engine and drivetrain ignition woes.... car won't start

[Guest Anonymous]

32/36 'lectric choke rebuilt & tuned to cd's specs, fresh motor with <40K on it, 9.5:1 comp, 292 cam, new everything inside incl. freshly tuned valves, Bosch plugs, wires, cap & rotor, blue coil, fresh & gapped correct points, new condensor, battery relocated under rear seats per Zenon's site using 00 Gauge wire direct to the starter, 0 ga wire to the alterantor, new BMW ground straps, 00 ga from battery to ground.

Car runs fine. Actually perfectly. Better than I could ever dreamed. ONLY when I hook up the electric choke & electric idle solonoid to the coil EXACTLY the way it was prior to the engine & carb rebuild it won't start.

It's crazy but it's as if the choke & idle thing on the carb suck too much power from the coil or something. Please help because my hood is getting tired of opening and closing EVERY time I drive. I've had to rig a hot wire from the starter/alternator and plug in the idle and choke every time I drive. If I don't unplug it will kill the battery after a few days.

[PSloan]

Are you grounding the ignition? I dont get it.

[Guest Anonymous]

I doubt I'm grounding the ignition. The idle solonoid on the carb needs 12V preferably in start & run only. The choke is the same, it's just a bi-metalic spring that heats up and opens. more dependant on current and time than temperature of the engine/ambiant air.

Everything worked fine before I did the motor work and now it works fine with the exception that I can't attach the choke & idle solonoid the way I used to which is the way i think lots of people do it. I designed a relay system to run off of the LT coil lead with a box, etc. so that the coil's LT lead which is hot in start & run only would turn on a panel. This too causes the car to not start. When I hook it all up the way it was it's as if there's no spark. When I hold a spark plug in my bare (or wet) hand with the carb wires hooked up it's like sticking your tounge on a 9V battery (a little more than that but not much). The componants are all working properly so I don't understand. Without the carb wires hooked up the spark is perfect, loud crisp hot, etc.

[Mike Self]

source (hot only when ign is on) as a temporary thing...most '02s that have (or had) a 2 bbl Solex (late 72 on) have a stray black wire that ends up near the carb that isn't used on US cars that meets this requirement. connect your choke and idle solenoid and then see if the ign works. If it does, make the change permanent. So long as these two items go off with the ign, it doesnt' matter where they are connected so long as the source is fused.

cheers

mike

[Guest Anonymous]

but what would cause the ignition to crap out like that?

[Napes]

activated by the ignition) to serve both the elec. choke and the anti- dieseling solenoid. I've not heard of coming directly off the coil.

[Rob7502]

I suspect that you have the wires mixed up on the coil and are grounding the ignition. To clean up the wireing and to solve the problem of mixing them up splice into the wire going form the #12 fuse to the coil at the firewall and run it directly to the carb.