melted contact on rota arm

[chrisd1986]

what could cause this i need help asap

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb368/chris_d_1986/20130208_170837_zpsa81fd0ed.jpg

[NOVA BUF]

Alrite mate, funny you put this up, mine did this litrally the other day lol i dont no what caused it but i replaced it with a brand new one for £6 which i thought was the cause of it not starting but even after having replaced the rotor arm it still wouldnt start. It turned out my not starting problem was due to dirty spark plugs, gotta love novas for being simple lol.
I think its jus something that happens with age and wear as ive had a few old cars where the rotor arm contact melts and after replacing them they are fine and it doesnt reoccur.

[chrisd1986]

its only been on 3 months and im stuck at the side of the road

[Jon_nova1]

dizzy timing?

[kent14sr]

If your rotor arm unit is only 3 weeks old I would suspect it is either incorrect or of poor quality hence causing the fault (assuming you had no issues previous to changing it)

[cossienova]

This happens to my nova approx every 3 months I carry spares with me. Its due to poor quality components iv tried a load of different makes but all don't last same problem with the distributor cap don't last. Unfortunately genuine parts no longer available so we have to make do with what available.

[chrisd1986]

well luckily another member (lidz) was going past and he happend to have a complete dizzy cap n arm spare at his house and got me on my way what a legend

[cossienova]

Great stuff your lucky couldn't get one any where around here when mine broke!

[chrisd1986]

nope ive never been on the ford scene but im on mig, vodc and a few vw forums. i have a spare rota arm at home but that was 20 miles away but its now in my glove box lol

[chrisd1986]

This happens to my nova approx every 3 months I carry spares with me. Its due to poor quality components iv tried a load of different makes but all don't last same problem with the distributor cap don't last. Unfortunately genuine parts no longer available so we have to make do with what available.


would a lucas one be better quality?

[mowgli]

lucas would possibly be better, intermotor used to be decent, but considering the dizzy is at least 20 years old, most are just cheapo copies from the far east. if someone can find the oe part no, maybe the main dealer can back order some... considering i found that the advance/retard diaphragm is the same on a hummer!!!! there might be another gm model with the same fitment, or maybe german ebay might have better stuff?

[therealnovaboy]

check the polarity of your coil. if its the wrong way round you can burn out rotors and plugs.

[chrisd1986]

i had fitted a intermotor item last time, ive orderd a couple of lucas ones a spares anyway. a mate of mine who has had novas for years said to clean up all the earths, grease them and make another earth strap up from the bulkhead earth to the starter bracket like on a mk2

[chrisd1986]

check the polarity of your coil. if its the wrong way round you can burn out rotors and plugs.


how would this happen? i do 50 miles to and from work every day

[mowgli]

just replace the gbox earth. you can get earth straps cheap enough.. the circuit is fine on a carb model.

[chrisd1986]

cheers, will sort it tomorrow

[chrisd1986]

cleaned all the earths and put em back on with grease everything is intact and i got my timinglight out and the ignition timing was spot on

[meritlover]

the distributor looks worn because the outside has been scuffing the cap. they all get sloppy like this. this causes it to fret the metal arm until it breaks off causin you and your arm to be sad.