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#1
02-14-2009, 08:11 AM
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Triumph Spitfire Electrical Problem
Neighbor of mine has a 6V Triumph Spitfire into which he place a 12V coil and battery and - what a shock - it does not run now. Primarily knowing Diesel systems I am at a bit of a loss as to what to suggest to him. What would be the likely thing(s) he fried? How should he go about troubleshooting it? We pulled one of the plugs and it is getting no spark.
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http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/l...aman/Fleet.jpg Peach Parts W124.128 User Group. 80 280SL 85 300SD 87 300TD 92 300D 2.5 Turbo 92 300TE 4Matic 
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#2
02-14-2009, 08:56 AM
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If it's a 6V Spit, it's also positive ground. Jim
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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles 95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles 94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles 85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles
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#3
02-14-2009, 01:56 PM
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You might get better responses in Open Discussion.
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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine) 1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow) Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra
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#4
02-14-2009, 04:56 PM
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I'd get a 6V battery and coil, put them in observing the correct polarity and then see what works and what doesn't. It's a pretty basic electrical system... Likely failures would be the alternator diodes (it may have a generator, which would be more robust I think), voltage regulator, fuses, any bulbs that were lit up (brightly for a second or two!), blower motor, and I think that's about it. Starter would probably survive a few brief attempts.
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1987 W201 190D
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#5
02-14-2009, 05:28 PM
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lol too much british cars lately.
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#7
02-14-2009, 07:29 PM
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The bane of all British cars - Lukey electrics?
Take it to an auto electrical specialist. Although simple electrics if you have put the battery in with inverse polarity you could have blown diodes in diverse areas. Of course you could always go to this forum http://www.triumphspitfire.com/
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#8
02-14-2009, 07:35 PM
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Quote:
On another note, since the Spit came out in the early sixties, a 6 volt system is not likely...... Jim
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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles 95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles 94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles 85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles
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#9
02-17-2009, 12:49 AM
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Moved
to OD for further answer.
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#10
02-17-2009, 06:18 AM
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As far as I know, none of the Spits had 6V. The 70 Mk III that I have was the last of the breed with a generator. If his is early and has a generator, I would be thinking that the voltage regulator may need a twist (yes, they were adjustable).
There's nothing really exotic about the starting system. Check the points for gap and dwell, get a new coil. He didn't let the smoke escape from the Lucas electrics, did he?
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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)
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#11
02-17-2009, 06:27 AM
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I attended a seminar on Lucas Electrics at a sports car show. The presenter said that the problem is NEVER in the harness; it is at the connectors--unless someone has cut the harness.
Unless someone has installed an aftermarket electronic ignition system, these cars are as basic as a points-ignition system can be. Careful troubleshooting will find the problem quickly. Spark at the plugs? Spark at the coil? Does manually operating the points caise a spark at the coil wire? Is there 12V going into the coil?
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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags 
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#12
02-17-2009, 08:39 AM
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As usual, it would be helpful if you provide what year Spitfire. As stated earlier the electrical systems in these cars are basic and straightforward. Is this car stock or has somebody fiddled with the ignition system, e.g. sports coil, modified distributor, etc.
In my experience most of the issues I encountered were distributor related, I still have the stock distributor with points, condensor, etc. on my TR6.
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'86 300E 5 speed '71 Triumph TR6 '46 Cushman Scooter '41 Ford 9N tractor
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#13
02-17-2009, 08:53 AM
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Ah, Lucas -- Prince of Darkness. Pretty basic system there. As others have noted, just check all your connections. Coil OK? Points?
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1992 300D 2.5T 1980 Euro 300D (sadly, sold) 1998 Jetta TDI, 132K "Rudy" 1974 Triumph TR6 1999 Saab 9-5 wagon (wife's)
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#14
02-17-2009, 09:45 AM
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Actually, we probably are giving Lucas a bad rap.
The distributors on early Spitfires (maybe all of them) were AC Delco. Another dodo bird.
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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)
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#15
02-17-2009, 10:16 AM
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Linear Mode
