The D1 I just bought on a whim in December has decided that occasionally when trying to start the starter will turn over and over but not fire the cylinders. I open the hood, fiddle with the plug wires at the distributor cap, and suddenly it will fire up again.

Hilariously (not for me), if I stall out, you have to put the park brake on, get out and open the hood, futz with the wires/cap, and it will work normally again.

Should I just go for plugs, wires, cap and distributor? Does anyone have a good kit these days? Have not pulled plugs but it seems fairly clear cut. Starter is good, battery good, alternator is new. Can you get away with cleaning these for a while?

Thanks

 

I would suggest replacing the cap,rotor, wires and plugs. most of us have had better luck with OEM cap and rotor ( usually Lucas) , plain jane plugs RN11YC4 champions or BR5ES-11 ngk's. (dont bother with anything fancy...the Rover Gods wont like it) Start with that , but also keep in mind that you may eventually need a new coil, and / or an ignition amplifier module. On early models the module was mounted on the side of the distributor....later models had it relocated to the coil bracket to keep it away from engine heat. There's a "relocation kit" for that if you look around.

 

Cool thanks! I will go forth and try it!