Ok guys I am having all kinds of problems with my ignition in flatty right now. Mallory Dual Point ignition Pertronix 40,000 watt coil 16 lbs of vaccum at idle new Autolite 216 plugs it will start up and idle all day, when I take it down the road and get a mile away from the house is starts to cut out, run rough and will cut off. It will fire right back up and run 40 feet approx. and cut off again. This makes it hell trying to get back home. Once this crap starts it wont idle any longer and will simply cut off. I am getting plenty fuel as my new plugs are already black. Any ideas? HELP
It sounds like you are getting a heat induced open. Start with cleaning all the grounds. Make up a short wire to ground the dizzy housing, the hold down some times isn't enough.
You might try a different cap. I've heard of the red caps arcing off inside the cap under load. Is this an early or late flathead setup? You might try using one set of points just to see if it helps.
What is a dizzy housing? Damn I feel stupid here...maybe im loosing brain cells because im pulling out all my hair!
Hope ya meant to say 40,000 VOLT coil not watts.?? If its a low ressitance coil of less than 1 ohm etc and theres a improper amount of primary resistance the coil is more than likely getting hot and just shutting down. I would measure the resistance across the igniton coil positive and negative terminals should be 1.5 to 2.0 ohms and then a ballast should be in the system of another 1.5./2.0 ohms as well. Total primary on a mallory with points should be 3 to 4 ohms etc. 4 ohms divided into 12 volts would be 3 amps of primary current etc. Points cant handle much more than that . Do you have another coil to try ??? May not be a bad coil , just a mis application of the coil...
yes ign ballast resistor. usually a bad one will be open(no continuity) go with gmcbubba's advice for the correct resistance value for your coil i usually just get one from napa and they seem to work.
Just went through a similar problem with the '38 that Harrison used to own. Won't take the time to tell all of the crap we tried to get it to run right but in the end a old used condenser (all of the parts stores were closed when I got the brain surge) got it running like a champ. Your experience may vary. Frank
LOL yes I did mean to say VOLT (see i told you I am loosing brain cells here). The coil i am using is a 40000volt coil, 1.5 ohm. Speedway pt #447-45001 Thanks for your help with this!
If the coil doesn't have an internal ballast resistor you need to get one that does. You really don't need a gazillion volts. Nothing more that I can say behind Jetmek and Bubba. Them guys is gurrus
Thats good now make sure you have a ballast resistor ( 55-58 chevy will work from about any parts house) and like was mentioned above change the condensor on the distributor. I too like NAPA heavy duty echlin parts. I can ship ya a good one ( machine tested) if needed.....
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