times, they started failing. Then, I had poor acceleration... New wires, no problem.
 

nosivad_bor

Well-known member
Mar 27, 2004
6,059
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Pittsburgh, PA
I had this issue this past Spring on my 95 Disco. After checking the entire ignition system, it turned out to be a dying distributor. It felt like I was chasing my tail the entire time since there are so few things to go wrong. Replaced it with a used one off the shelf (close to as old but less miles), and I was good to go. Except for the plug wires that had been pulled off so many times, they started failing. Then, I had poor acceleration... New wires, no problem.
Hi Jamie, I got a rotor coming too. I’ve read these red ones are most reliable. I’ll swap this in first and if it works I Won’t complain. I just want to have everything on hand so I can knock this out and get the car back in the garage before salt season 😱
 

nosivad_bor

Well-known member
Mar 27, 2004
6,059
63
Pittsburgh, PA
I had this issue this past Spring on my 95 Disco. After checking the entire ignition system, it turned out to be a dying distributor. It felt like I was chasing my tail the entire time since there are so few things to go wrong. Replaced it with a used one off the shelf (close to as old but less miles), and I was good to go. Except for the plug wires that had been pulled off so many times, they started failing. Then, I had poor acceleration... New wires, no problem.
car only has 95k on it. Hope it’s not the distributor.. but thanks for the tip! Actually just looking can get a new one with ignition modular and cap from RN for like $250 , so not as expensive as I feared.

i actually have a full tune up kit en route, but trying to replace one thing at a time to get it running, because there is that chance of installing a DOA part and making the situation worse.

such is life with a RRC.
 
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Blueboy

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Hi Jamie, I got a rotor coming too. I’ve read these red ones are most reliable. I’ll swap this in first and if it works I Won’t complain. I just want to have everything on hand so I can knock this out and get the car back in the garage before salt season 😱
Yes they are from PowerSpark and work great. Rumors had it there was a bad batch of Lucas OEM rotors and they failed prematurely. I went through 2 before getting the PowerSpark one. Now have their cap and an additional rotor directly from them. With the strong dollar good price now buying direct for stockpile.
Yes, drove the RRC yesterday as days are getting less and less before hibernation!!
Found non ethanol fuel at Sheetz so it will be good without additives this Winter.
 
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nosivad_bor

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Mar 27, 2004
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Pittsburgh, PA
Yes they are from PowerSpark and work great. Rumors had it there was a bad batch of Lucas OEM rotors and they failed prematurely. I went through 2 before getting the PowerSpark one. Now have their cap and an additional rotor directly from them. With the strong dollar good price now buying direct for stockpile.
Yes, drove the RRC yesterday as days are getting less and less before hibernation!!
Found non ethanol fuel at Sheetz so it will be good without additives this Winter.
Rob, this happened to me a couple times. In my case it was the distributor rotor. Was using OEM and it only lasted around 1,500 miles. Engine would stall and then quit. Bought a Powerspark Rotor from Rovers North and no problems since.
ding ding ding!!! I had a spare rotor lying around and decided to throw it in and see what happened. When I removed the cap I could see the tip of it looked spent. I then took 30 minutes trying to remove the old rotor , and had to go at it with a grinder and chisel! even with it half broken off the shaft it didn’t want to come off 😠 Eventually got it off and put new rotor on. BAM fired right up. However now have a heavy knocking. So might have damaged a wire. I’ll get the tune up completed when the parts arrive in the next few days and replace everything 😁
 
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Frobisher

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Dec 27, 2012
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Pennsylvania
ding ding ding!!! I had a spare rotor lying around and decided to throw it in and see what happened. When I removed the cap I could see the tip of it looked spent. I then took 30 minutes trying to remove the old rotor , and had to go at it with a grinder and chisel! even with it half broken off the shaft it didn’t want to come off 😠 Eventually got it off and put new rotor on. BAM fired right up. However now have a heavy knocking. So might have damaged a wire. I’ll get the tune up completed when the parts arrive in the next few days and replace everything 😁
The knocking is what I had before I realized I had damaged my wires. Checking it in the dark was a surprising light show of seeping electricity.
 

p m

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Folks...
It has been said many times that you should be super-careful with pulling the rotor off the shaft, let me say it again.
Hold the star wheel down with a large flathead while you are pulling the rotor.

I've done it so many times without any problems - until I decided to replace the vacuum advance canister today.
That much-praised red rotor ended up wrecking mechanical advance, which required removal of the distributor and its near-complete disassembly and reassembly. I'll spare you the details, but, just to illustrate the level of enjoyment - the star wheel took about an hour to remove, roughly equally split between fiddling with that clip ring and using ball joint press to pull the star wheel off the shaft.
 
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Blueboy

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Apr 20, 2004
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Folks...
It has been said many times that you should be super-careful with pulling the rotor off the shaft, let me say it again.
Hold the star wheel down with a large flathead while you are pulling the rotor.

I've done it so many times without any problems - until I decided to replace the vacuum advance canister today.
That much-praised red rotor ended up wrecking mechanical advance, which required removal of the distributor and its near-complete disassembly and reassembly. I'll spare you the details, but, just to illustrate the level of enjoyment - the star wheel took about an hour to remove, roughly equally split between fiddling with that clip ring and using ball joint press to pull the star wheel off the shaft.
Remember seeing this on Rovers North:

TECH TIP: V8 IGNITION DISTRIBUTOR ROTOR

How to remove your V8 Ignition Distributor Rotor.
Removing an ignition rotor from a Land Rover V8 engine distributor can be frustrating and sometimes become a nightmare for some mechanics. The problem lies in removing the rotor. Most of the time you will find that it doesn't want to come off and is stuck. If you pull hard enough you can and will pull the distributor apart.
The way to get the rotor off is to heat it with a heat gun or break it with a pair of pliers and replace it with a new rotor, part number #RNI002. The use of never seize or lubricants will prevent this problem in the future. Our shop has found silicone grease to be the ideal solution.
 

discostew

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Sep 14, 2010
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Northern Illinois
temporarily on hold - but parts are in the garage.
The harness is piece of cake - I'd love to know what connector is used on the distributor side...

I use the hell out of these guys. I'm usually looking for connectors for late model stuff. But hopefully they can help.


 
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p m

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How would this be caused by the rotor?
Not by the rotor, but by lifting the rotor (in an attempt to pull it off) without keeping the star wheel down.
There's a plastic part that is expected to keep that from happening, but (a) it is tiny, and (b) in all of our old distributors it's brittle or already disintegrated.
Now, the springs to the weights won't detach - but the pegs on the bottom of the distributor plate won't fit in the cutouts of the weights.
It is possible to reset it without a disassembly - but you have to know what's in it.
 

discostew

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Sep 14, 2010
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Northern Illinois
Not by the rotor, but by lifting the rotor (in an attempt to pull it off) without keeping the star wheel down.
There's a plastic part that is expected to keep that from happening, but (a) it is tiny, and (b) in all of our old distributors it's brittle or already disintegrated.
Now, the springs to the weights won't detach - but the pegs on the bottom of the distributor plate won't fit in the cutouts of the weights.
It is possible to reset it without a disassembly - but you have to know what's in it.
I think that little lastic part your talking about it an insulator. Without it the top of the distributor is shorted to the engine. At least thats what I have assumed for years. There is a bunch of shitty rotors out there. Can't remember what year they decided that, but then it appears the shitty rotors made it back into the supply chain and we got all those shitty rotors again. I've put them on cars and had them last about a couple thousand miles. When I have a CUX engine no start I start there. Spark coming out of the coil but not out of the distributor = cap and rotor.
 

Blueboy

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Apr 20, 2004
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Back in the USA; Rockwood, PA
Not by the rotor, but by lifting the rotor (in an attempt to pull it off) without keeping the star wheel down.
There's a plastic part that is expected to keep that from happening, but (a) it is tiny, and (b) in all of our old distributors it's brittle or already disintegrated.
Now, the springs to the weights won't detach - but the pegs on the bottom of the distributor plate won't fit in the cutouts of the weights.
It is possible to reset it without a disassembly - but you have to know what's in it.
Ok thanks! Need to look in my records as remember somewhere in the past a new distributor was installed in the Rangie.
 

Blueboy

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Apr 20, 2004
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Back in the USA; Rockwood, PA
Spark coming out of the coil but not out of the distributor = cap and rotor.
Yep especially with the shitty batch of rotors out there. I have a stash of LR rotors from various sources that say they are the “good” ones. Will stay with PowerSpark and use them in a pinch. With the cap PowerSpark went to aluminum versus brass for contact points. The LR caps also use aluminum.
 
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p m

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I think that little lastic part your talking about it an insulator. Without it the top of the distributor is shorted to the engine. At least thats what I have assumed for years. There is a bunch of shitty rotors out there. Can't remember what year they decided that, but then it appears the shitty rotors made it back into the supply chain and we got all those shitty rotors again. I've put them on cars and had them last about a couple thousand miles. When I have a CUX engine no start I start there. Spark coming out of the coil but not out of the distributor = cap and rotor.
No, not the insulator. The shaft that the rotor rides on is not insulated in any way from the shaft that goes all the way down, but this little plastic thingy is supposed to keep the rotor shaft from sliding up far enough to disengage the mechanical advance.
I started looking at the distributor replacements - DUI is $600 and lead time is three months. Ordered myself a stock replacement, so I have one around for three Classics.

Speaking of spark coming out of the coil but not out of distributor... It can easily be distributor timing way off.
 
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discostew

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Sep 14, 2010
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Northern Illinois
No, not the insulator. The shaft that the rotor rides on is not insulated in any way from the shaft that goes all the way down, but this little plastic thingy is supposed to keep the rotor shaft from sliding up far enough to disengage the mechanical advance.
I started looking at the distributor replacements - DUI is $600 and lead time is three months. Ordered myself a stock replacement, so I have one around for three Classics.

Speaking of spark coming out of the coil but not out of distributor... It can easily be distributor timing way off.
I disagree. Timing could be 180deg out of time and spark still comes out of the distributor. It won’t help you but it’s there.
 

robertf

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Jan 22, 2006
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thats all I got
 

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p m

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I think a 4"x4", .25" aluminum plate should be a sufficient heat sink for an amp, especially if it is mounted flat to the radiator support panel near the headlight opening. Time to visit my friendly IMS store.
 

robertf

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Jan 22, 2006
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.25 is kind of thick for a heatsink, starts to become a heat capacitor at that point.