I've had terrible luck with distributors, anyway I have a three year old A-Team Performance distributor in my '56 Corvette. Recently while driving the engine just quit. No cough, no sputter. Engine would crank but no start. It was getting plenty of fuel. Changed the external coil in the field but no luck. Wiring looked ok and everything was still connected. Once home I checked wiring again and began running tests of the coil/distributor circuit. Then I thought maybe a circuit in my 30 year old ignition switch had gone away so I bought s new one. No change. I am apparently getting 12 V at the coil and about 8 V to the distributor cap. Next is the distributor. Has anyone had similar experience(s) with this unit? Do they simply fail?
No idea. Just bought another o.e. cast iron point distributor the other day because I like them so much.
bought a $75.00 , 289/302 points dist., bushings were so sloppy i put it in the make a rodrun trophy pile... i grab the stockers at swappers when cheap and not to sloppy... then add pertronics...
Never had a problem like that with a Delco single or dual point distributor using the points and condenser. Granted some of the condenser's are questionable these day's but they won't leave you stranded.
Had to google A-Team performance distributors. Found out they are sold solely via Southwest Performance Parts. Then there's the Southwest Performance Parts address: Southwest Performance Parts 177 Huntington Ave, Floor 17 Boston, MA 02115 I'd be joining the dots on this one and suggest that those distributors are made you-know-where, very cheaply and not very well. A couple of reviews: This worked for 5 min .they sent me a new part .had it installed still would not work .JUNK .I bought a lot of products off line never had a problem .threw it in the trash. Junk. The magnets weren’t even tight and when I started my motor CRACK! Took the cam gear out. The magnets in the distributor meshed. These reviews were one after the other, I didn't need to go cherry picking.
Hulls effect? Specifications — Multi-Pole Reluctor (Hulls Effect) Trigger Style, Mechanical and Vacuum Advance Type, Male Cap, External Coil, 35,000 Volts https://www.amazon.com/Team-Performance-Distributor-Compatible-Instillation/dp/B06XRKMWQP?th=1
I've never had a cast iron Delco that was actually bad. I've had a few aluminum ones that had worn bushings on the shaft. I'm thinking that some of those cheaper aftermarket electronic distributors should be viewed as pretty much disposable. When it's time for a cap and rotor it is probably time to replace the whole thing.
>>>JUNK>>>>hese reviews were one after the other, I didn't need to go cherry picking.>>>> This is so true. But only If you pick the 1-star reviews, 8^)
Yes of course, but if the A-Team can't get that right in their ad what does it say about their involvement in the product? An electronics engineer with experience in components, diodes, transistors etc., told me there are big differences in the quality of those components, which of course all come from overseas. Mostly manifested in their longevity.
“Bogus product reviews are an epidemic, according to Saoud Khalifah, founder and CEO of Fakespot, a site that ferrets out fake reviews. Khalifah says many product reviews are not real — and he has the data to prove it. Companies constantly plant positive reviews of their own products and sully competitors’ products with negative reviews,” he says. As a result, many of the ratings you read online aren’t credible. For example, up to 70 percent of the reviews on Amazon are not real, he says.“ A clip from a Forbes article from a few years ago. I have a lot more faith in a Hamb review than one from the site that’s selling the product.
Ok, follow up, I would not be surprised about trouble prone distributors made in Asia. And here I've got another one. Maybe it's not the new distributor but with everything set up the engine starts and runs but only with vacuum disconnected! If I try to connect the tube, the engine immediately stumbles, pops and dies.
True. I've used the Delco's ever since i started in this fool hobby--never a failure of any, including multiple dual point types. Converted the duals to Pertronix for the look and they were reliable also.
Ok, has any one had a vacuum advance disfunction or failure in an aftermarket "ready to run" electronic distributor?
Wasn't the "chip shortage" from supply problems with the well proven perfected manufacturing methods that had evolved to producing near aerospace quality electronic components for automotive OEMs ? Compared to the early off topic days (late 70s to mid 80s Duraspark and HEI) modern car electronics are very robust, despite being crazy complicated.
I've put Pertronics in my Olds engine and later installed them in a 401 Buick, both stock GM dizzys, both well "worn" They work flawlessly, I will be putting one in my other Buick, as I have no confidence in anything made in China. Rather than read reviews planted by the website selling this junk, I would seek out the first hand knowledge of those on these forums.
Define what you mean by 'aftermarket.' If distributors made you-know-where use the same 'rubber' they use for brake booster diaphragms and tie rod end dust boots, I would not trust the vacuum advance diaphragm. (Amongst other things)
Pertronix and HEI distributors require 2 things. The first is an absolutely great ground. I think it is less than .2 ohm as measured at the distributor case and the battery negative post. The second is an alternator that is "up to snuff". If one of the diodes is leaking AC current, you will kill solid state distributor. I had 2 vehicles that had that problem. Both had older alternators and, once replaced, the problems went away.
Points and Condenser, one set in the dist. and one set in the glove box will get you there and home again.
I put one of Southwest Performance HEI’s in a Friend of mine’s O/T Rambler. It ran for less than 2 hours and quit. I pulled module out and replaced it with a NAPA unit. Problem solved. I will never use Southwest Performance products again.
Is this A-Team distributor an electronic replacement distributor, and not a modern version of an old points distributor? If so, do you still have a ballast resistor ahead of the coil that's dropping voltage down? The details you gave originally sure sound like the kind of voltage drop I'd expect to see across a ballast resistor. And most electronic distributors, or conversion kits don't work with the ballast resistor inline, except for the Accel 2010ACC conversion that requires the ballast resistor.
Had a buddy in 1969 walk into a Chevy dealership and ask the parts guy to order an electronic distributor for his 67 Vette (it was a plug-in). The parts guy asked why, and told him " if you are in the middle of no where and it fails you're done until you can find a radio tv repairman" He then went on to say that "you can file a set of Ford points to get home in an emergency"..... he left the dealership without ordering the "fancy" distrib!
Someone once asked me why marine engines hung onto points distributors long after the automotive industry had moved on from them; I told him that it was probably because it's much harder to walk home from the middle of a lake.
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