Bristol J reg proton down and possibly out

[Jikovron]

Ive just received whatsappage from a known Proton (1988-1993) kingpin that a Bristol based proton owner by the name of Nicolas has encountered a failure to proceed on his 1991 carburettor equipped SE, certainly a straightforward diagnosis given the sort of mechanical common sense these are, but not so!

a garage has offered to have a look but are charging such a fortune whilst not getting anywhere that the machine is in danger of scrappage simply because its market value is beyond the event horizon.

The verdict so far:

 

It spins over fine on the starter

The camshaft rotates with the starter

2 of the spark plugs are wet

2 are dry

It sparks however might be weak according the the garage establishment

A replacement carb has been fitted, then removed and fuel poured down the inlet manifold resulting in yet more inaction

The proton man is sending a decent used distributer

 

if anyone was in the area and wanted to undercut garage fees to sort it out like a true mechanical beast or at least find out what needs sorted I have the contact info to have via PM

 

the gen on this one is that its basically as good as it gets for rust and is so far a cherished car,,well up to a limited financial point by the sounds of it so if I had time and space I'd be seeking to buying it alas the old 6 cars ,,4 not really wanted but stuck here anyway kyboshed that idea for me and similarly for the man from Protons best era also cant have it for the same reasoning (PICT od actual car) of which is way better than mine including dubious tidemark)

 

which brings me to the next point an aeroback mpi is up for grabs in London , the lady owner of it basically to cut a medium story to a tenable length has given up driving after ramming her garage with it causing damage to the lights and bonnet etc, however in light of that its a good running parts donor available for scraptokens especially as its now out of test although despite the horrible broken blandness of it the common rot spots look to be gr11

 

(pict of actual car)

 

any interest in any of this grimness , chuck a PM over and i'll forward the details

 

 

 

 

[Junkman]

I can only hope this Proton owner by the name of Nicolas is aware of the fact that

 

ORL JREG PROTUNZ MUSSED B SAVT!

[scaryoldcortina]

2 of the spark plugs are wet

 

2 are dry

 

It has one source of fuelling - the carb. This means it's unlikely that the carb can be the cause for the different looking plugs.

 

I'd have run a compression test by now.

[Sloth in a bowl]

if there was any sign of a bang what so ever and with 2 wet, 2 dry sparks.

What's the odds on a pair of swapped leads?

[Junkman]

Or the dizzy 180° out.

That garage there would have seen the last of me.

[HH-R]

Phwoar, that J reg is HOT STUFF!

[Bren]

Or the dizzy 180° out.

That garage there would have seen the last of me.

Would'nt it have been spitting back if the timing was that far out?

 

A weak spark - so a new carb is thrown on. Great.

 

Leads /cap/arm could be at fault.

[Jikovron]

I agree re the garage, diplomatically speaking not a great show given how everything is held on by a max of 4 easily removable fixings each and there is no hidden away parts , i shall enquire as to how the situation is devolving

[tooSavvy]

.... have I read the Jtron is a '3 piece' dizzie puzzle?

 

Arm + Cap + Coil/Exciter [thinggie??] in distributor.

 

TS

[vulgalour]

All four plugs on yours were wet too, don't forget.  Could be a skipped timing belt, remember the faff we had when the Princess somehow managed to do that to itself?  Unless these are on a chain, but I'm moderately sure they're not.

[willswitchengage]

Are there any H reg Protons left?

[Jikovron]

No solid news as yet, however in a Stephen king style twist a further party from Newton abbot is doing a run up there to have a go getting it away.

 

Although as you point out (CSnake) its probably a forgone conclusion that the ignition is at fault as it literally doesn't do anything with the fuel on offer to its rumbustious combustion chambers not even a rough cough so hopefully the dizzy will sort it