I'm still in trouble with my replacement distributor.
 

This has turned into a bit of a nightmare. I've managed to get a couple of spare distributors. One is a bit bashed with a broken connector for the hall effect sensor. The other looks to be almost new, but with a bit of surface rust from storage, I fitted the newer one, and don't get a spark to the plug. I put the end of the lead from the coil near to the exhaust manifold, and I get a meaty spark. The engine is a B200E with the distributor on the head.

My knowledge of electronic ignition is a bit limited. I assume the hall sensor causes the break in the LT ignition wire to create the HT spark. Is this correct? If so, then I assume that if the hall sensor is faulty, then I won't get a spark. The rotor and contacts in the head look clean and free of pits. The plugs look to be in good condition, and are a nice biscuit colour. The engine was running well before the distributor went missing. I've tried two leads on the no 1 plug, and I don't get a spark.

I'm going to buy a new set of leads, but I'm not confident that will cure the problem. So what is it that I don't understand about the setup?

have you got a VOLVO distributor cap and rotor arm, ie lacquered on the inside? the spark is very powerful and will find the easiest way to earth . caps and rotor arms you get elsewhere are not lacquered and therefore prone to tracking.
New volvo leads are worthwhile after all this time but if you get new non volvo leads they may well be worse than what you already have.



you are right in what you say about the hall sensor.

I don’t have any personal experience of this type of Volvo engine.

My first thought is that it’s likely to be something simple, like the distributor cap or rotor arm referred to above.

There are a couple of tests, one very easy, for the hall sensor in the FAQ:

https://www.volvoclub.org.uk/faq/Ele...ng_Hall_Sensor

I’ve attached an article from a prior edition of the Owners’ club magazine that may be of assistance to you. It also references a Volvo Green Book which might be worth trying to get hold of. There used to be an online repository of them, but I think it’s no longer available.

Good luck getting to the bottom of it.

Thanks once again for the helpful comments and advice. I forgot to mention that I had tried the "night owl" test - spin the engine in the dark, and look for blue corona lights on the cable and tracking on the distributor. There was no sign of any. It looks as if the problem is with the cap or the leads. I'll take the cap off again, and do a resistance test.

The bolts in the distributor cap are really difficult to reach. I've got a milwaukee 3/8 cordless wrench, and, if I can find it, I'm hoping that will make it easier to remove the bolts. Then I'll check the resistance between the collector pin in the cap and the central electrode in the plug.

Yes, the bolts on the head-mounted Volvo distributor are a pain. I found a 1/4" flexible shaft and a cordless driver worked quite well on most of them in combination with a ratcheting spanner and 1/4" socket for initial loosening and final torqueing.

Not the greatest piece of design work by Volvo when you consider how accessible the original block-mounted distributor on the B-series engines was.

Having replaced the dissy cap and rotor amongst other things a month ago I can agree it's a real pain in the backside as I commented on at the time.

The most awkward screw/bolt to undo is that on the off side. You just have to work out what's the best form of attack for you. I ended up using a small ratched and a short extended socket plus a screwdriver bit in a socket on a small ratched for some.

No wonder I had put it off for 20 years! However, I was greatly surprised in how good condition the cap and rotor were in. Although I replaced them they could have easily gone back with a little clean up.

I really have never struggled to undo the cap, I don't understand why/how people struggle. I use a small 8mm spanner to get them finger loose then whip them out. No point getting extensions and all sorts in there when space is tight anyway, stick to a spanner and you have plenty of room. You could use a ratchet spanner on the outer two if you wanted but I doubt there would be enough room for the middle one at the top.

I pulled a cap and rotor from a car in a scrapyard a couple of weeks ago in less than 5 minutes, don't forget the bonnet latches that allow you to open the bonnet completely vertical for a bit of extra room. This was on a turbo A/C car too so the least amount of room available just like my car and it still wasn't hard.

Try changing the spark plugs on a Bentley Arnage/continental GT/Bentayga or any of the 70's-90's turd boxes they made and then talk to me about lack of working space, the caps have a massive amount of room around them compared to those junkers.

The cap is really easy to take off
Undo the 2 M6 bolts (10mm head) and slide the dizzy out. The cap is they easy to remove and inspect the dizzy

Thanks for the comment, but the problem is not so much the removal, but the replacement. I haven't worked out how to replace the distributor with the cap in place. It seems you need to locate the distributor by rotating the rotor. You can then replace the two bolts to secure it. I've managed to remove and replace the cap by using an assortment of ratcheting spanners and a deep socket.

I still haven't got to the root of the problem. Using a multimeter, I managed to test the cap and the cables. I attached a lead to the coil, and inserted a plug in the end, and I managed to get a nice fat spark when I turned on the ignition. My next step is to dig out my Dremel and clean up an old cap that I've found. I've also bought a new set of leads. I bought them from my favourite motor factors, and I'm assured that they are good quality. I've never heard of the make, they are branded Cambiare. I's raining fairly hard at the moment, but I'll do some more testing tomorrow if we get a bit of sun.

How have you secured the distributor in the right place in it's slot? As far as I remember there is a plastic block which fits where one of the bolts is which goes in to secure the distributor in a fixed position , this is IF you have a crankshaft position sensor.
If you have a plug on the distributor and a hall effect sender in the distributor you need to do the ignition timing with a strobe light, and turn the distributor to get the correct ignition timing on the pulley then lock up the bolts .