Tigers List Archive

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: SJC Worldwide <(email redacted)>

Messing about with the Tiger's timing yesterday, grabbing the
distributor cap to advance timing a bit with the car running, I got a
very electrical reminder how much voltage is flowing through the system
with my new Ignitor II electronic ignition and Flamethrower II coil.
Man, that was a serious shock, very painful at first, and I had a bruise
on my hand where I had attempted to grab the cap. I've done the same
thing (adjust the distributor with the motor running), without the
shock, on numerous Alpines and my last Tiger, with no ill effect. When I
had my previous shocking experience with the Tiger a few weeks ago, I
changed back to my original plug wires to see if this was the cause, but
again got another shock, so changed back again to my new wires.

I've got new plugs, new MSD 8 mm plug wires, a new rotor and a new
distributor cap installed (along with the new ignition and coil).

Since I don't want to re-experience this much fun, how can one check to
see where the voltage is leaking (the dist. cap, wires, etc.) without
doing it the old fashioned way and experiencing in a small way what the
electric chair must feel like? After my first shock, I ran the car in
the garage (door opened, of course) in the dark to see if I could see
any electrical "tracking" but I didn't notice anything that way.

Also, should that metal tab on top of the rotor actually touch the
inside bottom of the distributor cap (where that contact is on the cap)?
I think mine does, and I wonder if this could contribute to my little
jolts.

Steve Sage
1967 Tiger MK1A
(And lots of Alpines through the years)

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: "Charlton" <(email redacted)>

Steve,
Run a jumper wire from ground to the blade of a plastic handled screwdriver.
Hold the insulated handle and approach the distributor with the blade. I
suspect you'll see the spark jump a gap where the leakage is occurring. You
might have to try this in relative (gotta see what you're doing, though!)
darkness to see the spark, but given the jolt you got, you might see this
electrical arc even in fairly bright light.
Duncan
----- Original Message -----
From: "SJC Worldwide" <(email redacted)>
To: "Tiger Mailing List" <(email redacted)>; "Alpine Mailing List"
<(email redacted)>
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2001 3:18 PM
Subject: YEOUUUUCH!!! Electrical Question


> Messing about with the Tiger's timing yesterday, grabbing the
> distributor cap to advance timing a bit with the car running, I got a
> very electrical reminder how much voltage is flowing through the system
> with my new Ignitor II electronic ignition and Flamethrower II coil.
> Man, that was a serious shock, very painful at first, and I had a bruise
> on my hand where I had attempted to grab the cap. I've done the same
> thing (adjust the distributor with the motor running), without the
> shock, on numerous Alpines and my last Tiger, with no ill effect. When I
> had my previous shocking experience with the Tiger a few weeks ago, I
> changed back to my original plug wires to see if this was the cause, but
> again got another shock, so changed back again to my new wires.
>
> I've got new plugs, new MSD 8 mm plug wires, a new rotor and a new
> distributor cap installed (along with the new ignition and coil).
>
> Since I don't want to re-experience this much fun, how can one check to
> see where the voltage is leaking (the dist. cap, wires, etc.) without
> doing it the old fashioned way and experiencing in a small way what the
> electric chair must feel like? After my first shock, I ran the car in
> the garage (door opened, of course) in the dark to see if I could see
> any electrical "tracking" but I didn't notice anything that way.
>
> Also, should that metal tab on top of the rotor actually touch the
> inside bottom of the distributor cap (where that contact is on the cap)?
> I think mine does, and I wonder if this could contribute to my little
> jolts.
>
> Steve Sage
> 1967 Tiger MK1A
> (And lots of Alpines through the years)

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: SJC Worldwide <(email redacted)>

Charlton wrote:

> Steve,
> Run a jumper wire from ground to the blade of a plastic handled screwdriver.
> Hold the insulated handle and approach the distributor with the blade. I
> suspect you'll see the spark jump a gap where the leakage is occurring. You
> might have to try this in relative (gotta see what you're doing, though!)
> darkness to see the spark, but given the jolt you got, you might see this
> electrical arc even in fairly bright light.
> Duncan

Hello Duncan:
Thanks for the tip. I got a couple of others along the same line (one guy said
to be sure to wear rubber shoes!!) and I'm going to try this in the next two or
three days. I installed another new dist. cap and rotor last night as the parts
store service manager I showed them to looked at the old rotor (which had carbon
on half of its tip only) and said the rotor could have contributed to my jolts,
and that the rotor color should be uniform, and not fouled by carbon. Plus, the
"old" rotor was only a few weeks old. The parts guy said the carbon could be
evidence of a bad dist. cap, which by itself could be shocking, or the rotor
itself could have been defecctive out of the box. Of course, I don't want to
grab the new cap either without knowing that there's no more juice there, so
I'll try the screwdriver tips first.

A couple of other listers have mentioned that, with the high voltage ignition I
have in now, it could be that a bit of residual voltage is not unusual or
evidence of a defect.

I'll post the results to the list, or Jane can post my obituary if I get the
same surprise too many more times!

Regards.
Steve Sage

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: Theo Smit <(email redacted)>

Sorry to hear about your illuminating experience. Yes, the rotor spring tab
should contact the center contact on the cap - that's how the coil energy
gets transferred to the rotor. You might try simply replacing the cap and
rotor to see if this reduces or eliminates the leak If the engine is
missing, you can try to see which plug it is by taking your timing light and
hooking the probe up to each plug wire in turn, away from the cap itself.
The timing light should strobe steadily on all eight cylinders.
You should also check the plugs. If one of them is gapped really wide, it
will require a higher firing voltage than the others, and that could be
enough to break the insulation of the plug wires.

Good luck, and wear rubber soled shoes...

Theo

SJC Worldwide wrote:

> Messing about with the Tiger's timing yesterday, grabbing the
> distributor cap to advance timing a bit with the car running, I got a
> <snip>

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: (email redacted)

Try looking at the inside of the cap itself. Check for carbon tracking. I had
a TR-4 that lit me up similar to your experience. Rare occurrence but it does
happen.


DR. Moonstone