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MG MGB Technical - 1976 MGB stalls

I have a 76 B that just started to have a problem of stalling/shutting off while driving. It sputters and wants to die and then restarts fine. Could it be fuel or ignition? I ran it in my driveway idling and then after 5 minutes it shuts off. It does start up right away.

I have new plugs, petronix coil/distributor/alternator and recently had new clutch put in.
FJE Frank

I had this happen to me only not intermitently. My rotor failed on me while on a trip. If you have a spare one, try it. Always good to carry a spare.Bob
Bob Ekstrand

Frank - Bob's suggestion is a good one, particularly if you have the old on in your trunk. There are a lot of problems with the rotors on the market today. If it turns out to be the rotor, go to Advanced Distributors at: http://www.advanceddistributors.com/ and order one from them. If that doesn't cure the problem, then go to the article, Fuel Delivery Troubleshooting Guide in the SU fuel pump Articles section of my web site at: http://homepages.donobi.net/sufuelpumps/ Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Is the tach jumping up and down when this happens or just dropping as the engine revs drop? If the former then the problem is ignition LT, which could be coil, trigger, the wiring and connections between them, the 12v feed to the coil +ve, and the distributor ground wire. If the ignition warning light comes on while the engine is still spinning you have lost the 12v ignition feed from the ignition switch.

If the pertronix is relatively new it could quite easily be an infant mortality. They are difficult to diagnose short of substitution, like with points and condenser!

If the tach only steady drops with engine revs then it is HT or fuel. If you get backfiring in the exhaust while it is spluttering then it is probably HT. If it does it idling on the drive it should be relatively easy to diagnose, just connect up a timing light and watch the flashes until it dies. You'll need it to be idling fast to be able to see the different between the flashes stopping *before* the engine starts to slow i.e. an HT problem, or the engine slowing down and stopping but still flashing while it does so i.e. fuel.

If the fuel pump is the original SU type and chatters away just before it restarts then it is connections to the pump or its points.

Paul Hunt

This thread was discussed on 05/11/2008

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