carrpet Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 1 minute ago, Lesworth said: Thanks, that looks very useful! Hi Les, I think so. I wish we had a trace for Ian's car right now. It would tell us a lot ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Comerford Posted April 13, 2022 Author Share Posted April 13, 2022 3 hours ago, Jonny Hart said: No changes to timing needed unless you locked the dizzy. Pretty sure you didn’t. Thanks for the prompt reply Jonny, appreciated. I’ve concluded though that the old CDI box will be less able to provide what is needed of the battery is weakened in some way given what you mentioned about enabling the CDI+ to provide good spark down to 8v supply. Does that make sense or not? 36 minutes ago, carrpet said: Hi Les, I think so. I wish we had a trace for Ian's car right now. It would tell us a lot ! It’s all about timing and I seem to have got it wrong this time.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny Hart Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 Just now, Ian Comerford said: Thanks for the prompt reply Jonny, appreciated. I’ve concluded though that the old CDI box will be less able to provide what is needed of the battery is weakened in some way given what you mentioned about enabling the CDI+ to provide good spark down to 8v supply. Does that make sense or not? It does but if something has gone wrong with the low voltage modification I made to your unit then you might have no spark at all below ~10V. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Comerford Posted April 13, 2022 Author Share Posted April 13, 2022 2 hours ago, Jonny Hart said: It does but if something has gone wrong with the low voltage modification I made to your unit then you might have no spark at all below ~10V. Thank you again, so it’s worth swapping them out to see what happens? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny Hart Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 30 minutes ago, Ian Comerford said: Thank you again, so it’s worth swapping them out to see what happens? No harm done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Comerford Posted April 14, 2022 Author Share Posted April 14, 2022 Thanks again Jonny. Fitted the original CDI this morning so let’s see what happens when we leave for home on Saturday, we are in a hilltop village so everywhere is nicely downhill…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
World Citizen Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 Good luck with the trip home! Hope you've put your 911 gremlins to good use by bigging up the Mercedes R129 SL reliability to Mrs Comerford 😇 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Comerford Posted April 14, 2022 Author Share Posted April 14, 2022 2 hours ago, World Citizen said: Good luck with the trip home! Hope you've put your 911 gremlins to good use by bigging up the Mercedes R129 SL reliability to Mrs Comerford 😇 Irrelevant, I’m not selling the 911….. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
World Citizen Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 2 minutes ago, Ian Comerford said: Irrelevant, I’m not selling the 911….. Wasn't implying you were, just throwing it out there as additional idea for justifying another car for your collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Comerford Posted April 14, 2022 Author Share Posted April 14, 2022 It won’t work, she has confidence in my ability to get the car wherever we are going for some reason….. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carrpet Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 9 minutes ago, Ian Comerford said: It won’t work, she has confidence in my ability to get the car wherever we are going for some reason….. Blind faith Ian ? Angela knows your credibility is at stake ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northy Posted April 15, 2022 Share Posted April 15, 2022 I’ve had similar non starts when the battery is low, it will crank for a bit, but won’t fire. Jumping with another battery and it fires straight up. If you can find one in rural France, it might be worth picking up one of those battery jump packs and seeing if that works? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Comerford Posted April 15, 2022 Author Share Posted April 15, 2022 Thanks Lewis, that’s useful and relevant additional info and chimes with a few views already expressed. We are heading home tomorrow and I expect the car to not start given it has sat for a week without running and the battery may be low. I’m hoping a bump start will work as usual so we will see what tomorrow brings. I could just buy a new battery but I don’t know for sure that this is the issue. I’ll report back tomorrow night when we get to Beaune……. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy M Posted April 15, 2022 Share Posted April 15, 2022 Good luck Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryH Posted April 16, 2022 Share Posted April 16, 2022 (edited) Bonne chance mon ami ! Landed in Lyon yesterday, now in Pradelles (funnily enough in Virg's Dad's house which is the first picture that comes up if you Google Pradelles Map !). Heading down to Montpellier today. Edited April 16, 2022 by GaryH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
World Citizen Posted April 16, 2022 Share Posted April 16, 2022 Ian-san, In bocca al lupo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Comerford Posted April 16, 2022 Author Share Posted April 16, 2022 Pretty sleepless night last night…. Wondering if it will start, whether I have enough room to swing out of the parking place down a very narrow street in one go - engine won’t be running so I won’t be able to reverse and have another go. Will have to,push it back up hill. Will the battery be ok after sitting without a conditioner for a week and why oh why did I swap the old CDI box back in, introducing another variable…. Anyway, I can sleep when I die! Woke to a lovely sun lit valley showing the expected 27 degrees was likely. Breakfast, final packing, loading and a last wander down into the village to pick up some baguettes and pastries for the journey. Heaven! We will be back here. Into the car, SWMBO pushed us off the drive and we squeezed/freewheeled between the narrow walls into a wider street all downhill. Ignition on and turn the key. Battery flat, oh well. Second gear, bump start. Five metres after, it's running and all is good. Five miles to a petrol station and after filling up it started straight away. I wasn’t sure it would after only five miles so the battery can’t be totally goosed (technical term). 250 miles to Beaune and the Hotel Le Clos, thanks for the recommendation. Question. Given Peter's useful analysis of the situation with regard to my battery and the Brise starter it seems I need a new battery with the necessary cranking power. Do we all agree? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carrpet Posted April 16, 2022 Share Posted April 16, 2022 39 minutes ago, Ian Comerford said: Pretty sleepless night last night…. Wondering if it will start, whether I have enough room to swing out of the parking place down a very narrow street in one go - engine won’t be running so I won’t be able to reverse and have another go. Will have to,push it back up hill. Will the battery be ok after sitting without a conditioner for a week and why oh why did I swap the old CDI box back in, introducing another variable…. Anyway, I can sleep when I die! Woke to a lovely sun lit valley showing the expected 27 degrees was likely. Breakfast, final packing, loading and a last wander down into the village to pick up some baguettes and pastries for the journey. Heaven! We will be back here. Into the car, SWMBO pushed us off the drive and we squeezed/freewheeled between the narrow walls into a wider street all downhill. Ignition on and turn the key. Battery flat, oh well. Second gear, bump start. Five metres after, it's running and all is good. Five miles to a petrol station and after filling up it started straight away. I wasn’t sure it would after only five miles so the battery can’t be totally goosed (technical term). 250 miles to Beaune and the Hotel Le Clos, thanks for the recommendation. Question. Given Peter's useful analysis of the situation with regard to my battery and the Brise starter it seems I need a new battery with the necessary cranking power. Do we all agree? Hi Ian I think it is more than likely but I suggest we look at the "cold" cranking voltage drop first with your current battery to confirm the theory that voltage drop during cranking is the issue.. I have a Varta 100Ah 860A CCA Lead Acid battery on trickle charge. I suggest we check the cranking voltage, spark and starting with the Varta . If all is correct the starting problem should be completely eliminated. Then I would select an appropriate battery to meet your requirements of power and weight. What I would also be thinking about is this. The CDI+ box is either good for >8.0 V or >10.0V depending on whether the low voltage circuit that Jonny referred to is working. Personally I would want a cranking voltage of >10.0v under all conditions to give a margin of safety. and sufficient capacity to ensure that we have enough battery capacity to see you good for a 2 week + holiday without a trickle charge top up every night. See you soon and hope that all goes smoothly on the crossing ! Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Comerford Posted April 17, 2022 Author Share Posted April 17, 2022 We arrived safely in Beaune yesterday afternoon and had time for a few hours there. Lovely place, nice atmosphere and busy. Saw this parked in a square, lovely, looked used but in great condition. It was getting nearly as much attention as The Golden Bullet… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carrpet Posted April 17, 2022 Share Posted April 17, 2022 6 hours ago, Ian Comerford said: We arrived safely in Beaune yesterday afternoon and had time for a few hours there. Lovely place, nice atmosphere and busy. Saw this parked in a square, lovely, looked used but in great condition. It was getting nearly as much attention as The Golden Bullet… You mean getting nearly as much attention as the Balle en Or ! When in France ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tea boy Posted April 17, 2022 Share Posted April 17, 2022 52 minutes ago, carrpet said: You mean getting nearly as much attention as the Balle en Or ! When in France ........ Mange tout, Rodney! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carrpet Posted April 17, 2022 Share Posted April 17, 2022 14 minutes ago, tea boy said: Mange tout, Rodney! By Rodney do you mean an exceptionally tall slim individual ??? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Comerford Posted April 17, 2022 Author Share Posted April 17, 2022 Beaune to just south of Rouen today. Started fine and ran as it has been running for the last two weeks all the way, 260 or so miles. Last fuel consumption check was 26mpg which was mostly motorway at around 80mph. Last leg tomorrow so fingers crossed for an easy start in the morning and then another one when we come to leave the Tunnel train….. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carrpet Posted April 17, 2022 Share Posted April 17, 2022 24 minutes ago, Ian Comerford said: Beaune to just south of Rouen today. Started fine and ran as it has been running for the last two weeks all the way, 260 or so miles. Last fuel consumption check was 26mpg which was mostly motorway at around 80mph. Last leg tomorrow so fingers crossed for an easy start in the morning and then another one when we come to leave the Tunnel train….. Ian, I saw your back-up starter (LHBM /SWMBO) in one of the photos you posted. Another unsung hero ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryH Posted April 18, 2022 Share Posted April 18, 2022 14 hours ago, Ian Comerford said: ..and then another one when we come to leave the Tunnel train….. Lost count of the number of times we had to push my SC off the Chunnel train after it had heat-soaked during the crossing. Took to leaving the engine lid open in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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