A Problem Solved!

[DUCeditor]

Last year, towards the end of the season, my `77 Spider would sometimes 'hiccup' as I drove along. I especially noticed it when I was heavy on the throttle - there would be a momentary loss of power then things returned to normal.

Two weeks ago when I went to put my car back on the road I installed the battery, and went through my normal post-Winter storage starting routine. I turned on the ignition to allow the fuel pump to fill the lines, pumped the pedal the three times, and cranked her over. She turned freely but did not catch at all. Circumstances did not allow me to determine the cause, whether there was no spark or no fuel. I took that battery back out and put it back on the charger for when time would be more generous.

Over the course of the week I thought about the problem thinking that a lack of spark was the most likely cause. And thinking about it I realized that the symptoms exactly matched those of when the car's 1980s security system - a Chapman Lock - was activated. So this time, after installing the battery, I pushed in the locking plunger on the Chapman Lock a couple of times and then went through the above routine again. This time she immediately caught and she has run perfectly ever since.

The conclusion I have reached is this: Both last year's occasional 'hiccup' and this seasons refusal to start came from the s=same source. Corrosion on the contacts within the Chapman Lock. No, the lock had not been activated, but the effect was the same: The ignition was grounded out. I could crank her until kingdom come and she'd never have started. Pushing in the 'plunger' on the Chapman cleared its contacts and she was back to normal.

There are two good things here: One, and most important, my baby is issue free. I now will feel completely confident to drive those far from anyplace back roads that make The Monadnocks a driver's paradise. And two, I will once again start using the Chapman Lock - something I have avoided doing for the last several years. Any danger the lock's mechanism creates will, it now appears, in all likelihood come from disuse, not use.

I don't know if any other owners have old Chapman (or the very similar "Z-Loc") on their cars, but if so I think and hope the above will be useful.

-don

[spidernut]

Glad to hear you got it finally figured out! Time for a nice, long, well-deserved drive!

[Kent124]

Was the Chapman Lock an optional security system on the car or is it standard?

[DUCeditor]

Was the Chapman Lock an optional security system on the car or is it standard?

I had the Chapman lock installed shortly after I got the car in 1988. At the time the Chapman lock was the 'in thing' in car security as it accomplished two things: It made the car unstartable by the common "hot wiring" method and it locked the hood so it could not easily be bypassed.

Its operation was simple. To cut off the ignition and lock the hood one simply pushed in a "plunger." To release it one inserted a circular key in the lock, turned it a quarter rotation, and the 'plunger' popped out under spring tension.

When the lock system was not activated everything was normal. When it was activated you could crank the motor until you wore down the battery and the motor would not start-- there would be no spark.

For the last several years I have not used the lock. For one thing I now live in NH where care theft (theft of any kind!) is very rare. For another I did not trust the system and if it failed I'd be completely stranded.

Now I know that not using the system is the greater risk so even if I don't lock it I'll from time to time do what I recently did: Push in the plunger just short of engagement two or three times keep corrosion at bay.



-Don

[Kent124]

Thanks for the clarification Don