• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Pertronix + MSD ignition problem

Share this page

Jim_Newman

Jim_Newman

Jedi Hopeful
Offline
I have been running a Pertronix Ignitor1 with a Lucas SP12 Sport coil for some time now. The three DCOE 45s could benefit from more complete burning of fuel especially at lower RPMs and the thought of a multiple spark system (MSD) was appealing. So after much review of the pros and cons, I just installed an A6 MSD unit along with a new MSD Blaster2 coil. I also installed a new distributor cap (and yes I ground down the carbon button to make it compatible with the Pertronix. I did not, on advice of MSD install a ballast resistor even though the Blaster2 has a low primary resistance.
Finally, I turned the ignition key on and pushed the start button. She burst into life and sounded pretty good - for about 30seconds. Then all went quite and she refused to restart.
Thinking it might be relasted to the new parts I added, I returned the whole system back to its original set up. Same result.
Upon inspection I can find nothing wrong with the electrical system. No fuses blew, all the ignition wires have continuity. All the wiring is as it was. Everything else works as it did.
Have I fried the Pertronix? Is there some simple test I could make to verify this (other than noting that there seems to be no spark anymore)?
Could it be something else?
As always, any advice and guidance is greatly appreciated.
Cheers
 
Hi Jim,
What wires did you use to hook the MSD up to the Pertronix? The Violet and green wires?
 
Hi Greg
Thanks for responding.
It seems that the violet and green wires, which are from the MSD magnetic pickup connector, are used mainly when wiring into a Mallory9000 series. The instalation instructions for wiring to Pertronox do not specify the magnetic pickup. The MSD is connected to the Pertronix/distributor via the red and white wires.
Jim
 
Sounds like the module was fried to me .Probably should have used the external ballast resistor recommended.--Fwiw--Keoke
 
Revert back to the original contact points, using the correct MSD wiring schematic, and see if you have *life* again.

In this configuration, the contact points will last a very long time, as they're only being used as the trigger; there's no appreciable current flowing through them.

I'm using the new MSD 6 AL II (digital) with a DP Mallory (second set of points disconnected) and it has made a world of difference at low to slow engine & road speeds.
 
You are probably right Keoke. But this is what I received from MSD tech advice people.

"With a Pertronix Igniter and a Blaster II coil ONLY, you will need the resistor.


A Pertronix Igniter and a 6 series ignition unit, you will NOT need the resistor."

This is what made me assume it was something else that went wrong.
 
OK Jim

Randys suggestion of going back to points should get you running I Hope.--Keoke
 
Back
Top