Too Many Sparks

There was always a bit of a misfire on the Rover, but never anything to worry about. Just the odd hiccup now and then, and a strange inclination to hesitate if I suddenly asked for more speed whilst cruising above 50 mph.

Then all of a sudden I had a major misfire. The old girl still went, but managed at the same time to convey the strong impression that it was all too much effort...

Lifting the bonnet whilst the engine was running allowed me to see the very strong spark bouncing between the plug cap and the rocker cover - at least the problem was easy to see. I called my new friend Mark - local P5 guru and he suggested that the Bakelite plug cap was probably cracked.

So I limped the car over to his place - and he produced a spare one - we (he) fitted it - and off I went. The car ran beautifully for about 11 1/2 minutes - and then started the same tricks again. A quick look 'under the hood' revealed that the same plug cap was sparking to the rocker cover again.

Sheesh!

As it was, I was on the way to see Edward, who had done the top-end fettle (valves etc) because there also seemed to be a leak from the rocker cover gasket. Got there, and Edward happily fixed the leak (the gasket has slipped slightly inside during fitting) and also provided a replacement plug cap.

About 2 km up the road, it all started again - same misfire, same plug cap. Conclusion that we all came to was that the original Bakelite was perhaps not really standing the test of time - and that it was probably best for the car to replace the leads, caps and plugs with modern ones - silicone, rubber, stainless lead cores and multi-point spark plugs.

The redoubtable Edward cheerfully obliged.

The plugs came a few days later than the leads - but just the leads and plug caps made an enormous difference. Very smooth, quieter and much better low-speed puling power than ever I can remember.

Then came the plugs (each has 4 points to spark from instead of just one) and I had high hopes. They were realised - at least for a while. Even smoother 'cleaner' power. Then, to my surprise, the misfire partly returned. Generally, the engine is running at least 50% better, when either at a steady speed or under hard acceleration, but when I 'part' accelerate, either at low revs or up hill, I sometimes get a misfire.

The improvements in spark technology seem to mean that the misfire is not threatening to rip the gearbox and engine off their respective mounts (as it seemed before), but it is still significant. And frustrating. And a bit of a mystery. Perhaps I have dirty fuel - who knows. I'll experience it for a few more days and then have another chat with Edward - to see if we can work it out. Ho-hum.

Still continuing to to top up the transmission fluid on a weekly basis.

The Marina is much as it was - no misfires, but an oil leak from either engine or gearbox that means oil drips on to the exhaust pipe under the cabin, so once warm, there is a bit of a burnt oil smell. This may fix itself once the gearbox mounting rubbers are replaced - or it may get worse.

Watch this space.

Half of me wants to get rid of of the green beast and get something just a tad more glam, but the other half does not -and anyway - who'd buy it?

I drove to work in it last week and just as I switched the engine off in the carpark, there was a loud metallic PING. A quick check revealed that the rhs chrome wheel arch trim had pinged out and was now gracefully sitting 6 inches away from the bodywork at the top, but still attached by screws at the bottom. So I pulled it off. Never really liked those things anyway.

More later - bye for now - by the way, if you want to comment or say "hi" please do.

Conrad