Broke Down Today, Ignition Problem, Accuspark Potential Cause

Discussion in 'Mech Tech' started by chrisselby, Apr 19, 2017.

  1. Hello All,

    So today I broke down, 5 mins from home, had started up all ok, pulled away ok, 2nd gear little jolt, 3rd gear little jolt, then all ok. then gear changes would get a bit of hesitation, and jumping, all most like pinking.

    then coming round a corner, dipped clutch to change gear, light on (oil and battery) and engine died.

    pulled over, tried to restart, starter going, but just turning over.

    i though possible fuel filter clogged, as i hadn't changed it yet, so got under, changed filter, got covered in petrol so there was fuel in the tank :rolleyes:

    still no life, just turning over.

    checked spark, ok, checked fuel coming out at carb, fuel going into a cup so thats ok, ditched fuel into carb top, still no fire :(

    cleaned up dizzy and rotor arm, cleaned up plugs, still nothing :(

    checked oil level, thats ok, wasn't hot, so called AA.

    seem to have an intermittent issue with my accuspark unit, as whilst i was waiting for the aa man i took it out, put it all back and when he turned up it fired up, then i moved it with him following which lasted all of 800 yards and died again.

    we swapped out the coil and coil lead to no avail, then upon further testing i was getting a really weak or no spark, so I've been towed home to sort myself.

    any further checks or does it sound like a dead accuspark unit?

    if so what should i replace with?

    another electronic ignition unit, or points?

    009 dizzy btw, no vacuum advance.
     
  2. I had an issue with my electronic ignition. Would run fine for about 2 hours then die, the same as you. You could try putting a timing gun on it as it won't work if the acuspark is fubar as I recall.
    I just changed mine for a new one and all was fine. Interestingly the new one came with some thermal paste to put under the unit, unlike the older models


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    Lasty likes this.
  3. don't have a timing gun, as i don't know how to use it, although i may get one.

    i think i will order a replacement unit, and try that first :)
     
    SeanOC likes this.
  4. Get a compufire , or go back to the obvious ,points. I Had a crapuspark , great for the weekend warrior but not if its a daily . It never dialed in right , maybe mine was bad , compufire is what all the California racers use . I use them on my motorcycle . Stator.regulator and igntion module . The best in my opinion ,
    https://compufire.com/volkswagen/ignition.html
     
  5. Recently had some problems with my ignition module or so I thought, in the end it turned out to be the crimp on the cable from the ignition switch, a replacement provided a cure. Well it has so far!
     
    dubsurftones and chrisselby like this.
  6. looks good, but expensive, and from usa!
     
  7. ordered a new accuspark unit for £35, if that works ok and fixes the problem ill probably order another to keep as a spare in the bus incase it happens again, rather than mess about with points and a condensor on the side of the road :)
     
    77 Westy and geordieandy like this.
  8. mikedjames

    mikedjames Supporter

    I have had one Accuspark go weird on me like that.
    Driving on M27 full power 65mph up a slight hill. Pulled off at junction. Revs dropped to idle as I stopped for a traffic queue. As I put it back into gear to pull away in the queue it started misfire and backfire above about 2000 rpm following the perfect running. So I drove 4 miles in heavy traffic with the engine going rrrrrm-rrrrrrm - BANG.
    Did not want to stop as basically when the engine was delivering power it was perfectly OK but just had a hard rev limiter set too low.

    New Accuspark unit and it was working properly again.

    However, I have a suspicion that if you test an Accuspark for spark using a lead held near the engine block, this puts stress on it which starts progressive damage of the power switching transistor inside it. If you take a plug out and use an earthed spark plug spark gap then there will be less stress on the Accuspark unit (the flyback voltage on the coil primary is proportional to the voltage across the spark plug gap - bigger gap = bigger voltage)
     
  9. this might explain why we originally had an intermittent spark, then diminishing to nothing in the end, as we were testing the coil with the leads out earthing to the block to check for spark
     
  10. new accuspark finally arrived today, fitted, started first time, so problem solved :)
     
    StuF and earlylatebay like this.
  11. With reference to my earlier post, I was tricked by the electronic module which decided to behave after the cleanup, until I set off for techenders, got two miles and started coughing and spluttering again. I had to fit the spare! (Points and condensor). New Accuspark on its way. Always have an alternative.
    Let's hope we do better this time.
    Cheers
    Andy:)
     
    Popsy and SeanOC like this.
  12. yes mate, ordered 2 so 1 spare in the bus tool and parts kit!
     
    Valveandy likes this.
  13. If these things are so crap,why do you lot keep buying them. If noone bought them they would up their game or disapear. Buy cheap buy twice, or three or four. Stuff breaks but after a number of tales of accuspark failures at the weekend at techenders i think they are something i wouldnt even look at!
     
    JT1, foe, paul2590 and 1 other person like this.
  14. I'll stick with the points as spares
    Fingers crossed
    A

    Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk
     
  15. the unit was on the bus when i got it 5 years ago, and a couple of years before that so thats done ok for that period of time no?
     
    Dicky likes this.
  16. Hairy muff! Mines 37 years old and still works fine! ( probably jinxed it now)
     
    scrooge95 likes this.
  17. i have a pertronix on my bus, fitted over 7 years ago and never touched it again since. accuspark seems to have issues imo
     
  18. Same as - mine is about 5 years since fitting (albeit only about 10k in that time)
     
    Robert Thomas and Gingerbus like this.
  19. Pertronix units, although they're hideously over-priced, do seem to last.
     
    Robert Thomas and pkrboo like this.

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