Had a petronix 2. Left the key on fried it. Running points now. Just not as nice an smooth as it was with petronix. Question is would you just run the petronix module. Are run the complete petronix 3 distributor.
I have installed over 200. Two failures as a direct result of leaving the key on, until the battery was dead. Zero failures in the field.
At one point I had over 15 Pertronix units in service on our farm and have never had a failure. Yes, I would run one again in a heartbeat.
I am using the Pertronix distributor, I like the fact that the distributor looks almost FoMoCo OEM, instead of some multi colored Bozo looking thing under the hood. The Pertronix system works well but I always carry a spare module in my tool kit just in case.
I thought I had a failure once on my A , it was the coil. I normally use OE chevy distributors and completely rebuild em and curve em. Always make sure the air gap is correct . On my vette I use it to trigger my MSD box and I shift it at 7500. I am aware I could trigger it with points but the availability of quality high RPM points is somewhat limited in todays world.
While I've run the Pretronix modules with reasonably good success, I'm happier with an MSD 6AL (street wise) box vs. the Pertronix 3. I know it's a big red box that you have to mount, but... My last car (currently working on), I mounted the box, inside, on the firewall, behind the dash. I still need access to it (it's programmable), it is visible if you look down at the p***engers feet, at least it not a big red box under the hood, in this case. Mike
I don't know what distributor you are running. I had the ORIGINAL Delco for my Buick modified with an HEI pick up coil and reluctor[?] inside . Module is mounted elsewhere. Dependability of HEI with appearance of original. Ben
Installed the Per-Lux Ignitor 40 years ago and continue to use their products (Petronix) today. Only failure was self inflicted when I didn't properly ground the distributor.
I smoked a Pertronix Ignitor I module by leaving the key on while troubleshooting a carb issue long ago. Switched over to the Pertronix Ignitor II because it was suppose to solve the "key on" issue. Been running the Ignitor II now for 16 years with no issues on my stock Delco distributor. I like it. I've never heard of an Ignitor II failing from leaving key on. EDIT - Forgot to mention I'm using a Pertronix Flamethrower II 0.6 ohm coil also, with no ballast resistor.
Now I know about the Petronix 3. I took the "Petronix 1" (I guess) back to the factory when it failed. And took the "Petronix 2" back to the factory when it failed. Both time they couldn't tell me why and wouldn't let me see the testing (insurance, you know). When my "Petronix 3" failed I gave up, I decided I didn't need a "Petronix 4".
When I traded for my deuce pickup the builder said it had a II and that since he'd been using a Bosch coil recommended by a Pertronix guru in the Kansas City area he'd had no problems?
Did you use their coil? That was 10 or 15 years ago -- I don't know. I do remember they didn't ask me any questions about it twice and they just gave me a new unit 2 times. It quit in the middle of a large intersection and I was tired of waiting for the Auto Club to haul me home.
Used their coil for petronix 3. Read the instructions. Several times. Popped the points out. ****oned it back up! Hit thr key it spun nicely. Failed to start. Got the stupid instructions and started over. Opened it up and there was no rotor! Added that and it runs like a top. Starting on the first try.
I have one in a flathead crab dizzy. I converted the generator to 12V, used their matching 1.5 ohm coil and haven't had any issues.
I personally have never had one in service , I have know of 3 that left friends dead on the road side . My old Harleys and my 32 are point ignition . All seem to be doing just fine allows me to look into stuff deeper once a year at tune up time . If the Pertronix is working , carry on , my 2 cents worth
I've had 3 different units and all 3 were junk. First one in a 65 gto, their "kit", conversion kit for distributor, coil and ballast resistor. New motor with about 1000 miles on it, pull 6200 thru all 4 gears no problem. Put their kit in and hit about 4800 and motor would go to hell and start cutting out. New plugs wires etc when I installed their kit, did nothing else but pull the distributor and throw a stock o e I had laying here with a set of used points to still in it. Pull 6200 rpm no problem thru all 4 gears laying rubber thru the first 2. Pull that stock distributor out, drop the converted unit back in after rechecking EVERYTHING while it was on the bench. Took the battery ground cable off of the engine block and made sure all points of contact were clean, put back together and sure enough 4800 and start ****ping out again, junk... 6 months later, put a complete distributor kit into the wife's vw, complete distributor, coil and resistor. Drive it 10 minutes and It'd die, let it set for half hour and run again for 10 minutes and die, call them up they tell me I've put something together wrong, really? Your kit and a single wire to the resistor and I'm doing something wrong?? So again, clean grounds, new plugs New wires and same thing so the next time I drive it take old distributor with me, 10 minutes it died, 5 minutes later old distributor in, running like a top, 1 hour of driving city hiway etc, no problem. Put pertronix distributor in it, less than 10 minutes I'm sitting on the side of the road with no spark. Call pertronix, raise hell and then they tell me to send everything back, I do, 2 weeks later I get it back with a letter for "nothing found wrong" so I install and bam 10 minutes later I'm on the side of the road with no fire I call and raise hell, told it did great on their machine and I must be doing something wrong, told them screw their machine, put it in a damn vw and go drive it, then in 10 min when it dies be sure to call me and let me know what they did "wrong". Even told them if they couldn't find a vw to install it in come see me and they could use mine. They hung up and the 'kit" in in its box with less than 50 miles on it. Had a chance to sell it but couldn't bring myself to screw somebody else over a piece of ****.... Never again, had one buddy and he loves his but it's a grocery getter that never see 2500 rpm, another buddy, who, like me drives their car had nothing but trouble, cutting out over 5000 rpm thru a auto trans.. ...
I have a ll but something is wrong. The timing is all in all the time. I have a lll can I use the ll coil? With the lll.
I have a standard Ignitor in a stock Delco distributor on my 324 that's in my 56 Olds Holiday 98. I drive the bejeezus out of that car, and that setup has logged tens of thousands of miles, including internationally, without a single adjustment in literally years. I also run a Pertronix "stock look" distributor in the 350 Chevy crate engine that's in my 61 Olds. That has the Ignitor III internals in it. It needed to be recurved for my application with dual quads, but outside of that, it has been rock solid and looks good, too. There are an abundance of threads on the HAMB about people *****ing about how much the Pertronix ****s. I honestly don't understand it. Follow the directions and I've never had a single issue. And FWIW, it's the single best performance modification I've done on the car.
The good thing about points ignitions is that it's simple, insensitive and handle "exterior issues" relatively well. The bad thing is that they produce a relatively weak spark and require regular adjustment/replacement of parts that wear. The good thing about electronic ignitions is that they can produce a very strong spark, with quite high precision, and relatively little maintenance required. The bad thing about electronic ignitions is that they can be sensitive to some issues in other parts. If you have a points ignition and a bad ignition wire (internal break) you will probably notice the engine misfiring, especially under load when the voltage required for the spark is high, because you don't have enough output from the coil to jump the break in the wire AND at the plug. Same thing with bad or worn out plugs, misfires will probably let you know something is going on. With a far stronger electronic ignition you may very well not notice anything because the spark happily jumps at the plugs anyway. You still have bad parts there, but the ignition system is so strong it all works anyway. That's both good and bad - good because the thing still runs well, bad because those bad parts that bump up the spark voltage also bumps up the voltage on the primary side of the ignition coil, and there IS a limit to how high voltage the switching transistor in the electronics can handle - especially if it's repeated over and over for a long time. So you may have bad parts there, and not know anything about it until they have killed the electronics. Being cheap perhaps you only replace the broken electronics, and promptly kill those too because you didn't fix the problem that killed them. The triggering circuit in electronic ignitions is also more or less sensitive to outside interference. In some cases things like a unstable battery voltage may spread such instability to the trigger signal, causing false triggering resulting in things like poor running at higher rpm. An alternator with a bad diode in it can be one source of such instability, when using the working diodes it charges the normal >14V, when the bad diodes should be working it isn't charging at all and you're down at 12V, and all that repeats very fast. In a modern car this is a common cause of electrical problems, the variations turn signals from a bunch of sensors into gibberish, knocking out ABS systems, speedometers and just about anything. The alternator still charges, and at a good voltage if checked with a simple meter, so the problem may not be obvious. I have no experience with older style generators, but people here on the HAMB have mentioned they may not work well with electronic ignitions, so I suspect they may cause quite a bit of electrical interference, one way or another. Then there's things like poor grounds or other connections which may cause some parts of the electronic unit to see some of the voltages from the ignition coil (primary or secondary) that should never be able to reach that part of the electronics. This may cause problems or simply kill the electronics completely. So... Sure. Some of the electronic systems that "never worked" or "died suddenly without any cause" did just that. But I'd bet money many of them had problems because of an exterior source that went unnoticed. Especially in cases when several electronic systems failed in the same car. Would be very interesting to look through the entire system in such a car with a good oscilloscope. There will most likely be some anomaly somewhere.
I put one in my '62 Galaxie390 in 2005 no problems as yet! I'm gonna put one in my 56 Victoria when I get to it!
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