1985 2.5 petrol dizzy & carb advice - sorted, amazing what a new battery can do!

Also posted on LRUK because I need all the help I can get!

I have had this Landy for two months now but it was at the garage for a month getting some things fixed. Since then she has behaved well. I haven't really delved too much into the specs but was informed that it had the standard dizzy and carb for a 2.5 which I assumed to mean a points 45D and a Weber.

I bought a PowerSpark electronic ignition kit for a 45D intending to fit it today. I wanted to fire her up to check the timing before installing but she wouldn't start. Normally 4-5 turns and she's off although more reluctant when hot.

OK I thought, worth putting in the EI module as maybe the points are was cause of poor and non starting.
The PS kit has a red rectangular module on a plate which screws into where the former points were. I opened up the dizzy and saw this:

It appears to be a PS High Energy Performance Module designed to be used with a low resistance coil.
The coil on mine is black and has no markings (no voltmeter handy so I can't test the resistance):

I took the module out and offered up the red PS one but the base plate doesn't line up with the screw holes.
So I put the black one back with a liberal helping of the white heat sink paste that came with the kit. The only wires removed were the two attached to the module itself, nothing at the coil end, and the red and black can't be on the wrong tabs due to wire lengths. Still wouldn't start!

This is the dizzy, any ideas what type?


Now with your patience and tolerance for a numpty, I have another question about the carb. What type is it......?

.....and should there be a braided rubber hose coming from the body leading to nowhere?


I noticed that the leads were silicone high performance from PowerSpark so maybe the PO did a complete dizzy swap for a PS one. But is it the right one for a 2.5 and is the coil correct for the module (I assume it must be or it would never have worked).

Any help or advice appreciated, thank you.

Start at the plugs and work back to the fault - if no sparks at plugs does the centre lead to the dissy have a spark when held close to the block. If no sparks there, put a bulb across the low voltage side to the coil and turn by hand to see if it lights... put a bulb in series with the LV coil to check for continuity... then work back and check the contact breakers...

Thanks Chris, will check for spark from plugs and king lead tomorrow.

put a bulb in series with the LV coil to check for continuity... then work back and check the contact breakers...

Sorry you lost me...no contact breakers as it has an EI module, and by LV coil do you mean the one for the contacts, if so there isn't one as replaced with the black EI module.

I'm still unsure if this is the correct dizzy/carb set up as both the PO and the mech who serviced it for me mentioned getting the fuelling and timing set correctly was hard, and she was popping bit on overrun. Sat for a year on a SORN, could the carb be gunged up?

Update - a quick web crawl makes me think the dizzy is a 45D4 but with the ignition module used on the 45D4 in old Triumphs & MGs

Can't fit the PowerSpark one as the base plate holes don't align.

Thanks for the advice, she is now running again OK.
Fortunately a friend with good experience and knowledge of early LR engines popped by to help. Ta Pete!
Combination of dirty coil-dizzy connections, slightly off timing and badly set carb. Still takes few turns to fire up but now goes very nicely.
I'm thinking check battery charge, coil, and possibly the oomph of the starter motor.
And the pipe going nowhere is the carb vent!
At least she's running again.

Still having starting problems over the past month. The battery read 13.2V after a 24h charge, so I bought a 020 Enduroline Car Battery 105Ah, CCA (EN) 885A, CCA (SAE) 950A from Tanya and she now starts immediately and runs beautifully.

Obviously a good battery helps but I may not have reinstalled the ignition module close enough to the trigger wheel on the shaft!
Before I put in the new battery I checked the module and found it could be moved about a mm closer to the trigger wheel so I moved it as far as it would go without actually touching the trigger wheel before tightening it up. If the trigger and sensor are too far apart it may have weakened the signal? That and a weak battery = no start.

Cheers for the help.