T16 running problems

[horsa]

There were two types of regulator housing. The one with clamp around the center is the T-16 early pattern. Latter looks just like those used in a jeep but it has higher capacity guts being 12v 55amp which were the same as found on the U.S. half-tracks.

Vintage Power Wagons in the USA produced electronic replacement guts to fit the regulator housings. Not sure if they still make them or not but it's what I had in my carrier.

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9136 Message #161 in my old carrier restoration thread shows the later style regulator housing for reference. Guts should fit in either housing though since its a digital circuit board.

[andrew honychurch]

It seems barely possible but its now nearly 2 years since I posted on this thread about ignition problems with the Divers Helmet. Well I had used the T16 around the field but it still stopped every time it got hot.. Today I pulled the distributor. Is it getting harder in there or am I getting older. Boy its tight. Anyway, on looking at the distributor its not wonder that the coil was working over time and hence overheating. The rotor arm is burnt to crazy around the contacts and some of the bacolite has burnt/chipped away. One set of points is stuck closed, not sure why, possibly it has slipped but oddly she was running on 8 last time I drove it. I am using a 12 volt high output coil through the adaptor that fits on the top of the dizzy instead of the 6 volt coil. I wonder whether the 12 volt is too much for the old rotor arm and its tracking right through it and creating near full time sparking hence the firing on 8. Seems highly improbable but one is forced to think about odd situations when things don't make sense.

So , pretty sure rotor arm is totally finished and probably at fault, but was the 12 volt the fault, or the constantly closed points on one side of the distributor? ( its a twin point set up)

I am now going to give up on the divers helmet , I have heard just so many tales of woe, and since it was perfectly rebuilt and set up only about 150 miles ago its not really upto the job.

Would be interested in observations . Andrew

[andrew honychurch]

Some photos of the offending items, and luckily I discovered I had bought a box of new Rotor arms!

[Dave Newcomb]

Hi all; There is a site for the Ford problems/sales Fordbarn.com the Early V8 posts are the Flathead stuff... lots of Early Ford V8 club members there and the best ign guru is Bubba's electronics co. Newc in Oregon USA

[Lynn Eades]

Andrew, If you still have the dizzy out, have it checked again. making sure the dwell is correct and timed correctly. (one set of points does each) I have heard that this dizzy is better than the later crab.
As far as load goes, dont be tempted to over gap your plugs. The bigger the gap, the higher the voltage required to fire them and as you know that spark is always looking for the easy way out.
I have read some but not all of the thread, but have your coil tested. It needs to be tested hot as it would be in use. That's when it will break down. (the standard 6 volt coils including NOS ones are guaranteed to fail) It is a hot enviroment inside those engine covers and everything needs to be clean and tight with good insulation.
Make sure your adapter has no signs of tracking or cracks.
Used points are good because the gaps don't change so quickly.
If there is any rust on the points springs then they easily break.
If you are going electronic, then pertronix do a unit that goes straight in.
I would suggest a Pertronix II.
They recommend resistor leads (should be fitted with all electronic igns)
There are leads available that have spiral wound stainless cores along with the carbon. I have gone this way but as yet cannot report on them.
You will need the correct coil to go with the system.
There is no condensor with used when you convert to electronic.
Good condensors are harder to find than they used to be.
Basically you have to go through it all to guarantee a good result.
Finding someone who is good with the distributors and has a timing jig and can run the dizzy up on a distributorgraph would be ideal.
Good luck with what ever you do.

[andrew honychurch]

Thank you Dave and Lynn, some great advice and pointers. I shall check out the web forum you mention Dave.

Lynn, thanks for the detailed advice, and I will certainly check out the dwell. I would dearly like to find a jig so that I can set this up myself, last time it cost me £100 and lasted a short while.

Basically, over here in the UK, there is much talk about the divers helmet being fault, and that this was down to a batch of bad rotors or distributor caps that had the incorrect mix in the bakerlite which led to conductivity and tracking . The tracking over works the coil, the rest is history. One chap I know was in the Post War National Service and they went out in 12 T16s on a 20 mile drive. They all broke down and had to be recovered to works. Every T16 bar one I know about in the UK has suffered from this failure when hot. The only one that I doesn't has the crab distributor fitted.

The inside of my Distributor smells of burnt electrodes. I was going to bit the bullet and fit a Mallory Alloy Billet dizzy but they stopped making them, so I am at a loss.

What I had noticed is that the original rotor was very lose on the drive shaft with a great deal of slack on the square drive. Do we think my high power coil could be at fault? Plugs were set as per the book. I will rebuilt it and try again, but i have lost confidence in these dizzies as I have heard so many bad things about them in T16

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by andrew honychurch

The inside of my Distributor smells of burnt electrodes. I was going to bit the bullet and fit a Mallory Alloy Billet dizzy but they stopped making them, so I am at a loss.

The only cause I can think of, of burnt electrodes in the cap is when the coil is incorrectly wired up on the LT side.