Coolant leak

[Bumpa]

If you take the distributor out and replace it you are into the business of re-timing the ignition, which is easy to get wrong if you aren't careful. How experienced are you in old car mechanics? Looking at your photo I can't see any sign of the vacuum chamber or the tube that connects it to the carbs. Maybe your car doesn't have a vacuum system, but that would be non-standard and is generally only done on highly tuned racing engines.

Do you know how to get the engine onto Top Dead Centre with number 1 cylinder firing? This is the basic start position when fitting a distributor. Taking the cap off with the engine in this position should see the rotor arm pointing at one of the contacts in the cap. That then becomes number 1 plug lead. The other plug leads are fixed in the order 1, 3, 4, 2 counting them round ANTI-CLOCKWISE.

I hope I'm telling my grandmother how to suck eggs and that you know what I'm talking about. Otherwise you may need to enlist the help of someone who can show you how to do it. Where are you? There may be someone on this board who lives close to you.

I have a Powerspark distributor on my '71 roadster and it works really well. It is the 25D type on my car. https://simonbbc.com/distributors/

[Remyd]

Hi Mike,

The car has a Weber 45 carburetor which was fitted by the previous owner so from what you are saying it sounds like they wanted to get more power out of the car. I don't know much about mechanic, I understand what you are talking about, I watch a lot of videos on social medias, but not confident enough to do it and my garage is very small. There was moisture droplets on the inside of the cap.
The thing is that I need to have the car running for Sunday as I am taking part in the St George day run.

[10coupe]

So the new valve is on, no leakage.
Charles, I only just saw your post so didn't have the chance to take your advice. I got the car running in the garage without signs of major leaks, only a little sipage from the gasket but nothing major.
I took the car for a test around the estate. I had to park to give way to an oncoming bus, when I stopped the engine died and the ignition light came on.
I managed to get it going again but only for a few meters then it died again. Couldn't get it to fire. I left it for about 5 to 10 minutes while I was getting the warning triangle set up, I broke down near the local school at pick up time, and trying to find the number for the AA.
I got back in the car and turned the ignition on, the car started again. \Got back home safely.
Now, when the leak happened there was quite a lot of coolant dripping. There's a black grommet on top of the distributor which is quite loose so I am thinking that some of the coolant could have leaked inside.
Would it be wise to order a new distributor and fit it? Which one should I get? Mine doesn't look like it has points. How hard are they to fit and how do you know which HT lead go where on it?
Picture of the distributor for reference.
PXL_20230413_145633290.jpg

Hi Remy,
Glad you got the valve sorted. Before ordering a new distributor, it might be worth removing the cap and give the inside a good squirt of a 'damp start' product of even WD40 and then thoroughly dry it. Also go over the internals and dry those out. Hopefully it might do the trick.
Best Neal

[Remyd]

So the new valve is on, no leakage.
Charles, I only just saw your post so didn't have the chance to take your advice. I got the car running in the garage without signs of major leaks, only a little sipage from the gasket but nothing major.
I took the car for a test around the estate. I had to park to give way to an oncoming bus, when I stopped the engine died and the ignition light came on.
I managed to get it going again but only for a few meters then it died again. Couldn't get it to fire. I left it for about 5 to 10 minutes while I was getting the warning triangle set up, I broke down near the local school at pick up time, and trying to find the number for the AA.
I got back in the car and turned the ignition on, the car started again. \Got back home safely.
Now, when the leak happened there was quite a lot of coolant dripping. There's a black grommet on top of the distributor which is quite loose so I am thinking that some of the coolant could have leaked inside.
Would it be wise to order a new distributor and fit it? Which one should I get? Mine doesn't look like it has points. How hard are they to fit and how do you know which HT lead go where on it?
Picture of the distributor for reference.
PXL_20230413_145633290.jpg

Hi Remy,
Glad you got the valve sorted. Before ordering a new distributor, it might be worth removing the cap and give the inside a good squirt of a 'damp start' product of even WD40 and then thoroughly dry it. Also go over the internals and dry those out. Hopefully it might do the trick.
Best Neal

Hi Neal,
Thanks for the info.
I have dried the cap as there was a moisture droplets inside it.
Pardon my ignorance but what do you mean by "the internals"?

Remy

[10coupe]

Hi again Remy, I'm not very familiar with electronic distributors but by the internals I meant any cable connections, the rotor and the plate they attach to.
Neal

[Bumpa]

The Weber carb may not have a vacuum take-off port which might be why there's no vacuum unit on the dissy. Moisture in the cap will be what caused your trouble - I'd lay money on it. It must be dry inside. There's over 10,000 volts pulsing in there and any route to earth will be taken. I'm in Scotland so not much possibility of me coming to help!!!

[Michael Barclay]

Hi Remy
I had a similar problem to you last year. Because of the extreme heat last summer I turned the heater valve off. After a few miles the engine cut out. Lifting the bonnet I found water from the valve had leaked on to the distributor located directly before the valve. Initially I thought the electronic ignition module (Powerspark) had failed. I removed the cap and cleaned the inside of the cap and any water I could see from around the ignition module, reconnected the cap and the car started. I put a plastic bag over the distributor as a temporary fix to get me home. I replaced the heater valve and all has been Ok since. I think if you have dried out the distributor then you should be OK.
Mike

[Charles Farran]

Hi Remy,

I agree with several others that your engine cutting out was most likely to be water/coolant/ dampness within the distributor cap probably caused by leaks from the heater valve directly above, whether it be the old one's perished diaphragm or poor sealing via the gasket to the engine block. (Many in the past have commented on the known issue of leaks from the valve being directly over the distributor / distributor cap).

Certainly a cheaper option than a complete change of distributor etc. if the problem is solved. Make sure the bottom screw bolt of the heater valve is nipped up which isn't easy to do as the body of the valve blocks most sockets & i had to use a suitable spanner that just fitted on the bolt head.

In my youth i was driving my first car, a Morris 1100 up the AI through a horrendous down pour & stopped at some road side establishment for a rest break. When i returned to the car,it wouldn't start -i went back to the cafe (In the days before mobile phones etc) intending to call the RAC.Before i did, someone in there suggested i check that my distributor cap wasn't drenched inside & out. I checked & it was; dried it off, inside & out & the engine immediately started - so lesson learned. I noted thereafter that many cross engined vehicles had a weather guard covering the front mounted distributors , clearly to address this issue!

Cheers,
Charles

[Allan T]

I'd like to second Paul Scott's Ashley Hinton recommendation. Ashley also makes lots of other MGB parts in stainless steel (but alas not the heater valve). I collected my first order from him a few days ago, and I'll be back again before long. I'm especially looking forward to trying the more open-pattern air-intake grille, which he tells me makes the heater more effective. If you're ordering several items from him and want to have them sent in one parcel, he needs to be online to make it work, and eBay's service in that department is clunky. If you can collect from his Bookham workshop, you've solved that problem.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/295579049943 ... 88QAvD_BwE

This chap manufactures these in the UK

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064893151889

[Remyd]

Thank you all for your helpful comments in this matter.
I'm feeling a bit more confident that the car will be ready for Sunday.
I certainly learned a lot in the past couple of weeks so I guess that's a bonus. At least I now know what to do in case it happens again!

Thank you again,