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Pertronix Troubles


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Hey guys, so in a nutshell, here goes.

I have never had much luck with Pertronix conversions, and have always been content with the points on my car. After a bad go with various ignition components (points, condensers) leaving me stuck, I broke down and bought a Pertronix Ignitor (1383p6). I put it in, and it certainly ran smoother. Took the trial run on the freeway this morning and it ran well. On the way home, the car had a part throttle miss and stutter. Idle was fine, but off idle would cause the stumble unless I really eased into it.

I wired it per the directions. I put new points back in and the car fired right up and ran like before. The car is a 1954 Royal with a 241 Hemi and 6 volt positive ground. The only possible issue I might have found is the ground. It is grounded to the coil bracket/engine. There is no resistance when cold, but I get a few ohms when warm. Count this be the issue? Any troubleshooting tips?

Thanks,

Nick

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The D-24 I recently purchased has the Pertronix pick up module but does not have the recommended coil. In the limited miles I have driven this car to date the engine runs great. No miss fire through all RPM ranges and starts quickly, So far I am happy with this unit but as I said I have not driven this car a lot yet.

 

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Electronics do not, I repeat do not like low voltage and bad grounds. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the failures is do bad wiring, bad/dirty connections, too low or too high voltage, bad coils, or using solid core wires.

I plan to install a kit and their coil. Just haven't got around to it yet. I also plan to install a 6v alternator to keep the voltage constant.

Earl

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I feel positive about my 6 volt alternator, too. 

 

In this forum, we are not supposed to get into arguments about religion or politics.  We have enough heart-felt issues to argue about:

 

6 volt vs 12 volt.

The existence of Vapor Lock.

etc.

and not the least-

Breaker point ignition vs Pertronix.

 

(You can add your own topics, although I may argue whether they rise to the level of heart-felt, irresolvable issues. 

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I feel positive about my 6 volt alternator, too. 

 

In this forum, we are not supposed to get into arguments about religion or politics.  We have enough heart-felt issues to argue about:

 

6 volt vs 12 volt.

The existence of Vapor Lock.

etc.

and not the least-

Breaker point ignition vs Pertronix.

 

(You can add your own topics, although I may argue whether they rise to the level of heart-felt, irresolvable issues. 

 

You forgot about oil weight, zinc additives, and fuel additives.

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My Pertronix set up has been purr-fect.

Make sure all your wiring is in good shape and you are using the matched coil. If in doubt replace any wiring in the ignition circuit with new.

The module itself is isolated ..... only place it could ground is where the wires pass through the distributor body. My kit came with a boot type grommet for this application. As already mentioned this sort of electronic device does not do well with weak connections or low voltage.

 

Jeff

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Thanks guys, I am giving it one last shot and then going back with points! I put in new spiral core wires when I did the swap. I cleaned up my grounds and am going to replace the negative battery cable. If this doesn't work, it's going back to Summit!

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Often times people make up their minds ahead of time how something is going to go. Kind of sounds that way here.

When you say you have cleaned up the grounds......are you just talking about cleaning the connectors? What about the wire itself?

Some of the most difficult wiring issues I have ever had to trace down involved bad ground wires. Just sayin.

 

Jeff

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Thanks Jeff,

I was outside again today messing around with it. I cleaned the distributor (even though it doesn't provide the ground), tried better ground locations (engine block), ran a jumper to the battery positive, and replaced the battery ground cable with a new heavier one. Still had all the same issues. I also swapped coils with a hotter one, but same issue.

I put the points back in. I want reliability with this since it is my daily driver, and things aren't working out too well with the Pertronix.

I will just build a spare distributor to keep in my trunk.

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I get the reliability thing. My truck is my daily driver.

One question......was your kit the type that used a magnetic sleeve? Some do...some don't depending on the model distributor on your engine.

My Pertronix is the sleeve variant......and it has been flawless. Much better than the points I fussed with at first. Have heard that the type that doesn't use the magnetic sleeve can be problematic......?

 

Jeff

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Mine used the magnetic ring. Unfortunately, it just isn't going to work. I wish there was some kind of electronic ignition upgrade for my car that used off the shelf parts, without converting to 12 volts!

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You mentioned spiral core wires.  Sounds to me like they have actual wire in them.  If that is true, the could be the source of your problem. Plug wires with actual wire in them create a magnetic field that messes up electronic pickup modules.

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The wires are graphite impregnated suppression core wires with a thin winding around them. They are a still considered suppression wires though. I bought them specifically for this conversion. I previously had solid core before the conversion.

The timing was set at 8 degrees BTDC. I kept that with both the points and the Pertronix. The key give away for me was the fact that it was running beautifully in the morning. After sitting for an hour or so, started it and it was missing and stuttering.

I didn't contact Pertronix. I am going back to work tomorrow and needed the car running. I spent too much time chasing this problem down. Frankly, by this point, I have little faith in it, and even if I warrantied it out, I would always have that doubt. I know it has worked well for a lot of people, I just haven't had the best of luck with them. I guess I'll just stick with the points, BUT use high quality parts!

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The wires are graphite impregnated suppression core wires with a thin winding around them. They are a still considered suppression wires though. I bought them specifically for this conversion. I previously had solid core before the conversion.

The timing was set at 8 degrees BTDC. I kept that with both the points and the Pertronix. The key give away for me was the fact that it was running beautifully in the morning. After sitting for an hour or so, started it and it was missing and stuttering.

I didn't contact Pertronix. I am going back to work tomorrow and needed the car running. I spent too much time chasing this problem down. Frankly, by this point, I have little faith in it, and even if I warrantied it out, I would always have that doubt. I know it has worked well for a lot of people, I just haven't had the best of luck with them. I guess I'll just stick with the points, BUT use high quality parts!

Points and condensers fail as well. Good luck finding anything not made in China.

Earl

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I know..... That was the catalyst for trying the Pertronix. I had a condensor fail a month or so ago, which was less than a year old. I then had the points break last week. They were Wells parts. Now I have BWD parts in there. I want to see how long those last.

I sure miss Standard and Blue Streak ignition pieces.....

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Echlin was my choice for electrical.

Bought Echlin tune up parts for my 52. Appear to be China. Rotor was sloppy on the shaft, got another one and tighter but still sloppy. Wasn't impressed. Coil started leaking oil and had to be warranted like the rotor. Condenser had a strap instead of wire and was difficult to get it in place without shorting it. It appeared universal.

Earl

Edited by mopar_earl
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