Ignition coil continuouslty sparking

[Fungus]

Bit of a strange one;

I have a classic Mini with an Accuspark electronic ignition kit, in the original 59d distributor.

It was running fine when installed, but today I went to start the car and could here the ignition coil 'clicking' rapidly as soon as the key was turned into the second position. Removing the king lead confirmed that the coil was continuously sparking as soon as the ignition was switched on.

Removing the postive wire to the Accuspark kit stopped the coil from sparking.

Am I to assume that the Accuspark kit as failed and is shorting the postive and negative of the coil?

I have just finished wiring the new dashboard and gauges, so I'm worried it's something I've done. I can't really imagine what though.

Thanks.

[vitesseefi]

Jan 5, 2020 18:04:36 GMT Fungus said:

Am I to assume that the Accuspark kit as failed and is shorting the positive and negative of the coil?

Thanks.

Maybe...... but the weird thing is that in order for the coil to keep sparking something has to be turning the feed to it on and off. Just turning it on will only cause one spark, maybe repeated when turned off.

So before binning your Accuspark - , check that the power supply to it is constant and not pulsing and that all earths are good. Even try connecting it direct to battery +ve. If it's still sparking the coil like that, then it is the problem, though you might want to try turning the engine over a little in case it's on the raggedy edge of the trigger position.

Sounds more likely to be a cycling relay upstream to me though.

Nick

[dodgerover]

Try disconnecting the rev counter if it is connected to either the acuspark or coil.
Seems a bit of a coincidence for it to have failed at the same time as you were doing electrical work.