Boultman

My '75 2002 started a mean tapping sound out of nowhere. I've had the car for two years, drive it very regularly (almost daily when it isn't 104 degrees here in Coastal Texas). I have never had an issue. Religiously maintained, driven hard on occasion, but never abused, blah blah... I took a 30 minute drive last weekend, non-spirited i might add, then stopped at a seafood market for sunday football shrimp to boil. I was in the market for 10 minutes. I started the car back up and it hesitated slightly, then the knocking/tapping noise. I limped home 2 miles or less and parked it for a week. I knew it sounded like an upper engine issue. I waited for my valve cover gasket to come in, and pulled the cover off this morning. The exhaust valve is stuck down on cylinder 3. Questions: does this normally happen when parked? It seems like valve issues would occur at high rpm, driving the car hard. Since the valve stuck, does this mean the piston was crashing into it, and it is toast? (interference engine). Is there a chance i can pour some magic lube over the valve and free it up and be on my merry way to another 10k of care-free miles? Aside from the stuck valve, everything is spotless with little or no wear. Timing chains are perfect. It is hard to say what all was done in the past, rebuilds or otherwise. The previous owner only had it for a couple of years, but also took excellent care of the car. Any quick and easy things i need to try before yanking-out the top-end? Anyone in the Greater Houston Area i should call and have the entire car towed-to? cheers.

I had this same issue on my '75. I bought all the upper pieces, bushings, plastic bits, etc. It decreased my horizontal slop by about 20%. I then bought a short-shift kit (which is tough to find on the close-ratio dogleg gearbox). It came with the coupler and pin that attach the transmission. once i pulled that off (with exhaust and drive shaft remaining on car...) i noticed it was the main issue. The pin and wollowed-out the holes on the coupler. I replaced these and my shifter is almost like new. All cheap fixes, but PITA to get to with drive shaft and exhaust in the car. Most people pull these.. but decided to just swear louder instead.

Big_L, sorry, i'm some how just seeing this... yes, you called it. I got it from a guy in Georgetown. I love the car. it is running and starting like a champ. It is the perfect amount of stock and performance. I daily drive it during the cooler months. It is in incredible shape, but not mint or concourse, so i don't mind driving it where, and how ever much i want.

Update. I bought the silver coil with green label, 0.9 ohm, Pn above. I purchased from FCPeuro and received it the next day (warehouse was in DFW area, i'm in Houston). Happy with the quick service. I installed the coil and it fired right away. I shut it down, and tried again. started fine. I got it up to operating temp, shut it down... started right up again. Problem seems to be solved! Once i dial the timing back in and adjust the carb i'll take it out for an italian tune-up and check for sure, but i'm pretty confident. thanks again for everyone's help.

It seems the newer PN usually has a silver body and green label. thanks again.

I"ll measure the wire before i purchase the black coil. I'm pretty sure this will solve my problem. If not, the lead that goes from the ignition to the relay that triggers full (non resisted) power to the coil may be acting up or not working. When i by-passed everything with a jumper wire (positive terminal of starter to Positive coil), it triggers a relay on the passenger fender area in the engine bay. then when i turn ignition to start, it fires right away. when i shut the key off, it continues to run, of course, until i pull the jumper off. for one reason or another, i'm not getting all the spark i need from coil. either coil is too resisted, or a lead is broken somewhere... I'm digging through some old photos, and i think i have one of my engine-bay with a black coil... hard to tell. but it is also the easiest thing to test as well. Next question. where in the hell are people purchasing Bosch Coil PN: 0 221 119 021 ? i assumed 50 sites would pop up on google. not the case...

Do you have a link or PN for a black, non-resisted coil that you recommend? Sometimes the descriptions are pretty vague, and doesn't really mention if it has internal resistance or not.. Here is the catch, i'm 90% sure there was a blue coil in the car when i got it. it was older and dirty, but had a blue tint. I tossed it right away (i won't do that again..), but i think it was always over-resisted. I noticed no difference when i swapped the old coil for this new blue one. I believe i'm starting to have small internal carb issues that may be leading to flooding or too-rich situations, which exacerbates the weak spark issue. I didn't mention the choke. It always has opened all the way when warm. A lot of the times it wouldn't start, i would have the filter off of it and could see the choke opening correctly and staying that way. Since i live in Coastal Houston, i adjusted it slightly so that it opens faster, and doesn't quick close all the way. Especially with Summer arriving in about 2 weeks here. i'll purchase a black coil once i know which one. i'm pretty confident that my problem will be solved.

So after reading this. i believe i need to change my Blue Coil to the Black Coil, as there is too much resistance and weak spark. but only really noticed during start-up (or lack thereof). " Posted 27 Apr 2015 (edited) · Report post Here's my understanding of when you need a ballast resistor: Early cars (roundie) need a ballast resistor if you're using a Bosch red or black coil. If you're using a blue coil, you don't because the blue coil has sufficient internal resistance. The black coil needs about a 0.9 ohm resistor while the red coil needs about a 1.8 ohm resistor. Later cars (not sure exactly what year this began) have a resistor wire that is covered in clearish plastic from the #12 fuse to the coil. This wire has a built-in resistance of about 0.9 ohm. Since the black coil needs about 0.9 ohm resistance, you don't need a ballast resistor. The red, however, needs 1.8 ohm resistance, so the ballast resistor needs to be 0.9 ohm (0.9+0.9 resistor wire=1.8 ohm total resistance). It's my understanding that blue coils are not ideal since you add their internal resistance to the 0.9 ohm resistor wire in the later cars. Too much resistance means it makes a weaker spark which can lead to harder starts. And yes, I believe without the proper resistance you can prematurely wear out points/other ignition parts. I have a feeling not having a ballast resistor on my car contributed to this over time. Experts out there, is this summary correct? Please chime in. What kind of coil do you have? If you have a later model year car, do you have the built-in resistor wire? Edited 27 Apr 2015 by grotflo" Maybe after the black coil installation i won't have any starting issues, and the car may actually run better with more spark? Anyone know the PN and exact Bosch Black Coil they recommend? thanks again.

Update. I bought another Bosch condenser, thinking i may have received a bad one when i replaced all the ignition bits. (this happened a few months ago on my fathers Citroen DS, received a bad one). This seems unnervingly common... Though, this did not help the situation. HOWEVER. Thinking I may have a coil issue, resisted vs non, etc., I made a jumper wire from the positive post of the new Blue coil, to the positive terminal on the starter (batt is in the truck, so this is closer). It fired-up almost right away. The idle was $h$% because of all the "adjusting" i've been doing trying to get it to fire and run, and fire-up again. But i think i have found the main issue. I bought the blue Beru coil from Pelican, but here is link to another page that is more descriptive of the coil. http://www.hot-spark.com/1-Beru-ZS-172.htm The timing issues i described above make a little sense. when i advanced the timing enough (trying everything to diag and get it started), it would eventually fire. I assume the engine needs less spark when the timing is advanced so much... This points to weak coil power as well. I think i need to purchase a non-resisted coil (please let me know what PN this would be), or run new non-resisted wiring from the coil to....? thanks,

The timing was set correctly with a light, before i tore it down. I only changed timing as a last resort, and by advancing it slightly, i can actually get it to start. But then runs terrible because the timing is off. If i back it my original mark, it dies. Maybe the weak spark is my issue with the resisted coil? It may be a two part problem where i'm getting too much gas and flood, and the extra gas is making it even harder for the weak spark to kick-off. When i over-advance timing, it is some-how over-coming the weak spark and getting it to fire at least... I'm just confused to why i can't get it back to where it was. at least i could drive it, as long as i didn't shut it down.... It sounds like i should start by making a jumper wire to by-pass the resisted wire. From where to where would i hook it up? thanks.

I'll start by saying that this forum has helped me a lot in the past year of ownership of my '75 2002 (THANKS!), and that i searched my issue quite a bit before posting. I have seem similar post, but have either ruled-out the solutions that have been brought-up, or the OP never concluded their post and explained their solution! 1975, 2002 base, stock aside from Weber 38/38 w/ manifold, battery re-located, and ANSA exhaust. I"ve had this car a year, and it also had an issue with starting once hot. It seemed to get worse and worse, and i finally decided to start adjusting things to correct the issue. Timing, replace ignition items, carb adjust. The replacement of ignition items didn't seem to change symptoms one iota. So tore carb apart, put smaller jets in it (50's to 45's), as it always seemed to run rich. I since can't get it to run and drive. Symptoms: Starts decent when cold (even after a week or more), with a reasonable amount of turning-over needed. If you shut it down for 2+ minutes, it will almost leave me stranded. If i wait 1-1.5 hours. It usually start ok. sometimes instantly, better than when cold Sometimes if i shut it off for even 2-3 seconds, it won't restart. once running, it idles sweet, and Runs like a bat out of hell. Steps So Far: Looked for any and all Vacuum leaks. Found none Fuel is not Boiling Added in-line clear filter. also has clean fuel at good level in the filter mech fuel pump working as it should good spark from coil lead, and all plugs Coil (blue) has 9.2V (is this correct? no petronix, has new points) Point gap is dead-on Carb Float is 18mm, dead on Float valve seems to be closing well (blew into it as hard as i could while actuating) Replaced: Plugs Cables Cap & Rotor Points Condenser Coil Battery Notes: with someone cranking the engine we can get it to start when i manually adjust timing by hand by rotating distributor. it will start if i advance quite a bit, but not idle. (lots of good fireworks shooting out the top of the carb) When i spin it back to the location of decent timing, it will die. I have NOT checked valves. but valves were supposedly adjusted not long before i bought the vehicle, and again, it idles and runs great... once it is running. any help or direction would be appreciated. I'm in the coastal Houston area and we have about 6 more perfect days left before summer. I just burned another one today cheers jb