Intermittent cutout

[morgan]

Hoping not a big thing - just running past the brain trust.
First shakedown of new engine last night - all good; no obvious leaks etc.

One little thing though - I seem to have developed an intermittent cutout.
Driving along, car stops - for about a second - then starts again. But it feels like a total ignition loss - this is born out by the temp guage (which is electronic) - I noticed that when it does it the temp guage resets (powers off and on) - you can tell as it goes off , then shows 300, then goes back to normal.

This suggests to me its nothing to do with the ignition (coil, alternator, module etc) - but its more of a 'total loss' - like someone has turned the key off briefly. Battery is new and secure. Everything in the bay appears 'done up'. Never had it before - steering column been out a few times - so thinking maybe knocked something there ?

Just wondered if any obvious 'gotchas' for this symptom ?

[Blue]

My first thought would be the large wire from the alternator that’s passed through the bulkhead plug to the ammeter and the back through the bulkhead to the starter relay. If I remember correctly the main power feed for the car is spliced off that to the ignition switch. So, a loose connection somewhere on its route or corroded bulkhead connections are the most likely cause.

[Dave999]

yeah
or the ignition switch/switch loom

do you have a big bunch of keys/keyring? the constant swinging can wear the contacts

Dave

[morgan]

Sorted - and will be source for a later update.

It turned out to be an intermittent short from the positive battery cable.
Which lead to a significantly bigger problem I am dealing with now. Update to follow some point in the future.

Thanks team -