Hi everyone, I have a question relating to my car and it running rough. Long story short, i am in China for some months and my daughter is car sitting.
She had been using it until Rego expired, then every few days gives it a start up and roll back and forth in the yard now. However she says it has become a little harder to keep running of late after start up, mostly at the idle.
It is dual fuel and she lives in a cold area, so I suspect this may have a little to do with it. She has consulted a mechanic as her concern is she broke my car and she has been told it is the "Coil Pack", that is faulty, and it needs to be replaced. This she had started to save for until I told her to wait, until I seek further information.
The car had run flawlessly until I left for China and she drove it fine until the rego expired, so I personally do not believe this information about the coil pack. I have never heard of the term used on a Magna or Verada before either.
I have also had the distributor replaced in the last twelve months anyhow. can anyone tell me if this is a plausible fault or just some shed jockey peeing in the wind.
Jeff

Short runs, in cold weather, dual fuel so old fuel, there is most likely the issue

You are better off just leaving the car to sit and not start it at all, will not hurt it at all.

My guess would be dirty or contaminated fuel, is a common issue with dual fuel cars as often the fuel sits a long time not getting used and if e10 has been used can cause a whole lot of upset as well

The battery will also not like such short start ups in the cold - and little recharge - put a battery charger on it, as cranking and engine uses lots of energy from a battery, batteries don't work so well when cold and if not recharged will drop the voltage - and a car will run badly.

Hey thanks heaps guys, all the above is very relavent. Yes Mal, E10 has been used in the car :( was a case of no choice at the time. Apart fromm that, all the others add up to what I suspect was the issue anyhow.

While on this topic though, can yoou tell me if there is a coil pack hidden somewhere in this system and how likely it is to failure. I once had a (cough) commode, and when the coil pack failed in that it completely blew out the exhaust system from the cat back and left it in pieces on the road, and me sounding like a truck with hiccups.

The coil pack is located inside the distributor assembly. Not sure how likely they are to fail but it is possible as I have seen coil units in other vehicles fail due to age/wear & tear ie: ignition turned on/left on without engine running whilst car being worked on for hours on end which cooked the coil.

Cheers

Hey Thanks Magna diver. now I know where it is I can at least keep tabs on the muchanic who says it is a problem. I have registered the car now for my daughter to use and since she has been doing so, it seems to be running fine again. Battery was recharged first, fuel was topped up with fresh, running as good as it was before.

As I have experienced coil pack failure on GMH vehicle, I am familiar with the location of said unit separate to the distributor and wear and tear on them.

I am just glad to have some others with sound advice and Magna experience to bounce information from in here.

FYI: Commodore has a coil pack (but no distributor), 3 double ended coils attached to the side of the engine with leads going to the spark plugs. Magna has a single coil inside the distributor.
Any mechanic who says the Magna has "problems with it's coil pack" is no friend of mine!

And then, just to complicate things, the 6G75 in the 380 has 'coil on plug', ie a coil incorporated into each spark plug lead, and no distributor.

:headbange Technology, isn't it great!!

:headbange Technology, isn't it great!!

Complex . . . .but . . . Sure beats stopping in the middle of nowhere because the ignition points have fused together and you are digging through your toolbox desperately looking for your spare set. And where is that ignition timing light again?

hehe, Oh yeh, I do remember the days. My apprenticeship and being an RAA country call out back in 1976. I still have my timing light and it still works. Damn thing cost me a weeks wages back then, as a second year apprentice, I earnt a whole $63 after tax, but petrol was only 32c a gallon super and 28c a gallon standard (4.5 approx Ltr to the gallon). Thanks for reminding me :( No they were not the good ol days hahaha!!

Yep. The people who call them the "good ol' days" weren't actually there to experience them!
Cars have improved in leaps and bounds because of the technology now in them. So stop complaining that they are a bit complicated, ok?

(Yes, I know, WAY off topic! lol)

Continuing with the off topic chat.
My first car was a 1974 Honda Civic.
One day I was driving up Willunga Hill and it stone cold conked, completely cut out.
Dunno why I checked the dizzy, but I did.
Somehow the rotor button had become completely detached, it had just broken off and was sitting inside the dizzy housing!
So I diagnosed the issue in about 5 minutes, with almost zero knowledge of the mechanics of cars.
Pure dumb luck.