Oznog

Finally got a little time today to dig into my 88 Turbo and chase the no spark issue. For the love of god, how do you get at the freaking distributor on a 910 with the Bosch K-Jetronic? I pulled the intake plenum cover, but my fat hands still can't get in there. Do I have no choice but to pull the whole intake plenum? Or is there some trick I'm missing? I can't even really see the thing to assess what I'm getting myself into. I've looked for info online on pulling the plenum and found very little. Since I'm totally new to this engine I'd love to find a tutorial or something rather than just dive in with the service notes and fingers crossed.

Without taking the dizzy apart (my next project it seems) it looks like this has the Pertronix conversion (1847V?). Seems like I've read some very mixed reviews of this setup regarding long term reliability. I think that the AB14 may have died and they "fixed" it by converting to the Pertronix. Based on what I've read, it's better to go back to the original Lucas / GM setup (assuming I can source all the parts). Another thing I've discovered is that the Pentronix Manual specs a 3.0 ohm coil. This car seems to have a 1.5 ohm coil. I think the stock Lucas / GM setup uses a 0.6 ohm coil. Given that, I think that this is the wrong coil for either setup. Does that seem right? Any insight from this group on the Pertonix positives or negatives?

OK, more weirdness now that I've dug into this. The AB14 ignition amplifier isn't being used at all. Totally disconnected. I recall reading somewhere that there was an aftermarket distributor that bypassed the ignition amplifier. Perhaps that's what's in this car and it's gone bad. Does anyone have any knowledge/information about these aftermarket distributors? The only thing I found searching was a reference to an eBay seller named SimonBBC. I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pull the plenum to get to the distributor to see what I'm dealing with here. If it is the aftermarket distributor, I'm guessing it makes sense to replace it with an OEM one and fix the wiring to put the AB14 back in line. Hopefully, I can figure out how to do that...

@Roy Lewington I appreciate the comprehensive debug procedure you provided. Very helpful! I haven't run through ti et, but planning to get back over to the shop tomorow. As I stated, I'm a noobie to Lotus so the learning curve is steep. I prefer to do all of my own maintenance, so learning about this engine is a priority for me.

Found this while searching for AB14 information.... Lucas Diagnosit cards for various ignition systems. Card #6 is the process I needed! Haven't had a chance to get over to the shop to run the test, but hopefully this will help me isolate what componnet had gone bad. https://mossmotoring.com/lucas-diagnostic-aides/

I'm not aware of any immobilizer on this car. Was there any "factory" immobilizer or would it be an aftermarket system?

Thanks for the feedback folks! I did confirm 12v at the coil. Will do further testing this evening to see if I can track it down. Thanks for the info on the amplifier... I wasn't sure what this was. Good to know it's a GM pert than I can hopefully source locally. I'll see if I can get a new coil while I'm it it. I know I can get these from r.d. enterprises, but the more I can source locally, the better I like it. Because of the way it failed I really though it was going to turn out to be a fuel issue. Usually electronics fail instantly and permanently. The fact that it stuttered a few times at low speeds over a couple days, then ran a clean lap around Road Atlanta before stalling, restarting and then quickly stalling again with no restart made me think fuel delivery. I was more than a little surprised when I discovered no spark (after wasting time testing the fuel pumps, relays, fuses,etc.). I'll pull the plenum cover today and get a good look at the distributor. I understand that it's a weak point, and I belive this is the original 35 year old cap and rotor. No indication in service records that it's ever been changed. I'm half tempted to just replace it while I've got it apart. New ones from r.d. enterprises are fairly inexpensive. It might not be a bad ideas to proavtively replace plug wires while I'm in there since it's pretty much impossible to do that without pulling the plenum cover. Speaking of plenum cover... anyone have a source for the gasket? I haven't been able to find replacements online. I'm assuming that they are no longer available. It looks like a simple paper gasket though, so I can make one from Fel-Pro gasket material. If I get ambitious I'll scan it and create a template to cut them with my laser cutter. If they aren't available anywhere anymore maybe a few people will have interest in inexpensive pre-cut gaskets. I know I could just use Permatex Ultra Blue, but that's oftern a real PITA to get off, and it's clear that the plenum cover is going to need to come off from time to time.

I recently acquired a beautiful 188 Esprit Turbo 40th Anniversary Edition. Car was running great. Was at Road Atlanta last weekend to pick it up and it ran fine around the infield roads on Friday evening. Ran it around the infield roads again Saturday morning for a few minutes to get comfortable with that car. Ran fine, but did stumble a couple of times briefly climbing up the hill to go back into the pro pits. I sat and idled it for a bout 10 minutes or so and drove around the paddock without issues. Then I went out on track for a couple of parade laps, just for fun. Ran like a charm the first lap, but coming up the hill through the esses it stumbled again. Then it just dies going into 10a. It restarted and I tried to drive it up to 10B to get back into the pro pits but it died before I crested the hill and wouldn't restart. Came back in on a flatbed tow. :-( I trailered it home to Arizona and started diagnosing in my shop. What I've narrowed it down to is that I've got no spark. Any bright ideas on common issues or what to check? I've already tested every fuse and relay. The way it failed is a little weird. I assumed fuel problem based on the way it sputtered, then died, then restarted for a moment. But the fuel system appears to be working fine. The entire fuel system was recently overhauled including rebuilt fuel distributor and warmup regulator, and new pumps and filter. I'm new to the Esprit and at the beginning of a VERY steep learning curve, so any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated. For now... back to reading Service Notes and looking for clues....