HELP WITH PERTRONIX IGNITOR, electronic ignition,

[bucketofbolts]

i've installed a pertronix ignitor(the one that doen'ts need machining)
also have fitted new plugs, leads and coil,

and have double checked,
all wiring, instructions say run red wire (from ignitor) to positive side if ballist resistor and black wire to negitive side of coil, done that,
dizzy, to make sure it was all lined up,


we have no spark coming from coil.
i'm thinking no spark from ignitor to coil,

any ideas or help would be great,

cheers ray

[bucketofbolts]

it runs a wire internally from the side of the dizzy to the base plate for the ignitor,
i will run a separte earth out to the body and see what happens,

thanks

cheres ray

[bucketofbolts]

bump

[toy yoda]

hook a test lamp up to the coil and turn engine over see if the lamp indicates a fire at all. You said that u had no spark was that at the plug? Is the ignition timing set accuratly? if the timing is out too far then you can have a dist fire but send it nowhere (none of the plugs)....May sound like a stupid thing but is the coil wired correctly. Also you said your vehicle runs a ballast resistor i presume that you have wired it up with power into the resistor and the ign set on the opposite end. If you have a multimetre check the voltage at either end of the ballast resistor you should have 12.5-14 v at the power end and about 9.5 volt at the other end. the ballast resistors do die over time. check that the spring loades rotor cap contact in the dizzy cap is still there, they have been known to dissapear too....
just a list of stuff ive come across over the years

[bucketofbolts]

hook a test lamp up to the coil and turn engine over see if the lamp indicates a fire at all. You said that u had no spark was that at the plug? i tested it from the coil and tried to get it to spark against the block, May sound like a stupid thing but is the coil wired correctly. wired up as per old coil, Also you said your vehicle runs a ballast resistor i presume that you have wired it up with power into the resistor and the ign set on the opposite end. If you have a multimetre check the voltage at either end of the ballast resistor you should have 12.5-14 v at the power end and about 9.5 volt at the other end. the ballast resistors do die over time. check that the spring loades rotor cap contact in the dizzy cap is still there, they have been known to dissapear too....
just a list of stuff ive come across over the years
have checked the ballist resistor, 1.9ohms without the motor turning over and the same at the coil, will check it again with the motor turnng over,

cheers ray,
one bloke has told me to run the wire straight from the pos+ on battery and just earth the other side and see whta happens,

[GQFourby]

The original points set up had an internal earth inside the dizzy. This needs to be earthed to the pertronix unit same as the points.

[bucketofbolts]

The original points set up had an internal earth inside the dizzy. This needs to be earthed to the pertronix unit same as the points.
yeah the original earth in the dizzy is still there, i cleaned under it so it would make a good contact,

ray

[bucketofbolts]

Also you said your vehicle runs a ballast resistor i presume that you have wired it up with power into the resistor and the ign set on the opposite end. If you have a multimetre check the voltage at either end of the ballast resistor you should have 12.5-14 v at the power end and about 9.5 volt at the other end. the ballast resistors do die over time.

power side of the ballist resistor is showing 11.45 and the other side is showing 10.15,

[bucketofbolts]

i just put a wire from the pos on battery to the red ignitor wire, the black wire from the ignitor to the multi meter and then to earth,
nothing,

i'm thinking ignitor i stuft

[toy yoda]

i just put a wire from the pos on battery to the red ignitor wire, the black wire from the ignitor to the multi meter and then to earth,
nothing,

i'm thinking ignitor i stuft

you would still have to rotate dizzy shaft to "ignite" the ignitor

[bucketofbolts]

yeah, i had the motor turning over

[toy yoda]

ok, yeh sounds like shes a dud

[bucketofbolts]

now the battery is dead,
have put an external earth on, there is current there, but very little,

batterys in charge, so see what happens tomorrow

[bucketofbolts]

this is where im at,

red wire (from ignitor)to positive side of ballist resistor,
black wire (from ignitor) to negitive side of coil,
fully charged battery,
got someone to wind it over while adjusted teh dizzy slowly from one side to another and back again,
and still nothing,
wtf is going on,

im ready to ditch this idea,

[toy yoda]

sorry mate with out seeing it im out of ideas

[bucketofbolts]

yeah, i have an external earth from earth on the coil to the bolt that holds it on,
i just tested the ballist resistor with ignition on,
12volts on the positive side, and 5.5volts on the negitive side,
that doesn't sound right to me,
how does that sound?

[toy yoda]

a ballast resistor doenot have a pos and neg side it is a resisted and non resisted side. 5.5 volt is not uncommon as it should increase to 9.5 when running.... but as you cant run engine its hard to measure.... bypass the resistor and try the ignition again.. this will push 12-14v thru, i thought the points replacement systems needed that anyway now i think about it. a points ignition system only uses 9.5v if you bypass the resistor with points you will burn the points out quickly....so check with resistor bypassed (connect both ends together) but remove bypass unless you need the 12v

[toy yoda]

Have a look at this site your not on your own...he found confusing instructions and found that the ignitor has also advance the timing to 30deg....worth a read
Pertronix Ignitor (http://home.comcast.net/~jrkengr2/html/pertronix_ignitor.html)

[bucketofbolts]

might buy a new ballist resistor and see what happens,

[toy yoda]

$12 at super cheap, 5.5v sounds too low from memory but i usually only measure with engine running

[bucketofbolts]

just did what retro rocket said to do,
put a wire from the neg on battery to black on multi meter and then red from multi meter to ignitor base plate,
supposed to be 0.2ohms,
mine was 0.8ohms,
i took the ignitor out, cleaned up under it, under the earth wire and under the coil,
now have 0.5ohms, so getting there,
but not close enough,

any ideas,

p.s the ballist resistor sounds ok, my dad has a GQ and tested his and said it's the same as mine,

[bucketofbolts]

i have cleaned up every earth i can, and still 0.5ohms,
even when i put a wire on the neg on battery through the multi meter and then back to neg on battery, still 0.5ohms,

i've had enough of this shit,
going back to points

[bucketofbolts]

ok, here's an update,

i now have 0.00ohms, so thats that sorted,

i have 11.84volts @ ignitor wires,(battery is on change, so maybe end up more)

5.10volts @ coil, (with power on) that was red wire from multi meter to positive and black wire from multi meter to negitive on coil,

11.77volts @ ballist resistor (checked on power side, with power on,)
5.10volts other side,


so does that sound about right,

[KillaMav]

Sometimes you have to stop and think.... Is it really worth the time and effort

The time spent playing around could have been used to go 4wding??
The advantages of electronic ignition must be worth it.

[bucketofbolts]

yeah tell me about it,

its suppose to be a 1hour job at the most, yeah right,
can't get out there anyway, so atleast it gives me some thing to do,
prefer to have teeth pulled,

[bucketofbolts]

im getting 9volts out the disributor end of the coil lead,
is that enough to start

[bucketofbolts]

still not going, have 9volts at the end off the coil lead,
trying to get it sorted, no luck,

ignitor must be working ok,

[bucketofbolts]

ok,
i have 9volts from the coil lead and into the cap,
i'm thinking the timing is out,
what should it be set at???
how many degree's before top dead center????

[toy yoda]

5-7 from memory but i dont have a specs guide anymore and havent tuned one for a long time

[bucketofbolts]

thanks, that wil give me something to work on,
so have the dizzy pointing to number 1 on the dizzy cap and set it to 5-7btc,

ray

[toy yoda]

manually turn engine over until timing mark is at 7 deg on number 1 (rotor cap pointing to #1 lead, then hook a test lamp onto the coil the lamp will be lit with the ignition on. Slowly rotate the distributor untill the lamp turns off. with the timing mark @ 7 deg the engine is static timed it is quite an accurate way of timing an unrunning engine.

[bucketofbolts]

i iwll have to buy a timing light,
thanks

[toy yoda]

no dont need a timing light just a test lamp, you can make one out of a tail light globe and 2 wires if desperate enough. a test ligh is like a screw driver with a wire out with an aligator clip on the end, of it and a globe inside about $5.00 at super cheap. A timing light that clips onto the spark plug lead is usuless untill the engine is running.. Though you would need one to finalise timing when you get the bugger going. though from experience ive set hundreds of systems staticlly first and 90% of the time when i chuck a timing light later it is accurate

[bucketofbolts]

cool, thanks, i will make one up and test it tomorrow,

[toy yoda]

good luck dude, you gotta have a win soon!

[bucketofbolts]

yeah hope so,

[bucketofbolts]

i've tested the ignitor, im pretty sure its dodgy,

will do a few more tests later today and find out, but not looking good,

[marvic]

Bucketofbolts, I don't want to be the pr**k here in any way but I was looking at the last 4wd monthly ad for these ignitor electronic ignitions myself.
The web site out of the mag was a place in Lilydale and it was priced at $220 alone or supply and fitted was $275. I'd chuck your unit at the store owner or the rubbish bin mate.
I'm now more inclined to get them to fit it so I don't have to put up with what your going through, I'm half grey now!

[bucketofbolts]

yeah, i hear ya,

it is supposed to be easy to install, thats why i took it on,

im just waiting on a replacement unit now,

cheers ray

[KillaMav]

Still trying I see.

[bucketofbolts]

yeah well, i've come this far and upgraded everything to suit,

[bucketofbolts]

the new ignitor turned up today, but to bloody sick to care,

will get dad to fit it and see what happens,

we will have to grind the dizzy shaft for the magnetic sleeve to fit, hopefully we can get it tight, if we stuft it up, i have another dizzy,
i think it slots in anyway and wedges down whne the rotor button goes back on,

see what happens this time,

ray

[bucketofbolts]

well, we have fitted the ignitor,

now we no spark from the coil, (its a brand new coil),

[gordy]

Hi Ray,
your not filling me with enthusiasm here, mine is being shipped from the States today and was really hoping that your install issues would go away with the replacement unit.
Best of luck mate and will watch with interest, let us know how the grinding went and how difficult it was.

[bucketofbolts]

the grinding part was easy, its just the 1st lip the rotor button sits on, then the magnetic sleeve slides down over the shaft, (so dont grind the square section at the bottom),

let me know how you go with yours,

[bucketofbolts]

here's where im at,

i have tested the coil, with the dial on ohms, 2ohms, with red wire on pos and black wire on neg,

tested the ballist resistor both sides,
with ignitition on, 11.58volts power side and 6volts other side,
while cranking, 9volts both sides,

so not real sure what that tells me,
but someone might know if it should be like that,

ray

[KillaMav]

Still Trying??

Hope you get there soon:)

[bucketofbolts]

after weeks of :crazy:

nearly all sorted, it turned out to be a earth wire that with the new coil said to use,
well it doesn't need it, so i found out,

we have spark now, just need to reset the timing and it should start, then it will be :drink: time,

so should be going soon, :thumb: ,

cheers ray

[GQFourby]

Good stuff!

[bucketofbolts]

yeah, it was doing my head in,

[KillaMav]

So it works now????
If so horay. Like your 4wdmonthly shed too.

[bucketofbolts]

yeah all good now, running good,

thanks about the shed too,

cheers ray