I think not catching it on the side of the road is a case of "My own car on the side of the road dead brainfart" If we rolled up behind another rodder who was similary stuck on the side of the road we would systematically go through a check list of elimination to figure out the issue but when it is our car we forget to do that until we get home a good point of the time or we have sat there long enough that we start checking things and marking them off the list. We forgot to go though the basics of: Will it crank over? Does it try to start if it does crank? Will the headlights come on" Does the volt meter show any voltage? Does the radio or other electrical accessory work? If it is our own car all of that goes out the window all too often. I'm having to believe that the majority of Pertronix issues are due to the person with the car not doing exactly as Pertronix says or not using a part that GMC Bubba or another person who has done serious research on says works well with that system. The "I just paid 60 bucks for this coil last year, I am not changing it" syndrome.
Sorry to hear of your break down, Gary. I think this is a bit of a broad brush statement. Many, many Pertronix units are still working perfectly fine. People tend to run into issues when they do not follow the directions to the letter. Not saying this is Gary's issue and I'm curious to find out what failed. That said, sure anything electronic can fail. Happens on modern cars daily. One rising problem with points is it is getting harder and harder to source good point sets and condensers.
Depending on which Petronix module you have, some use a 1.5 ohm coil. I would double check what you have before you change it.
Thanks for the update on the problem. Too many times the problem is posted and never resolved. Although Pertronix seems to get a lot of criticism the only problem I had with one was my fault. Electrical seems to be an area where creative ideas either over-complicate or under size the system. In particular, putting components in difficult to see or service places makes roadside repair a problem.
Interesting, basically a sock coil for a vw bug. the Blue coil is the 'hot vw' performance upgrade. I've got a Mallory for my 348, had no idea what coil to run, so contacted Mallory (now Holley} tech support. the reply came back to use a bosch blue coil. I thought they must have got it wrong, as I knew a blue coil as being a VW performance thing form the 70's, but this seems to validate it, which is handy, as I have a couple lying about.
Back to my previous question. What else is on the circuit protected by the maxi fuse that you said failed? Was it actually a 30 amp fuse that popped? Your ignition system probably doesn't draw more than 2 or 3 amps if I remember correctly.
Knowing all of this, I still think you should change the thread title to something like : "Modern technology left me stranded in my '40 Ford".
I'm thinking the car has a Maxi fuse where you would have a fusible link on newer cars. Pretty standard in some wiring kits. As far as blowing it, he may have just had a combination of things turned on that drew more amps than the fuse wanted to handle.
That would make perfect sense. But his post made it sound like it was something tied only into the ignition circuit. It would have cleared things up better if he'd mentioned that the blown maxi fuse also took out his exterior lighting, gauge cluster, and/or his electric fuel pump.
Here's the skinny on what transpired. I was on my way to Speedway's final cars & coffee. Running about 80 mph 20 miles north of home on the 4 lane. When I left I had the headlights on but in 20 miles it was light enough to turn them off. The light switch is right beside the power switch and as I reached for the light switch I accidentally bumped the power switch and turned off the juice. I flipped the switch back on, put the car in neutral, pushed the starter button and nothing. Starter cranked but nothing else. Coasted to the side of the road and if you read my first post you know the rest of the story. I should have been smarter but I had brain fade and forgot about the Maxi fuse. (I had a spare) Guess that's what comes with bumping 80 years old?
LOL! Thanks for the TELL ALL! Too many times, I have found the problem is ME. Sure glad you discovered the problem. Ben
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