Parts and help needed please

[turbojh]

Dear Forum,

I have just acquired a P5B Coupe and need a couple of parts and i am hoping to be steered in the right direction, i am in need of;

• Pinion oil seal as my rear axle is dripping oil - can anyone recommend a supplier?
• What are the views on switching to electronic ignition? I am on points at the moment 
• Do i need to switch to an electric fan?

Your help is appreciated,

Thanks James

[Phil Nottingham]

J R Wadhams for parts
Electronic ignition - not for me but plenty of other opinions on here try SEARCH
Electric fan not needed unless you want better economy - if overheating is an issue then check rad core is not blocked 1st.  Plenty more views on SEARCH

[djm16]

Pinion seal, while available from most Landrover parts stores as well as Wadhams, is a standard size and should be available from a bearing supplier too. You may well need a "Speedi-sleeve" to compensate for wear on the drive flange. If you drive in muddy conditions, you might also consider adding a Landrover dust shield.

Fan, as Phil said, if you need one, either you live in Australia, or there is somthing wrong.

Electronic ignition is no substitute for worn and sloppy distributor parts. There are plenty of opinions on the forum if you search.

[turbojh]

Thank you, car was overheating - now sorted with new thermostat however, electric fan was suggested by the guy who sorted the overheating. It is now happily running with the temp gauge sitting on the right hand side of the 'N'. James

[turbojh]

With regards to electronic ignition and electric fan i will give both a miss - it is running really well and i would prefer to keep it original if the benefits are not clear. J

[Deleted]

I fitted electronic ignition to my transit. It made no difference to the running apart from when it stopped working as I was driving one night.
Happily Id kept the old distributor back plate and points and a half hours work in the pouring rain got me going again.
I returned the electronic system as it was under warranty,when it arrived back here I put it on ebay.
I also tried an electric fan on my rover but only as a back up for the mechanical unit in long traffic jams.

[enigmas]

Hey guys the days of unreliable electronics and especially electronic ignition systems are well and truly over. Anyone remember valve radios and TV sets. My coupe has run an electronic ignition system for 26 years (an optical Pirhana system for 20 or so) and a full programmable module for the last 6...and the car was a daily driver. My daughter's 68 Ford Falcon has run a Pertronix clone for 10 years. I fitted various versions some points assisted (early kit versions) to vans, cars and motorbikes.

If there's one element that generally kills them quickly...it's a failure to correct the voltage going to the module with the engine running. Check it with a VOM meter (13.5v), add a ballast resistor to the circuit if needed and use the correct coil (generally the original points coil or something around 3.5 ohms)

It's really not that hard. Truly.

[lagain]

At the risk of tempting fate the Luminition electronic ignition has been on my car for about 40 years as has the Kenlowe fan.
If you have 2 sets of points electronic ignition is a very sensible upgrade and still worth doing if you have just one set. There are no moving parts, so it is spot on all the time.

[Phil Nottingham]

Both my (expensive) Lumention modules failed within months of each other and the mod is not reversible at the roadside.  I could buy enough points and condensors to keep all the surviving P5Bs running for years!

[enigmas]

Buying one set of points is virtually as dear as a Pertronix clone electronic ignition kit in OZ Phil. The days of buying ignition points at reasonable cost is also over. I've got nothing against points apart from the constant maintenance required. I carry an (emergency) 'spare' distributor in the boot.

[Phil Nottingham]

Point fully accepted in your case then!

[Ken Nelson]

Points for a 3-litre cost £3.60 from Wadhams. I think I'll stick with them for now.

[Welsh Warlock]

I changed the distributor for an electronic one and had lots of trouble getting it to work initially. Turned out one of the pins in the plug wasn't fully pressed home into the pin housing and although it looked OK when the plug halves were apart, one pin was being pushed back in its housing as they were pushed together and not making contact.

One the above was sorted it ran well for several years until it became increasingly difficult to start (when previously it has starred first turn of the key. After much head scratching and putting on a substitute distributor it turned out to be the electronic unit on the side of the dizzy breaking down. Easy fix once diagnosed.

I find points a pain in the wotsit but changing to electroniv doesn't guarantee reliability.

[revoxy]

Dec 12, 2019 12:39:52 GMT enigmas said:

Hey guys the days of unreliable electronics and especially electronic ignition systems are well and truly over. Anyone remember valve radios and TV sets. My coupe has run an electronic ignition system for 26 years (an optical Pirhana system for 20 or so) and a full programmable module for the last 6...and the car was a daily driver. My daughter's 68 Ford Falcon has run a Pertronix clone for 10 years. I fitted various versions some points assisted (early kit versions) to vans, cars and motorbikes.

If there's one element that generally kills them quickly...it's a failure to correct the voltage going to the module with the engine running. Check it with a VOM meter (13.5v), add a ballast resistor to the circuit if needed and use the correct coil (generally the original points coil or something around 3.5 ohms)

It's really not that hard. Truly.

I've just fitted one but I'm worried it's going to burn out. How do I check the voltage going to the module with the car running with a VOM meter.

[Phil Nottingham]

Just connect to Coil supply and a good earth having observed correct polarity, of course. Dynamo systems run at at least 15v and will spike at 16v+ so check how sensitive the electronic kit is

[vincentacres]

I have had 2 Pertronix Electronic Ignition modules and now on my 3rd. All have been run with the flamethrower 2 coil from initial install with a modern alternator, new battery and correct voltage on a dedicated LPG motor with the recommended spark plug leads. The first module failed progressively over a short period beginning to occasionally misfire or cutout then expiring completely. The second was the same. Each lasted approximately 5,000kms. The support area in Australia were helpful trying to troubleshoot the issue although unsuccessful. The manufacturer in the US replaced the modules at no cost express shipping included.

My auto electrician suspects that the circuit switching on and off the LPG solenoids was dumping current each time progressively degrading the module so he has now wired this as a completely separate dedicated circuit. Touch wood 4,000kms later and no issues yet. I am driving the car daily about 70km.

[enigmas]

Hi Owen, if you have a multi-meter check the voltage to the coil with the engine running. Check it when at idle and also at say 2500 rpm. If it's pumping more than 13.5v _13.7v you need to add a ballast resistor into the constant power feed to the module & coil.
Excessive 'constant' voltage (creating heat) is what kills the module. The damage is done incrementally. It'll work then cutout, cool down again, work for a period again until eventually it dies completely. (Been there...done that!)

Note.
The unballasted feed to the coil during engine cranking will not damage the module as the starter motor is a heavy current drain on the battery when operational. As you're aware as soon as the engine fires the power feed reverts to the ballasted feed from the ignition circuit...the cranking circuit is thus bypassed.

* Hardly anyone ever bothers to check the voltage at various engine speeds. Checking it purely with the ignition switched on is a recipe for failure. Heat through excessive constant voltage is the cause of module failure.
Alternators and generators at times pump out more voltage than is required for a specific module to live...so to reiterate, check it with the engine running.

* A high powered coil isn't required. Use a points 3.4 ohm coil or something close (measure the primary resistance on the coil before you purchase it...the parts guy will have no idea what you're doing as all they do is read the Part No. of the component. There are a lot of crappy coils being sold!

The electronic module always increases the dwell period over points ignition...so the same coil will have a higher output. It will certainly fire up any LPG engine with a good set of leads instantly.
Hope this assists.

[vincentacres]

Thanks Vince, excellent advice as always and I will check the voltages under different rpm as you suggest. However I'm really hoping the issue has been rectified with the isolation of the solenoid circuit.

I posted my comments in response to the ongoing thread as advice to others but I will take the time to do the checks just to be on the safe side.

Not today though as we are still in the thick of a monster storm. Trees down all over the place and many without power - reminds me of dear old blighty!

[enigmas]

Hi to the family Owen. Good to hear that your coupe is running well. Nothing worse than constant electrical gremlins.