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Has anyone ever come up with a fix for the C3 electrical issue ?
Three different times over the five years or so that I owned it, my '77 shut off at road speed, leaving me to coast to the side and call for a flatbed. Same issue every time. No, I don't remember the name of the part that had to be replaced. Has anyone come up with a remedy ? I'd really love to have another C3, but not with that problem.
I have owned many c3s over the last 35 years never had that problem once,
I have had all kinds of other issues,
It would help if you could recall the part that fixed it,
If it was the ignition module in the HEL distributor, perhaps whoever is replacing them is not putting the proper heat sink compound under it when installing.
Failure to do this will result in the frequency of failure you're experiencing.
Three different times over the five years or so that I owned it, my '77 shut off at road speed, leaving me to coast to the side and call for a flatbed. Same issue every time. No, I don't remember the name of the part that had to be replaced. Has anyone come up with a remedy ? I'd really love to have another C3, but not with that problem.
Three different times over the five years or so that I owned it, my '77 shut off at road speed, leaving me to coast to the side and call for a flatbed. Same issue every time. No, I don't remember the name of the part that had to be replaced. Has anyone come up with a remedy ? I'd really love to have another C3, but not with that problem.
It would be nice if you could be more specific since it has happened to you 3 times. I have owned over 30 C3's since my first one in 1970 and have never been stranded by an electrical issue. I was stranded once because I ran out of gas and another time because I lost the keys. Then there was the time my wife... ah, never mind....
If it was the ignition module in the HEL distributor, perhaps whoever is replacing them is not putting the proper heat sink compound under it when installing.
Failure to do this will result in the frequency of failure you're experiencing.
Had the same issue with a '75 Tran Am. It would just die at speed. HEI modules were the cause.
Mine did that once.... HEI Control module. I carry a spare now.
Good idea!
I'm sure that as time goes by, these small items will become harder to come by. As a side note, after I retired from full-time work, I worked part-time at a local Advance Auto Parts store. Most of the "counter guys" were in their 20s, and sort of car enthusiasts, while most of us delivery drivers were retirees, 60isn and up, and long time "car guys".
Many times, an older customer would come in looking for a part for an older car, and the young guys either couldn't recognize it, or didn't know the proper term for it (and neither did the customer), therefore, they couldn't find it on the computer. They had to get one of us "older guys" to come out to the front of the store, to help out.
In a roundabout way, my point is that if you intend to keep a C-3 (or any older car) on the road for years to come, you may want to purchase some of the obscure, yet "show stopping" parts, before they become extinct. And YES, it's already becoming an issue for us C-5 guys...
If it was the ignition module in the HEL distributor, perhaps whoever is replacing them is not putting the proper heat sink compound under it when installing.
Failure to do this will result in the frequency of failure you're experiencing.
Thanks ... and the suggestion someone offered about carrying around a spare makes sense. I guess it's time too, to start looking at what parts aren't going to be available soon for my 2004 as I plan to keep it for as long as I can get my aging body in and out of it.
06-20-2017, 11:34 PM
Has anyone ever come up with a fix for the C3 electrical issue ?
