Firing issue

[Neil]

Recently aquired 1990 - 956cc R4

Car drove very well on journey south after payment and collection.
Within days, starting from cold became temperamental.
Opened distributor cap to discover greaseless cam & points hardly opening.
Points had suffered as result. Lovely new Lucas set in box (€5 = £3.66) Happy with that.
As I was about to close the bonnet, three experts who were passing by, peered in and enquired why i hadn't renewed the condenser at the same time?
In 50 years of motoring, this question had evaded me.
Were they right? What are the risks of not changing this component?

I appreciate that this is not a life-or-death situation, but it would be nice to know.

thank you

 

[mr-reno-139]

You know I can't resist a question so nicely put
(Tomcat used to always ask questions he's a bit quieter these days )
My thoughts here
As I am sure you are old enough to remember lucas as being a quality brand
Unfortunately unless what you fitted are over 10 years old stock they will have been poor quality copies from India or the far east
Reason for problems are related to the choice of material for the part which touches the square drive in distributor
Originally made of brown Fibre they are made of plastic either white or brown
Lack of lubrication and end result is what happened to you
Condensers are similar quality the days so the one you fit may last less time than leaving old one on
Of course you can check the dwell angle monthly and keep adjusting until there is no movement left in adjustment slot

 

[Tomcat]

You know I can't resist a question so nicely put
(Tomcat used to always ask questions he's a bit quieter these days )

Paul
Thank you for the 'mention'. Yes have been fairly quiet of late due to various reasons.
Regards
Tom

 

[jonigel]

It is normal practice to change both as the condenser helps to stop the points burning, unfortunately mr reno is right about Lucas parts being poorly made especially dizzy internals ,but if you have a ducelier dizzy you can still get Ducelier ones made in France ,they are made by Valeo who own Ducelier , You can by them at mr auto online and i think they have branches in England so they should sell the same parts.

 

[mr-reno-139]

Many years back 3ven some genuine renault parts were not upto the original ducellier quality
Not bought any recently to examine as can't imagine there much demand these days

 

[jonigel]

There are still quite a few 4s running around on a daily basis here plus they are fitted to four or five different models and marques so there is a good supply over here

 

[Neil]

Point taken (please excuse the pun)
Car running sweet enough for me, but there's no harm in carrying a spare (new) condenser and points. The little 956cc has a couple of challenging days quite soon, but I have every confidence.

Thanks lads

 

[mojobaby]

Hi Neil, apart from a spare set, I also carry couple of screw drivers and feeler gauge in my car. It's a repair that you can do quite comfortably on the roadside.

 

[Neil]

Sound advice from you once again Mo!
I must remember to pack a little LED torch at this time of year.

Cheers

 

[iMacThere4iAm]

Hi Neil, if you get fed up of adjusting poor quality points then consider an electronic ignition upgrade. There are quite a few posts here on the subject if you do a search.