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Pertronix

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regularman

regularman

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I just ordered a pertronix. I took a long ride today. Went to the top of mount Mitchell. Highest point east of the rockies. Awesome drive up and the wife and I spent some time looking out and then went down to the restaraunt there at the peak and had a good lunch.
That is where the fun ended. Engine started cutting out. I coasted a long way and stopped and cleaned the points, filed them, etc. Managed to barely make it back home with it backfiring and all that. I just walked away from it in the basement. Seems like that thing is eating points or condenser every 10th trip I take.
Time to try the pertronix. I used points for years with no problem. I don't know what is going on with the midget but it is ticking me off.
 
I went to a positive ground Pertronix distributor and like it.
 
Kim, I am sure from reading your previous posts that you have the right coil for the ignition type so I won't start a ballast vs standard ignition discussion. I also assume that your dizzy cam is either oil wick lubed or you have put a smear of light grease on it. Without the lube the points close up very quickly. Sarastro has suggested some non-traditional replacements for the original condensers. It might be worth trying those in combination with a new set of points.

Obviously Pertronix remains an option. However, if there is some underlying problem behind the points problems... the Pertronix may suffer the same issue.
 
dklawson said:
Kim, I am sure from reading your previous posts that you have the right coil for the ignition type so I won't start a ballast vs standard ignition discussion. I also assume that your dizzy cam is either oil wick lubed or you have put a smear of light grease on it. Without the lube the points close up very quickly. Sarastro has suggested some non-traditional replacements for the original condensers. It might be worth trying those in combination with a new set of points.

Obviously Pertronix remains an option. However, if there is some underlying problem behind the points problems... the Pertronix may suffer the same issue.
Click to expand...
I was hoping it was just the points closed up but the gap looked good. Its just so hard to get in there and do anything, especially with everything hot. Yeah I got a 3 ohm coil so I am not burning anything up that way that I know of. I never had this much trouble out of the Lucas distributor. The old minis would get wet and you have to stop and wipe out the cap but the points lasted forever it seemed. I do have a brand new coil I carry for emergency but I would have to run it with a ballast because its it the old 6v type that is only 1.5 ohms. The surface of the points was kind of white and worn looking like it had been arching. I think I will try a new condenser on it tomorrow morning and see what it does. If that fixes it then I might do like I have done with old tractors and mount the condenser outside the cap on the firewall with a spade connector so you can swap it quick.
 
Did the pertronix swap in the stock dizzy, wonderful upgrade. Will never deal with points again.
 
Two or three things here...

1) It's far easier to set the points if you pull out the dizzy and do it on the bench. If you pull it by undoing the the two bolts that hold the clamp to the block, you don't even need to retime the engine.

2) Many people have used Pertronix for years without any problems whatsoever, but many have been stranded. If you go with pertronix, carry a spare set of points and condensor, just in case. However, I have never heard of a single failure of a CRANE conversion. Not one.

3) If you stay with points, Peter C., alias Peter the Parts Pimp, has little condensor "replacements". He "hoggs out" the guts of a condensor and replaces them with electronics, and puts a little LED on them. They limit the switching voltage to .4 volts. He had put such a unit in his mini and gone over 50,000 miles without even having to adjust the points as wear had all but ceased. The LED makes it a snap to static time the car as well.
 
Pythias said:
Two or three things here...

2) Many people have used Pertronix for years without any problems whatsoever, but many have been stranded. If you go with pertronix, carry a spare set of points and condensor, just in case. However, I have never heard of a single failure of a CRANE conversion. Not one.
Click to expand...

X2... my thoughts and experience exactly :cheers:
 
I'm not going to jinx myself by saying how many years/miles I've run my pertronix. :wink:
 
I installed the current Pertronix in my Spridget in 2001 when it was still technically a street car.

One of the things I believe has made it last: I run the coil voltage through the ballast resistor all the time.
I am running an American type coil with external ballast.

In other words, I don't side-step the ballast resistor when starting. It still has plenty of juice for starting and (I think) the resistor reduces voltage spikes to the unit.
 
61frogeye said:
I have Pertronix and carry a points/condenser set in the car.
Click to expand...

I have had a Pertronix in my TR6 for 8 years and been in 28 States so far. Been to the Atlantic and the Pacific. And in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. Even pulled a trailer 6,000 miles this summer. But I do carry a dist. plate with points all ready to go in the car if needed.

I have points in my Midget. I got the points, cond., rotor, cap, and wires from Jeff at Advanced Dist. I am waiting to see if I like driving the Midget enough to keep it. If I do it too will have a pertronix.
 
To those with the Crane/Alison ignition, they are good. I ran one for years. They are a bit more involved to setup than Pertronix. However, even though the external control module is supposed to be sealed, do NOT get it wet. The only reason our GT6 currently has a Pertronix unit is because I washed the engine compartment and got the Alison control box wet. Water got inside and that was the end of that module.

Kim, the external condenser method is exactly what Sarastro did. Check out his old thread in the link below.
Steve's Old Condenser Thread

If you do go the Pertronix route, let me be the 4th or 5th to say, carry a spare set of points and a condenser with you. No matter how inconvenient you can install those on the side of the road, static time the car and limp home should anything happen.
 
I have been getting pretty good at limping home, but I am tired of it. I have a bag with extra points, condenser and all the tools to change it out. Thing is that on my other cars that had points, I would go 20k miles before I touched them when I put a new set in. This seems to be going about 2k miles if that. I think its the condensers. I bought a dozen off ebay from an old excel supercoil dealer and thought the lucas ones with the orange wire was the problem. I didn't change out the condenser on the road for fear of losing the little screw. I messed with the points enough to make it home. I will pull the dist this morning. I like the idea that pythias has.
 
Pertronix fires 90° apart , the Crane does not . The shutter wheel is not molded correctly . Some are as much as 4° apart which is no good for a high compression engines .Crane is aware of this & sent me a few replacements , all of which were no good . We ended up shaving the shutter wheel until all were firing correctly . Not a problem with Pertronix .
 
Pythias said:
2) Many people have used Pertronix for years without any problems whatsoever, but many have been stranded. If you go with pertronix, carry a spare set of points and condensor, just in case.
Click to expand...

Or, as I do (in my onboard car-tools), I carry that old distributor. :yesnod:
 
What about the pertronix tends to cause failure? it seems pretty simple and reliable in design.
 
OK, I went back downstairs this afternoon and work with the midget. Pull the distributor and put in brand new points and condenser. Set the gap and cleaned everything real good and tested contact with a meter. All good. Put distributor back in and reconnected. Started it and it was still cutting out like crazy.
I took some jumpers with alligator clips and connected another coil, it ran like a top. Installed new coil.
This is a ballast type and I don't have a resistor, still I wanted to make sure it ran right for a few minutes.
left my drive and it had a slight stutter, made it 1/4 mile and it would barely move and had to pull into a drive.
Messed with it a bit more and barely made it home(involved pushing).
I love that little car so much but I am so ticked off at it right now.
I am electrical by trade and have worked in control circuits of all kinds and this is kicking my butt to shame.
Time to go back to basics and confirm the +12 is not intermittent. It could be a simple power problem.
Battery is not worth a flip either. I guess 5 years is about the lifetime on them.
Alternator is charging well and batt has water.
Time for a beer and forget this for a bit.
 
regularman said:
Time for a beer and forget this for a bit.
Click to expand...

Excellent plan, in my opinion. Think I'll join you.

Yes, this really sounds like something intermittent that you haven't found yet. It could be anywhere. When I first got my bugeye, it behaves somewhat like what you describe, and I found, almost by accident, that the high-voltage lead from the coil to the distributor was not making good contact at the coil. It had the kind of connector that screws into the coil, and it wasn't quite crimping the wire end to the contact. It worked most of the time, but occasionally would have a lot of missing.

By the way, there are other makes of electronic ignition besides Pertronix. I had a Crane in my bugeye and thought it was pretty good. I use a 123Ignition distributor in the Porsche, and I think it's a wonderful unit. They're made for Sprites too.
 
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