Hello everyone. I have a 57 Ford Ranch Wagon with a 71 Ford 400 engine, I built the car myself many years ago, I have over 23,000 miles on it trouble free. I had an engine fire in late 2018 and since I'm getting old I had a professional mechanic friend of mine fix the damage. I was running a Accel distributor but it was trashed so I bought a Pertronix Flamethrower distributor. After the car was fixed it ran great for a while but suddenly when I would accelerate hard I get a backfire then eventually it just wouldn't start. I had no spark tried everything I know to do but nothing worked. I then ordered a new module and installed it, still no spark. My mechanic friend came over to help but even he was stumped. Out of frustration I bought a stock distributor, because I have had such good luck with Pertronic in my other cars I decided to install an Igniter II, got it all installed and it fired right up. It was running great and I was so happy. Well yesterday I wanted to get it our for some exercise, I drove about two miles and it just quit, no spark. What the hell am I doing wrong! If anyone has any advise i would appreciate it. I know some will say go back to points and forget it, which I might do, but the Pertronix I have used in my other cars have been bullet proof. Thanks.
What kind of troubleshooting have you done? Have you followed the information available from Pertronix? Or checked in with them for advice?
I have been running Pertronix modules in both my cars for year without any problem. The one thing I see over and over again is failures when you do not have the correct coil with the module. I always but the Pertronix Coil with the module.
I had similar problem , Bubba said " Junk Chinese Flamethrower Coil is always the problem, get a Bosch # 9220081083 " I did = problem solved
I have followed their information and have been double checked by my mechanic friend but can't figure it out. I have the right coil 12v to the coil and so forth. I pretty stumped. I might just try putting the points back in it and see what happens. Like I said the Pertronix in my other cars have been perfect.
Yes I am. I can't figure out why it runs great for a while and then quits, usually Petronix are go/no go.
They are “purty” smart,,, them magnetic hall sensors. I’ve had a few that were “go for a while” then no go. Them other unitard and the damn Might suddenly die things all have problems and are unforgiving for doing dumb shit and wrong parts. Ya might go thru a few before you get a stop getting bad ones or get pissed off enough to find and fix the assumption that’s actually causing the failure.
The ignitor 11 is high amperage system, the ignition switch may not be up to the load. Run a jumper wire from the battery to the coil.
That's a pretty good clue right there that it aint the Pertronix, right? Remember, these just act as an electronic version of a set of points. Think, how does a point system work? What do you need for a points system to work properly? It's the same with a Pertronix system, only there is no points and no condenser. If the module fails, it's not going to start working again, something else is wrong.
Well lookie lookie there! They do, they do, I say they do come with instructions on how to outsmart the fickle little bitches.
How would a jumper wire from the battery work exactly? It has to be switched or the ignition is always "on". 12V power needs to be switched. SPark
Still suspect of coil. My son's 40 would do this as well-run fine for a bit then quit. Let it sit a while and it would start then die after a few minutes--coil was bad. It was an ignitor and their coil-new coil solved the problem. I was going to take my 40 somewhere so went and got gas and came back. It would not start. Put a sparkplug on one wire and had wife crank it--very weak yellow spark. Went and got a coil out of my stash (Delco) started right up-been there for 4 years.
Testing only. 2 alligator clips and a wire One clip on + coil. zip tie the wire Out of harms way. Other alligator clip on the battery +. Test drive. if the problem changes you’ll now have a place to look for problems and solutions. If no change you’ll know you can eliminate that voltage to the coil isn’t the issue. either way you get a partial win and it’s cheap and easy.
Hopefully you don't have the old ballast resistor ahead of the distributor still? Have you checked voltage to the distributor to ensure it's the full battery voltage, and not lower than 12.5 vdc?
Yes a test light or volt meter will show that,,, But since the test gets done while not moving, with no load, with you under the hood it’s not a true test for your problem. It shows that you have power with switch on, that’s about it,, a cursory check at best. So how long, how many run time hours or minutes exactly are these new units lasting before they quit?
I had trouble with my Pertronix but it was the coil. Was using stock Ford coil. They told me how to check the coil and I had to buy 2 to get one that had correct ohm readings. Seems like sec. to primary was 7500 ohms. It's been a while. They didn't seem to worry that it was not one of theirs, just must have correct ohm readings.
There are 2 things you need to check, besides the coil. First is grounding. Chrome plating, ceramic coating and paint are your enemies. With an ohmmeter, you should read less than .2 ohm (if I recall correctly) between the negative post of your battery and the distributor housing. In order to make sure my distributor was properly grounded, I tapped a 10-24 hole in the housing and added a 2nd ground wire to the firewall. Check your negative battery cable, it's connection to the block and the interface of the distributor and ground clamp to the block. Second, is your alternator/voltage regulator. If they are not consistently in spec, they will kill the module. You cannot have any "iffy" connections. Everything must be solid and you must not have an over voltage situation. Also, if one of the diodes in your alternator is leaking, you could be getting AC current to the module and that will kill it. Good grounding, good connections, good charging are hard and fast requirements. On my OT truck, I finally replaced the alternator (which has built in regulator) and my problems went away. Good luck!
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