no ignition anymore

[aldea6]

Hello, I decided to make some checks on my S1 : valves clearance, distributor cleaning , auxiliary air valve, thermotime switch and cold start injector's electric connectors cleaning.When I wanted to start the beast: nothing.After a little research, I discovered that when the ignition was on, there was no voltage at the wires of the ignition coil; there was only voltage when I put the key to START.So, as long as the engine was cranking with the starter, voltage was supplied to the coil, but this cuts out when the key returned to the normal ignition position.
I admit that I am not very gifted about electrical, and I would like to know if this happened to somebody.I check the fuses inside the car: there were ok, so I frankly don't know where the problem could be.
Thank you for help.

[Barkychoc]

I don't know what the problem is to be honest - but the clue is in your post - it will almost certainly be as a result of what you have done under the bonnet - I'd check all those connectors again (sorry I sound like a headmaster don't I!)
The better news I think is that the 2.8 ignition system isn't very complicated - there nowhere near as much electric trickery going on as with the 2.9.

What did you do in term of cleaning the distributor - did you just clean it externally? What did you clean it with - it could just be some fluid where it shouldn't be.
I also presume its not possible to get the leads for the various sensors mixed up?

It might also be worth a post on the wedge forum as there are 2.8 litre wedges, and if you get desperate find a Capri forum.

[GreenV8S]

Is it a ballasted coil? If so it could be you've dislodged the ballast circuit.

[aldea6]

Well,during the cleaning of the distributor, I put some contact cleaner liquid and dry it with compressed air.However, in investigating this morning, I detect that when I disconnect the wires coming from the distributor , I get voltage at the coil. This would mean that the distributor cuts the voltage all the time, and not only when the rotor passes through the electronic captor.Maybe is it worthwhile to have the entire distributor be overhauled (I think Burton Power does the job ), as my maintenance engineer said that the advance was too high above 2500 rpm.
Thanks for your advices.

[GreenV8S]

What you should find is that the +ve side of the coil has a constant ignition switched supply (either 12V or 6V depending whetherr it is ballasted) and the -ve side is usually floating but is pulled down to earth periodically by the dizzy.

From your description I would guess that you have a fault in the supply to the coil +ve. If that was me I'd take a known good 12V fused supply direct to the coil +ve and see if that cured the symptoms. If so that would confirm you're looking for a supply fault.

[Gerald-TVR]

Gosh Peter I wish I understood that!!!

[aldea6]

Thank for your trick, GreenV8S. I jumped a wire from the + of the battery directly to the coil: the engine fired immediately and seemed to run smoothly. Of course, this is just a test, because the voltage at the coil is normaly about 8 volts when the ignition is on and during normal operation, and not 12-13 volt as when connected to the battery.Moreover, the coil was very hot after a few minutes of operating.Now, I'am going to find out why there is no tension at the coil's terminals ; maybe is it the amplifier module , or does it come from the bunch of wires and connectors from the module, I dont'know.Going to try to collect some infos about this kind of ignition on Internet and on the Ford Capri owners forum.

[Le TVR]

This was exactly the symptoms I had several years ago.

Turned out to be the connectors on the ballast resistance were corroded. The ballast resistor is in series with the supply to the coil and looks like a thick piece of wire about 1m long.
The power to the coil comes from the tacho via the ballast resistor when the ignition switch is in the normal 'run' position.