villiers Mk XIV-A 249CC

[safe history man]

HELP! coil checked, new condenser ht lead, spark plug, and the flywheel re-magnetised and no spark. what am I doing wrong ?

[R]

Without knowing the points setup of this version, its usually related to making certain the bits that need to be isolated and insulated actually are.

Can you put a multimeter on the output from the coil(s), and verify there is a pulse of voltage when the spark would need one.
A stack of parts may not necessarily give correct spark timing ?

[safe history man]

hi R, the points have been checked and new insulating washers fitted should be able to check output on coil ,is it just a case of checking for a circuit when I turn the flywheel i think it may be just down to flywheel position this is the motor fitted to my 1934 excelsior scout as always you seem to come to the rescue for me many thanks I have a small booklet of the villiers engine by C grange can you surgest a better publication for the villiers motors ,you may remember you give me info on my Albion Gearbox which I am glad to say is having a full overhaul and new bushes fitted to try and keep the oil in the dam thing wheels refurbished and new tyres it all seems to be all the money parts now makes a change from all the elbow grease painting  frames and tinware
thanks again

[33d6]

Hi SHM,
Can I ask if you had the engine running before you replaced these parts? There are things to check if you did not.
Also, the publication you want is "The Villiers Engine," author B E Browning, and published by C Arthur Pearson Ltd. Frankly the Pitmans book by Cyril Grange is nice to have but nowhere near as useful as Browning. It was first published in 1949 and as you have a prewar engine an early edition will suit fine.
As a  long time Villiers operator my regular routine with any Villiers engine I obtain is to automatically replace the coil no matter what the claimed history. Its such a common problem for a coil to test well but fall off when hot that I no longer bother checking.  I just replace and that's that.
The pre war points box can easily be assembled out of sequence. If the  various insulating washers and wire leads are out of sequence the lot shorts out and no spark. Browning will  carefully take you through this.

Finally, there are several tweaks that can be used to improve reliability. These were mainly developed by the trials fraternity. They are worth while.


Cheers,