Hot Rods Anyone Know About Pertronix Ingnition?

Sometimes you'll hear someone say a coil either works or it don't. This isn't true. A few shorted turns in the secondary winding will always be tough to spot with an ohmeter because the measurement indicated is still in the ballpark. And the spark may even look OK, but it will be severely attenuated. That's a fancy term for a spark that doesn't last very long. Sometimes the fault won't show up on a cold start but as components reach normal operating temperature go intermittent or fail.

 

Well the saga has ended. I replaced the coil using the original module no help. Played some more with both modules in the distributor on the bench and they both acted the same using the voltmeter hookup HOTRODDON provided, so I was reluctant to replace the module. This morning I finally decided to build my own ignition system using the coil I had replaced, a 12 volt battery and the distributor. When I spun the distributor with the old module hooked up no coil spark. Hooked up the new module and got spark. Put everything back together and the truck started instantly and ran the best it ever has. I think the problem with the voltmeter check is it doesn't tell you what the current carrying capacity of the module is. That's the only explanation I can come up with.

 

I will never use their product again....for any reason. It's a bit OT...but I bought one of their units for my Ford 9N tractor, and the original module was faulty when I received it. The company (not Pertronix) I bought the "kit" from, coil, mounting bracket, dist. block off plate, etc referred me to Pertronix tech support when after installing the kit per the included instructions, it didn't work. Those Pertronix tech support guys treated me like I was totally incompetent to install this "kit", which basically consisted of a two wire hookup. When they FINALLY, after repeated phone calls, cell phone pics, blah blah blah....agreed that their module was bad, they had me cut the wires off the old one, so it couldn't be used again, take a picture of that, and send it to them. THEN....it took 7 working days for them to ship one out to me...I heard every excuse in the book from them, out of stock, on back order, lost the order, they were going "right down!" to shipping and receiving to MAKE SURE it was shipped out....I finally get the new module....it didn't work. Went through the whole spiel with them again, and they again treated me like I was incompetent. I finally called the supplier I got the kit from, the supplier called Pertronix and Pertronix told the supplier that "I" didnt know what I was doing. The supplier called me back, apologized for the "bad experience" of Pertronix tech support, and they refunded me the entire purchase price of the kit. I will NEVER use Pertronix' product because of their crappy customer service/tech support experience. The hell of it is, their product is probably very good for the most part. They wont be getting any of my green though...Ok...I am done ranting....

 

I have to say that the support I received was for the most part good. No long waits on the phone and reasonable suggestions for troubleshooting. I suspect my failure mode may be unusual and one not detected unless you do what I did by creating my own ignition system separate from the vehicle.

 

Even after expressing my disdain for their customer service/tech support personnel, here is a document they sent to me for the module I was attempting to use in my application. I am sure most of their units are similar. Hopefully it will help someone out there!

 

Ive put a pertonix 3. Under stock distibitor. Bout the pertronix as a package with the coil. Easy install run for about a year now no problems. Just gap my pluggs slightly bigger. Still have a generator going as well and no problems