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What
do you do when your car suddenly stops? Reach for
your cellphone, certainly. Meanwhile, it's always
a good idea to try to find the fault. If the breakdown
is accompanied by clanking noises, or if some of
the wheels have locked up, then it's most likely
a serious problem. If there was no noise then there's
a good chance that something small has gone wrong.
The
first step is to take a good look under the bonnet
for broken wires, a broken fuel pipe or any other
obviously broken or leaking component. If there's
no obvious fault, then you can swing into action by
performing the following checks:
 1.
What does the fuel gauge show? Running out of fuel
happens to everybody occasionally.
2.
Check for a high-tension spark. Remove one of the
plug leads and hold it close to a metal part of the
cylinder head while somebody else winds the starter,
with the ignition switched on. Ensure that you are
not touching any metallic part of the plug lead, or
you may get a nasty shock, literally. You
should see an intense  blue
spark, if it's weak and yellow, or if there is no
sign of a spark, inspect the rotor arm undermeath
the distributor cap, ensuring
that it is not broken, or worn out. Also check that
the carbon brush in the centre of the cap is making
contact with the rotor arm. If these items are in
good condition, look at the low tension side.
3.
The low-tension wire runs from the ignition coil to
the side of the distributor. It is a thin wire that
often breaks off just where it enters the distributor.
If it is intact, and if the car has an old-fashioned
distributor with points, then you should take the
distributor cap off and open the points slightly with
a screwdriver while the ignition is switched on. A
small spark should jump as you open the points. If
the spark is visible then you can normally assume
the low-tension side is fine, but if it is absent
then there is some malfunction in the wiring. If the
points are open when you remove the cap then you have
to rotate the engine by means of the starter until
they're in the
closed position, before you try to open
them.
4.
The last check is to make sure that fuel is reaching
the carburettor. Remove the top part of the air cleaner,
and see if fuel squirts into the carb throat when
you move the arm attached to the throttle butterfly.
These
checks will normally locate a significant portion
of the causes of roadside stoppages.
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