• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

TR2/3/3A Petronix Flame thrower coiled failed after 1-1/2 months

Share this page

T

TuffTR250

Jedi Warrior
Country flag
Offline
I just put the Petronix flame thrower coil on my TR3 about March 10, 2016. It has failed. I had installed the Petronix ignitor about 2 years ago and no problems with that. I was getting no spark to the plugs. On the Flame-thrower I measured the ohms between the + and - terminals and that was 3.5. Then I measured the ohms between the center post and the + terminal and the ohm meter didn't move. Also nothing between center post and - terminal. The label on the coil looks good as new so it did not get too hot. So I put the original coil back on. In re-installing the old coil, since the car is negative ground, I connected the power wire from the battery and the red wire from the Pertronix ignitor to the SW pole on the coil, and connected the black wire from the Pertronix ignitor to the CB pole on the coil. I now have to decide if I stay with the old coil or get a replacement Pertronix Flame-thrower coil.
Regards, Bob
 
Bummer! I had a Lucas coil fail just about that fast, so who do you trust? Fortunately for me, the Pertronix I bought to replace it is still going strong almost 7 years later.

In theory, the 'CB' terminal on the original coil should be positive, but in practice it doesn't seem to make much difference, probably not worth worrying about.
 
Ah, I see your point Randall. I guess when the car was positive ground the SW would have been negative and the CB would have been positive. I got that confused when I was putting the old coil back on. I'm going to change it back to have the CB terminal be the positive terminal. Thanks for the info!
Regards, Bob
 
tdskip, yes since we ordered it direct from Pertronix, I called them and advised them how I tested it to show the failure. The guy gave me a return autorization number and advised me to send it back via a $5 USPS shipping box. He said the box will buldge a bit but they get lots of them back in those boxes. It's the cheapest way to return the coil since I had to pay for shipping it back to them in California. The Pertronix guy said they would ship me a new one at their expense.
Regards, Bob
 
I have been stranded on the side of the road in my TR3 twice. Both times it was either Pertronix or the coil failed. The 58 year old designed parts just keep on going.
I have a 1998 Dodge ram 2500 diesel truck. No computer any thing that needs to be upgraded has to be bolt on parts. I feel more comfortable knowing that I can find the problem and fix it rather than taking the vehicle (like our Audi) to a Audi tech.
 
When you measured the resistance of the high-voltage winding, did you put the ohmmeter on a high scale? The resistance is several thousand ohms. If you use the same scale as for the low-voltage winding, it will seem to indicate an open circuit even if it isn't.
 
Back
Top