Triumph Repair: Engine jus dies while driving, steering column lock, small screws

Question
1977 Triumph Spitfire no modifications all original. Have you ever run into this problem. While driving the rpm guage just goes to zero, engine dies and car stops running. After a few minuets..sometimes 20 the car just turns over and starts like nothing happened. I bypasses the wiring from battery to coil with on/off switch when this happened -no difference(just dies). There is Fuel, have changed out coil.Distributor points OK...Is there any other place I can look for a short or something.

Answer
Alex,

I had a similar problem with my 1973 Spitfire.  In my case, it was a loose wire in the steering column harness.

In your case it sounds like there is either a loose connection on the ignition circuit, or the actual ignition switch is going bad.  The igntion switch is held to the back of the steering column lock with 2 small screws and the switch itself is a piece of plastic that's crimped into the metal body.  With use (and age.. it is 28 years old) the switches sometimes start to come apart.

If you don't have a decent multimeter (voltmeter) it'd be a big help to get one for the trouble shooting.  The next time the car dies turn on the ignition switch and see if there is 12v at the + side of the coil.  If not, it's a problem with the wires or the switch feeding the ignition circuit.


Cheers,

Jim