Left my key on for 5 hours and wont start, UGG!!!!!!

I was troubleshooting my brake lights, they stopped working, and got distracted because my son called me out on a corn hole game! We went left hand, right hand, then proceeded to spend the entire afternoon swimming in the pool with the kids while my coil was cooking away! Its a bn-7 and the coil was super hot, so quickly threw in the spare coil but she wouldn't even sputter. Were running a pertronix ignition.

Any ideas?

Thanks kindly for any advice

Fried Pertronix (not good, even with Tabasco).

Agree with Bob. Leaving the ignition on without the engine running will fry a Petronix.

You were running a Petronix.

YEP... Pertronix sounds like it's done for. See this link from pertronix support:
http://support.pertronix.com/kb/faq.php?id=3

Ugggg, sure sounds like it, crap.. Well, if there's any good that came from it, I crushed the kids at corn hole. Dad still holds the title, ha!

Pertronix' tech support told me not to leave the ignition on without the engine running for more than 45 seconds. Let's see, 5 hrs = 18,000 seconds, or, 400 x 45 seconds. I've fried at least one of them.

Currently running a Pertronix II which has an automatic shutoff built in.

WOW, Thanks for posting that Steve, didnt even know they had that!! I'll use my spare till the new one arrives....

I better do it now as I've noticed that as time goes on I have a 50/50 chance of loosing my keys, phone, wallet before each trip :>).... So, the odd's of this happening again, even with this lesson, is very real and being stranded with the Mrs, raining, could be VERY painful, ha!

steveg said:

Pertronix' tech support told me not to leave the ignition on without the engine running for more than 45 seconds. Let's see, 5 hrs = 18,000 seconds, or, 400 x 45 seconds. I've fried at least one of them.

Currently running a Pertronix II which has an automatic shutoff built in.

Click to expand...

Still no love.

I switched out the pertronix, coil, and when i crank it theres still no spark. I swapped both fuese's just in case, took a multi-meter to the coil and with the key in the on position, i dont get a reading. Any ideas?

I've used Richards wiring diagram and it looks like the coil directly connects to the switch, so do i test from the switch to see if i might have smoked the wire?

https://get.google.com/albumarchive...-w74x4Kj0P4k2noHyUEaqhh4H#5848222494024288690

Check Battery And see if fully charged.??

Hello there my friend!

I checked and do have power to coil and its turning over great, just no spark, no pop...cap?

Keoke said:

Check Battery And see if fully charged.??

Click to expand...

So I just tested and have power thru the coil, but its not hitting the cap. Did I test this right??

Meantime, i'll swap the cap...

https://youtu.be/aXewm9CKoKY

So I pulled the coil wire and see 12v coming through, and I pulled the graphite piece and indeed got continuity through the wire in the cap... and still no spark...

Rotor?

Do you have one of the good red rotors?

Some of the old ones with brass rivets crack, allowing a short to ground.

If your car is positive ground you're SOL for an Ignitor II:

"Hello Bob. Unfortunately, we do not make an Ignitor II with positive ground for your application(*). We will not develop this anytime soon per our Engineer. PLEASE LOG BACK INTO TICKET SYSTEM TO REPLY DO NOT PRESS REPLY ON NOTIFICATION EMAIL Thank you.

Your Pertronix Team,
Elvis Duenas
Technical Advisor"

*BJ8 with positive ground.

kkaa said:

So I pulled the coil wire and see 12v coming through, and I pulled the graphite piece and indeed got continuity through the wire in the cap... and still no spark...

Click to expand...

If you hold the cap end of the high voltage wire ~1/4” from a ground, and crank the engine, do you get a spark? BTW, I use a wooden paint stirrer with a hole in it to hold the wire instead of letting it bite me.

At the coil, remove the high-tension lead going to the distributor cap.
Remove the spark plug wire and plug for cylinder #1 from the engine and from the dizzy cap.
Plug that wire into the center terminal of the coil, seat the spark plug in the other end of the wire, then rest the plug on the cylinder head. (I prefer this to holding the wire next to the head as suggested above. I've been bitten too many times).

Now have someone crank the engine while you watch for a spark at the plug resting on the head.
If you do see the plug sparking, that says the coil and module are working. That means the problem is in either the rotor, cap, or main high-tension lead lead.
If you do not see a spark there are a few potential problems to check for...
Did you remember to fit the Pertronix magnet ring under the rotor?
With the wires removed does the coil still have about 3 Ohms across its low-tension terminals?
Is there a ground wire present between the breaker plate and the dizzy housing?

BTW, Steve G. and I have been told different values for the Pertronix overheat time. He was told 45 seconds, I was told 3 minutes, others I know have been told 5 minutes. Regardless, it's a known problem. Whenever I need to work on something that requires leaving the ignition on I unplug the Pertronix red wire first.

Hi Steve, thank you and yes, thats the same one i have and also swapped it with the regular type and still no love...

steveg said:

Rotor?

Do you have one of the good red rotors?

Some of the old ones with brass rivets crack, allowing a short to ground.

View attachment 59496

Click to expand...

Hi Bob, nope, neg ground, took care of that long ago... Thanks for the note!

Bob_Spidell said:

If your car is positive ground you're SOL for an Ignitor II:

"Hello Bob. Unfortunately, we do not make an Ignitor II with positive ground for your application(*). We will not develop this anytime soon per our Engineer. PLEASE LOG BACK INTO TICKET SYSTEM TO REPLY DO NOT PRESS REPLY ON NOTIFICATION EMAIL Thank you.

Your Pertronix Team,
Elvis Duenas
Technical Advisor"

*BJ8 with positive ground.

Click to expand...

John Turney said:

If you hold the cap end of the high voltage wire ~1/4” from a ground, and crank the engine, do you get a spark? BTW, I use a wooden paint stirrer with a hole in it to hold the wire instead of letting it bite me.

Click to expand...

Let me give it a try and will post back, thanks John!