1987 110 ex mod - engine cuts out while driving.

Hi,

got a new problem on my ex MOD 110 (1987) 2.5 N\A. There seems to be a problem around the ignition switch wiring - the engine sometimes just cuts out as if you have turned the key off. This can happen while the engine is idling or it can happen as you are driving along....pretty hairy if there is no hard shoulder and a big truck behind you!

If you wiggle the ignition switch around a bit (the plastic cover is off so you can see the whole key switch and back wires) it will start again and run fine.
I am pretty sure it's a lose wire, but which one to look at?

am crap at electrics so any advice appreciated. cheers.

It does seem the ignition unit is on the way out, You can just change the bit the wires goes into, two rather small screws hold it to the lock barrel.[ fiddly job ] Or swap out the complete unit including the key. Some handy vids on the you tube.

The female spade connectors can get loose. You can pull them off the male terminals and squash them a little with pliers to tighten them up.

Thanks - I have tightened up a couple of the spade connectors.and thought that had fixed it... but today it cut off and then wouldn't start again, no matter how much fiddling I did. I could hear a clicking coming from behind the fusebox (old fashioned glass fuses) so I opened up the cover and pushed the wires around a bit and got it going again. Is there anything behind the fuses (like a relay or something) which could be on the way out? I think some thing must be triggering the fuel shut off valve, thus causing the engine to stop even with the key switched on...

May well be a poor connection on the injection pump solenoid [ not far from other side of bulkhead or solenoid its self going faulty. You could try a temporary wire from batt to solenoid to eliminate this. [ switch in line would be handy ]

^^ this^^