Whether the condenser is attached or not won't effect the starting. Have you been inside the distributor at any time? Like replaced the points? If so it is very easy to place its wire the wrong side of the insulated terminal and it shorts out and nothing will work. So if you have played around in there - change the position of the wire on the terminal in relation to the insulated washer .

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

welll... that solves the mystery wire - there are 2 condensors mounted side by side, only one is needed (if at all), so you could cut that mystery wire off and forget about it, or get a 1/2" socket and undo the bolt that's holding it on, pull it off and chuck it over your shoulder - I'd be chucking that 30 year old coil over my shoulder too, but that's just me

so, first principles -

do you have 12v at the +'ve side of the coil when the ignition is on

if you take the distributor cap off, and flick the points open with a screwdriver, does it spark

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Ok... cool mystery wire solved.....

And I do have a test light, and yes there is spark at the coil. No I have not touched the dizzy at any stage and not touched anything from a couple weeks ago when it would start fine.
Would have to ask ballistic if anything touched in the dizzy, but regardless it did start no prob before.....

It is low on petrol, but that shouldn't matter? Has a quarter of a tank and I have sprayed a liberal amount of oxy start into the carby... and I figure it would splutter a bit if it were a fuel problem rather than just crank...

Is there a chance the battery is defective? even though I recharged it, could it not have enough oomph to kick the motor over?
Thanx guys......

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Size DOES Matter!!!

maybe you should just bite the bullet and get Ballistic to come and sort it out

Just cos Im a girl dont mean I cant fix cars by myself - I gotta learn stuff! lol!!
N this is a strange one to me... mysterious... I am becoming more and more convinced the battery may be the root of the problem, as it was my first thought and nothins been touched under the bonnet... only other thing is maybe a short but what n where? bout the only thing it can do by itself undetected.... hmmm I will try a new battery soon as I can... then go from there.
I do appreciate all the help guys, sorry If im bein a pest but I am interested to learn, poblem solve and what not.
Thanx!

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Size DOES Matter!!!

best way to do that is to work through your workshop manual step by step - it explains how do to all this stuff

if it was the battery, then the engine would turn over slow, or you could jump start it from another car - have you tried that?

fuel doesn't last long - it has been sitting a while... it started 2 weeks before this happened, it's feasible that the fuel was only *just* viable then, but is off now

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?