Pertronix Horrors

[byersmtrco]

OK . . . So after throwing parts at it (plugs, wires, cap & rotor) and scoping it Sat AM, she's still runnin like crapola. My buddy at Allied (main parts supplier at work) sends me another Pertronix unit to try. He said he's seen "several" go bad. More on that in a minute.
So I put the 2nd one in and it barely runs (BARELY) So I went from a miss to almost not running)
At this point, I just need the **** thing to go back up the driveway into the garage. I put the orig unit back in. It fires up & runs perfect ??!!
I set the timing. Somehow it was @ 0 deg. I set it up to 8 deg.
I drove only around the neighborhood. It didn't skip a beat.
Needless to say, I still don't trust it as far as I can throw it.
At this point, I'm ready to go back to points & cond. I talked with one of the (very) experienced guys in the TB club. He suggests I by-pass the resistor wiring and run straight 12 volts. He thinks unless the resistance is perfect, the voltage is fluxuating(spl/chk) too much.
It says in the instructions, thats an option.
Any thoughts ?????????? Besides sell it & buy a Chevy (J/K!!!)

[byersmtrco]

Oh yeah, if Mike at Allied has seen these go bad, I wonder if it's just funky wiring in these older cars causing these things to fail or work improperly???

[Guest]

I have driven about 500 mi. with mine and so far had know trouble, I did run new wire and it is getting 12vt.\
Bob M

[bcomo]

I've had mine on for 3 years with no problem.

I also had the Flamethrower coil connected to 12V and 6V without any difference in how the plugs look, so I left it on 6V through the resistor wire. ( I might go back to 12V again).

Make sure that the distance between the module and the magnetic pickup under the rotor is about .040

Also make sure that the ground wire for the module is getting a good contact, and is tight.

The timing needs to re reset after installing the Pertronix -- at least on mine it was off.

Do you have the Pertronix I or the Pertronix II? I have the Pertronix I, and I've read that the II can have problems because it controls the dwell angle, whereas the Pertronix I doesn't do that.

Hope that helps.

[JohnG]

I am following this in part as I am interested in going from points to solid state and your experiences are of interest.

I also had the problem awhile back of the timing varying. It turned out the bushing in the distributor was worn and the shaft had play in it. You can tell this by just grabbing it and looking for side to side movement.

The original distributors had an oiling place which, of course, got neglected leading to wear.

I would personally want to see something in print or from Pertronix regarding the 6v vs 12v as you could void your warranty by applying too
much voltage if they specified 6v (in other words using the ballast)

John

[byersmtrco]

Dist is new (well 4K mi-aprox)

Dwell looked good. Good point about the Pert 2. That's the one that barely ran. Pert 1 is back in there.

I have also thought about running a (Chry style) ballast resistor. That would cut it to 8V.

I'll re-read the instr from Pert. It did say ok to run 12V.

At least I'm getting close.

Once I nail it down, I'm putting all Motorcraft parts back on. Cap , rotor ,
wires , etc.

[JohnG]

It is my understanding that the ballast resistor should be matched to the coil you are using. The manufacturer of the coil would specify what ballast (or more specifically what resistance in ohms) should go with their coil.

Once I knew that info, I would then contact a tech person for Pertronix and say "here is what I have... XX coil and YY ballast... can I use your Ignitor II with them?"

The idea is to think of the coil, ballast and solid state ignition as together being a unit rather than a collection of 3 individual components. They have to function together to provide you with the most possible spark at the right instant.

From Pertronix side, if they are doing their job, they don't want unhappy customers hence good running cars, so they should be willing to research your situation.

Were I starting from scratch, I would get the coil, ballast and solid state points replacement all from the same manufacturer so I knew they
were properly matched and it would leave the ball in their court if anything failed. Coils and ballasts are quite cheap in the scheme of things.

John

[byersmtrco]

What is the easiest point to tie into for 12V when the key is on?

I have a series of circuit breakers on the firewall. Mostly tied in with the conv top mechanism. I am running my elec choke off one of those. I dunno about running the coil off that though.
Starter sol ????????????

[Guest]

bcomo
the instruction that were in my Pertronix Ignitor said to set the air gap at 0.30 and there was a plastic gauge to do this, are there some that you set at 0.40
Bob M

[Gold Bird]

I have the Pertronix unit ready to install, I too am looking for the best place to get the full 12v from. Hopefully the unit will work as good as it does in my 70 Trans Am, which has worked great for the last 4 years.

[bcomo]

Bob M:

I can't find my original instructions any where -- so I'd say that yours is correct.

[Guest]

I ran a new wire from the line side of my resistor to the coil to get 12v to it and the ignitor.Left everything else on the load side.
(all the relays for my OD)

[Guest]

I ran my wire off the top of the resitar that went to my coil it runs off the key switch and with the key on I got 12vt.
Bob M

[tbird430]

More 430cid Pics:

My father and I have had the Pertronix 1 systems on both our cars with no problems for over 9 years now.

[Guest]

I also had a night mare with the Pertronix.After installing it with 12V as per instructions,it started right up fine.Shut it down and when I tried to restart it,just cranked and cranked and when it finally started it back fired so bad it literally blew my right muffler apart.Went back to points and have run about 1700 miles with no probs.