pertronix igniter trouble

[moose1]

A few years back, I replaced the point system in my '66 Coronet 318 Poly with a Pertronix module and Igniter II coil. All worked well 'til last fall when the car ran great until "no spark". Fiddled with the wiring etc and suddenly she fired right up. This Spring, initial fire up and drive went well then, the next time I went to start, no spark. Checked coil, wiring, etc and all looked good so I figured the module had gone flaky. Ordered a new Pertronix Igniter II. installed it and the car started but ran poorly, stalling and back firing until finally it just wouldn't run. Considering that all I did was replace the module, just two wires, I decided to give up on the system. Went to good old Napa and ordered new points, condenser and rotor which I got the next day. Also replaced the coil with the old one and installed a new ballast resistor ( i had bridged the old one). Bottom line - she fired right up and is running like a champ. At about 1000 km a year, I think the old points system should be just fine - besides, it should be a lot easier to fix if I'm ever stuck on the side of the road!

 

[davek]

I installed the pertronix original and kept my coil and ballast. Starts no problem. Just my 2 cents.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

I have two buddies that lost Petronix modules.. Both had bad grounds on the module...

 

[Geoff 2]

The best way to avoid Pertronix problems....is not to use them.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

Pet I are pretty bulletproof but for most of us you will get 10K miles out of a good set of points and cond.

 

[toolmanmike]

I have one car with points and one with a Ignitor1. Both have been trouble free. for years.

 

[moose1]

The Igniter worked great until it didn't. When I tried the second new module and it really didn't work, I gave up. I grew up with points and am more comfortable using them now. I tried the ground test on the module but my digital meter wouldn't read low enough to measure the maximum .2 ohms required to ground.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

Nice the few times i have seen them fail is when a non o ringed dist gasket is a fiber one instead of a metal one that insures the ground. Hard to find them now.

 

[RJRENTON]

A few years back, I replaced the point system in my '66 Coronet 318 Poly with a Pertronix module and Igniter II coil. All worked well 'til last fall when the car ran great until "no spark". Fiddled with the wiring etc and suddenly she fired right up. This Spring, initial fire up and drive went well then, the next time I went to start, no spark. Checked coil, wiring, etc and all looked good so I figured the module had gone flaky. Ordered a new Pertronix Igniter II. installed it and the car started but ran poorly, stalling and back firing until finally it just wouldn't run. Considering that all I did was replace the module, just two wires, I decided to give up on the system. Went to good old Napa and ordered new points, condenser and rotor which I got the next day. Also replaced the coil with the old one and installed a new ballast resistor ( i had bridged the old one). Bottom line - she fired right up and is running like a champ. At about 1000 km a year, I think the old points system should be just fine - besides, it should be a lot easier to fix if I'm ever stuck on the side of the road!

CONDRADULATIONS..on your decision to change back to points..once again proving the old Confucius saying: "fancy gizmos don't work and if they do work, they always fail at the most INOPPORTUNE TIME".....electronic ignition systems vs points/condenser system is very much akin to the other cabal of Timken Tapered roller bearings vs "Green" style ball bearings.......just a causal observation........
BOB RENTON

 

[Some Car Guy]

You really don’t know what was the fail point since the coil was swapped. People have problems with points quality as well. Just no guarantee of anything these days.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

Look for older pre 90 ign parts the new ones have low spring tension and half the time the cond fail either hot or cold out of the box.

 

[Don Frelier]

The pre 90 electronic ignition systems were pretty bullet proof as well.
I had at least 6 of them running probably 1/4 million miles.
And guess what; never had to adjust points or even consider that the timing was off.
They worked every day.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

The pre 90 electronic ignition systems were pretty bullet proof as well.
I had at least 6 of them running probably 1/4 million miles.
And guess what; never had to adjust points or even consider that the timing was off.
They worked every day.

Totally agree. Did a lot of ECU testing run from the new orange ones that have the fake transistor on them. Also any lx101T series are junk

How to tell a "fake" ECU from a real one

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