WeiRD...AGAIN, or something...SOLVED!!!

[Benz Dr.]

On a hunch, check your coil wire to see if it's carbon core. Seems like one of those 101 things I referred to but it will just about kill your spark due to resistance. Every new Bosch set I've ever seen all had the wrong wire. Replace it with a proper steel wire.

Spark from your coil wire should be bright blue, about 10 - 15 mm long, and you should be able to hear it SNAP!. If you see any red or yellow in the spark; that's a sign of trouble. You can open and close your points with a screw driver with your ignition on and you don't actually need to spin your engine.

If this is your problem, a 123 distributor wouldn't have fixed it. Think of how much you just saved.........

[Ulf]

Hi Tyler and thanks for your suggestion - the ballast resistor is all new as well, replaced along with the corresponding ignition coil last year. My mechanic has been through everything now, got the car running (rough) but not drive-able, so the only thing left is the dreaded FI-pump. There is a restored pump underway from the UK which will arrive Friday or Monday :-)

[Ulf]

Just an update, got the car back with its new FI Pump Friday, it ran ok, but not great - e.g. a few hiccups when trying to maintain a constant speed. Went back and had the mixture leaned a bit + a broken spark plug replaced. Now it's 99% there, the remaining 1% is most likely due to wear in the distributor shaft, which will be fixed later when the electronic ignition will be fitted anyway. For now, I'll just enjoy it for the rest of the summer.
The old pump will be sent out for restoration during fall/winter.
My mechanic rectified a lot of faults made by previous mechanics (and myself) - wrong type of condensator, leads with build-in resistance making the spark extremely weak etc. So hopefully the 2+ months and quite large expenditure will prove to have been worth it.
Again, thanks for all your helpful comments, advice and suggestions - they have been priceless.

A great summer to all of you :-)

Ulf