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Cylinder bank loss

Discussion in '308/328' started by Ianbrit, Jul 19, 2013.

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  1. Ianbrit

    Ianbrit Rookie

    Jun 12, 2013
    14
    Portland, OR
    Full Name:
    Ian Davis
    #1 Ianbrit, Jul 19, 2013
    I got my 82 308 gtsi about a month ago. I have driven it almost 1000 miles since, and I love it. I think I'm suffering from the corroded fuse panel syndrome. I've ordered the bird man set up since my fuel pump fuse popped last week. I drove it down to bend or from portland which is about 179 miles. It was pretty hot and in the last 10 miles the car dropped 4 cylinders. I made it to our destination, shut it off and had too cool the glowing exaust carefully as not to have the car burn to the ground. I think that I lost 12 volts to one of the coils, I'm gonna start with the fuse panel and then investigate the coils. Once it had cooled down I had all eight again and it seems fine. I'm trailering it home as not to push my luck. It never overheated and I never saw any loss in oil pressure. Just wondered if anyone out there had experienced anything similar. Cheers
     
  2. Lawrence Coppari

    Lawrence Coppari Formula 3

    Apr 29, 2002
    2,191
    Kingsport, TN
    Full Name:
    Lawrence A. Coppari
    #2 Lawrence Coppari, Jul 23, 2013
    A number of years ago I had the situation where 4 cylinders would drop out. In my case it was the wire going from the coil to the center of one of the distributor caps. As there was some extra length to the wire, I removed the wire from the distributor cap and reset it. If I recall correctly (this happened a number of years ago), there is a conductor that pierces the cable that makes the connection. A fellow here on FerrariChat suggested this because it had happened to him.

    When the cylinders went dead I was near home. Upon arriving I shut it off and got another spark plug and put a lead on it to determine which side was dead. Then I got another lead and attached the spark plug directly to the coil. It sparked. Therefore the problem was in the distributor. Then I posted on FerrariChat and was given the advice about resetting the end piece where it contacts the distributor center.
     
  3. Ianbrit

    Ianbrit Rookie

    Jun 12, 2013
    14
    Portland, OR
    Full Name:
    Ian Davis
    #3 Ianbrit, Jul 24, 2013
    Thanks for the info, I recently redid the plug and coil wires, and feel pretty good about them but I will check. I think it was the rear bank and the second coil gets its 12 volts from a wire from the first coil. Once I replace the fuse panels, I am going to investigate that jumper and the coils. Unfortunately I thinks it's a problem that will only show itself when it's really hot. I'm going to take the car out for an easy run today and see if it exhibits any of the symptoms at a regular temp.
     
  4. Jimincov

    Jimincov Karting

    Jun 9, 2012
    73
    Milton Keynes uk
    Full Name:
    James Woolley
    #4 Jimincov, Jul 24, 2013
    Please keep us informed- I had the same the other evening....car wouldn't start on 8 after sitting in the sun. Got it going after waiting an hour until 7.30 in the evening (hottest day of the year so far in the uk) and lost a bank 10 mins into driving home. Had to leave the car until night and had cooled right down and it fired all 8 and got me home. I too have a heat damaged fuse block - fuel pump fuse has melted plastic fuse cover at some point... Received my birdman fuse block today....(praise be to birdman)
    It had happened before but only after 2 hours driving in mild conditions.
    Not gonna risk driving now until fuse blocks replaced and distributors inspected. Coils are new from previous owner.
    It All needs checking. Most beautiful car I've ever broken down in!
     
  5. uberlink

    uberlink Formula Junior

    Apr 23, 2012
    777
    Twin Cities, MN
    Full Name:
    Mark Johnson
    #5 uberlink, Jul 24, 2013
    I was intermittently dropping a bank recently--along with lots of nice backfiring. Turned out that one of the two distributor rotors was deteriorated. We replaced both and cleaned up some electrical contacts, etc. Running great again now.
     
  6. climb

    climb F1 Rookie

    Sep 19, 2006
    4,866
    Atlantic Beach Fl
    Full Name:
    Stuart K. Hicks
    #6 climb, Jul 24, 2013
    When you say deteriorated what do you mean? Cracked? My 1980 i runs great 'till it fully warms up then has a sputter but only on hot days. I could drive it for hours on a 65 degree day with no sputter but on a 90 (Fahrenheit) degree day it will develop this sputter (mis) after about 15 minutes of driving. Been chasing this for five years. Replaced plugs, wires, cleaned grounds, crank sensor etc. but didn't replace rotors. Wondering how you determined it was a bad rotor.
     
  7. uberlink

    uberlink Formula Junior

    Apr 23, 2012
    777
    Twin Cities, MN
    Full Name:
    Mark Johnson
    #7 uberlink, Jul 24, 2013
    Calling 2na, who actually did the work. PM him, if you like. He diagnosed and fixed it for me.

    It was beyond sputtering. It was tachometer bouncing up and down, losing power, power coming back, backfiring...and then it would go away for days before returning with a veangence.
     
  8. Ferraridoc

    Ferraridoc F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Jun 20, 2012
    17,218
    Gold Coast, Aust.
    Full Name:
    Patrick
    #8 Ferraridoc, Jul 24, 2013
    When my engine was recently pulled down, one distributor was full of oil, and the other had NO rotor button - must have been getting by on arcing. It had a hot idle problem, so that might have been it - try pulling your caps off and having a look.
     
  9. Ianbrit

    Ianbrit Rookie

    Jun 12, 2013
    14
    Portland, OR
    Full Name:
    Ian Davis
    #9 Ianbrit, Jul 25, 2013
    I'll inspect my caps and rotors. I had them off not long ago cleaned all the contacts and the distributor button were both in decent shape. There was a little bit of oil in one so perhaps it has gotten worse. Gonna get the birdman blocks in there today and see if it helps.
     
  10. vaccarella

    vaccarella Formula 3

    Apr 16, 2011
    2,291
    Full Name:
    Paul
    #10 vaccarella, Jul 25, 2013
    Check digiplex connections. I think engine components a much more likely issue than the fuseblocks.
     

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