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Pertronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

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BrandonBJ8

Jedi Trainee
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Just got my distributor with Pertronix installed back from Jeff at Advanced. I've got everything hooked up but the car won't start. The battery is good (12.35v) and I've double checked the connections. Any ideas?

Thanks!
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

Hi Brandon, Set #1 piston up on TDC on its compression stroke and see if the timing marks on the front of the engine line up and the distributor's rotor arm is pointing at #1 cylinder. Also what polarity ground is in your car and what color are the pertronix wires. Have you verified that you have 12V at the coil?. ---Keoke
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

Beginner's question...how to I set the #1 piston up on TD on its compression stroke?

The Car is negative ground. The petronix wires are red and black. Red hooked up to the + on the coil and black to the -.
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

Hi Brandon,
I have a pos ground BJ8, so the wires from my pertronix are black and black/white. The black/white goes to the SW side of the coil. The black wire goes to the white ignition wire from the harness. From the CB side of the coil there are 2 white/black wires; one goes into the wiring harness and the other use to go to the distributor, but now is rerouted to a grounding point on the chasis.
Neg. ground requires a little different wiring, but I believe you have it correct. BE CAREFUL, HOWEVER, AND MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT GOES WHERE. WIRING THE INCORRECT WAY CAN DAMAGE THE PERTRONIX.
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

BrandonBJ8 said:
Just verified - 11.8v at the coil.
Click to expand...


Ok the wiring seems ok for Neg Gnd. However, that 11.5 volts IMOP is too low and will be pulled even lower when the starter is energised. Suggest battery be given a charge.--Keoke

P.S. Make certain there are only "Three" wires connected to the coil: 1] The White wire from switch is common with 2] The red wire from pertronix and 3] The Black wire only is attached to the Neg terminal on the coil.
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

BrandonBJ8 said:
Just got my distributor with Petronix installed back from Jeff at Advanced. I've got everything hooked up but the car won't start. The battery is good (12.35v) and I've double checked the connections. Any ideas?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Brandon - I've put Pertonix in my BJ8 as well as my BN1. The pertronix magnetic cam/sleeve can shift the breaker timing from the original breaker/cam quite a bit - meaning you may have to rotate your distributor maybe as much as 20 degrees from where it was before to get the timing back on track.

So the solution is to rotate the distributor forwards or backwards quite a bit and see if it catches. Run the timing light while turning the car over and that should give you and idea of which way to turn the distributor. Once you get the timing back in line, you'll never move the distributor again. The pertronix is a great unit.
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

Neg ground Pert. is wired considerably different from the Pos ground model. It's not just different wire colors.

Brandon's connection is correct for a neg ground car.
Quote: "The Car is negative ground. The petronix wires are red and black. Red hooked up to the + on the coil and black to the -."

One black wire from the Pert to the neg coil terminal - nothing else. One red wire from the Pert to the pos coil terminal with an additional white wire or two on this same terminal. Do not connect the white-black wire that goes to the battery shut off switch.

I have attached a wiring diagram of the two types. The wiring diagram doesn't mention removing the "points ground" to the battery switch.
D
PS - Make sure that the black Pert timing sleeve is not holding the rotor up so high that it strikes the inside cap contacts.
 

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  • 4958-PertConnections.jpg
    4958-PertConnections.jpg
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Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

You can static time the basic Pertronix unit. The more elaborate Pertronix unit cannot be static timed this way.

1- With the engine set a little before TDC & the distributor pointing a little before the #1 plug wire position. Dist. rotation is CCW.

2- A volt meter between the the two low voltage coil terminals should read around 12 volts when the coil is not fired. IGNITION SWITCH ON.

3- Rotate the engine in the forward direction until the meter drops to zero. This is the firing point of the Pertronix. Check the timing pointer location & rotate the distributor body slightly as needed to get the firing point where you want it. Something like 10-15 degrees before TDC or 1/2" on the pointer.

It's easy to rotate the engine a bit while watching the meter. Put the car in fourth gear & turn the front wheel to move the car. Turning the wheel instead of pushing the car gives much more leverage & control.

Don't forget to turn the IGNITION SWITCH OFF when finished.
D
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

May I suggest a simple test? You are looking for two things: first test is, are you creating spark? The second test is are you timed properly? First things first. Spark regardless if you are timed place a spark plug on any high tension lead and turn over the motor with the starter. You should probably remove all spark plugs to allow the engine to rev-up with the starter as your voltage seems low. If you don't have spark then you should contact the factory or the person who sold you the distributor up grade. If you have spark then take the cap and wires off, place your thumb over the #1 cylinder and have someone crank her over with the starter. Top dead center will be approximately where you feel and hear air rushing past your thumb (compression stroke). Observe the position of the rotor sweep contact and make sure the #1 plug wire matches with that location. If it doesn’t line up properly then loosen the distributor hold down and rotate the distributor until you are satisfied that the sweep will be under the #1 plug wire when the distributor cap is in place. Now make sure the firing order is correct. I am in Mexico but I think it is 153624. CHECK THAT IN YOUR BOOK. Now make sure that as the sweep continues to rotate through the next wire locations that the plug wire order is correct. Now put it all back together with the hold down loose. Remember that the engine is roughly timed with your eye reference to rotor sweep being under the #1 when you experienced compression. The firing centers are 60deg apart so you need not adjust beyound +/- 30 deg I would not go beyond +/- 20 myself. Have someone crank her while you twist the distributor +/- 20 deg(less than an 1/8th of a circle) She should catch and then you can fine tune from there.
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I've got quite a lot of suggestions here so I'm not sure which way to go.

Dave, I will likely try your method. Before I start, how can I set the engine to a little before TDC? Also, which terminals on the coil are the low voltage terminals? The ignition needs to be on during this process, right?

Thanks!
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

Yes Roger, the ignition needs to be on during the process. However your inexperience with these methods can incur test times that cause the Pert module to burn out so be careful.---Keoke
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

Keoke - Not sure I'm catching on about test times and the pertronix module burning out. Could you explain?
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

brandonbj8, i believe what keoke means by "test times" is that if you have the ignition switch on for an extended period of time in a certain configuration while testing youll burn out the module, they are fragile, dont ask me how i know. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wall.gif oh ya!
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

anthony7777 said:
brandonbj8, i believe what keoke means by "test times" is that if you have the ignition switch on for an extended period of time in a certain configuration while testing youll burn out the module, they are fragile, dont ask me how i know. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wall.gif oh ya!
Click to expand...


Yep--- Just leaving the ignition switch on for an extended period of time [while you perform these tests] without the engine running can toast the Pert Module Keoke--- /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/yesnod.gif
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

I have all 4 terminals on the coil connected to something. There is a white and a white/black wire coming out of a harness and the white is connected to the + while the white/black is connected to the -. I noticed that I should only have one wire (from the Pert) connected to the + terminal and nothing else. Should I just disconnect that white/black wire from the - terminal?

Thanks
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

Yes - I think I said it earlier. The white-black wire goes to the battery shut off switch as part of an anti theft arrangement. Do not connect this wire.
D
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

I disconnected the black/white wire and there was no change.

I just purchased an Optima Battery (75/35) as a load test was done on my previous and it failed. I hooked up the new battery and am only getting about 10.9v at the coil. Is this a problem?

Also, how can I manually set the engine to a little bit before TDC?
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

BrandonBJ8 said:
I have all 4 terminals on the coil connected to something. There is a white and a white/black wire coming out of a harness and the white is connected to the + while the white/black is connected to the -. I noticed that I should only have one wire (from the Pert) connected to the + terminal and nothing else. Should I just disconnect that white/black wire from the - terminal?

Thanks
Click to expand...




Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes--------------Keoke
 
Re: Petronix and Dist Rebuild - Car not starting

BrandonBJ8 said:
I disconnected the black/white wire and there was no change.

I just purchased an Optima Battery (75/35) as a load test was done on my previous and it failed. I hooked up the new battery and am only getting about 10.9v at the coil. Is this a problem?

Also, how can I manually set the engine to a little bit before TDC?
Click to expand...

Well I do not know but 10.4 -to -10.5 Volts defines a discharged battery. Measure the voltage at the battery it should be about 12.9 Volts.----Keoke
 
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