A friend of mine has an HEI Distributor in a small block Chevy. He’s had two modules fail recently one in an aftermarket distributor purchased several years ago and a replacement from Advance Auto that failed in two weeks. The one from Advance was put in in an emergency to get car running without time to shop around. Any advice on a quality replacement?
Ok I gotta be that guy. Points the answer is points. LOL Actually those modules a pretty robust I’ve never had one fail. Did he use dielectric grease when he ***embled? Dan
Put the stock Chevy points distributor back in the engine , set the points to 0.17 thousands and you'll be driving down the road. The new modular distributors are "Junk" They fail when heated up to engine temp. Stock dist and you'll be down the road.
The cheap copies are a **** shoot just like modules and points from chain stores. That said, I got over 5 years and a lot of miles on chain store points. The module in the GM HEI I’m using came with it. Been in there for the 5 years I’ve had it. I’d verify the input voltage is good. Amd check the wiring in the distributor. But I’d look for a US made unit. But Im a big fan of points. Simple and EZ
The OEM design is sound, I only ever had one fail. The problem is cheap aftermarket ****. Does one of the big names, like MSD make a decent piece for this ? If so, make sure you get a real one, not a counterfeit.
Possibly the distributor body isn't getting a solid, reliable ground. Sketchy grounding and improper heat sinking are the two most common reasons for modules failing.
I meant to say heat sink compound instead of dielectric grease in my post above, the modules used to come with the compound if I remember correctly Thanks for pointing out my error. Dan
I've been using NAPA modules in my Gm HEI distributor. They are marked USA made. They have two choices of 4 pin modules. They come with a 5 year warranty. I've used the warranty several times, no questions asked. Save your receipt. Yes, I carry an extra, just in case.
Q - Why do you run a HEI? A - No tune up’s required Q - How often do you drive your car with that HEI? A - After I buy a new module? Q - Didn’t you say no tune up required with an HEI?
Make sure to use thermal paste between the module and the distributor, as mentioned above. Heat kills lots of electronics.
I can determine points or condenser to keep goin . I have had many HEI issues from an unable see hole in the rotor . I always replaced rotor every spring
For what it's worth, I have found that module failure coincidently came about after a spark or short somewhere in the electrical system. Such as taking a battery cable off then touching it to the terminal again. Old wives tail, maybe but I've seen it happen 4 times, 2 different people and cars. All with Pextronis. As been said GM stuff is pretty good. I like the fact that I don't run point in my cars, all you guys that love them just try to work on your car with only one arm and discover by experience what it's like. Just my opinion. Pat
I helped a friend with his mid 60’s Rambler. We bought an HEI from Southwest Performance. That was our first mistake. About 200 miles later, the module went, overheated and melted the coil. Replaced the module and coil with GM parts ……still runs great. This is never a good look
I know GM HEIs are ugly a sin, but I never had a failure. They were like the Everready bunny. No clue on the aftermarket stuff. But, Jim Linder (RIP) converted a buddy of mines Studabaker to HEI using a GM module. If my memory is correct he machined the reluctor (8 pointed star thing) for a press fit on the Stude shaft, used a Hall effect, maybe, (all Mopar stuff) for the signal. The module was sent pre wired in an aluminum “box” with a lid with, machined heat sinks on it. I mounted it under the dash inside the car. I recall we had to pick up a set of br*** feeler gauges to set the gap between the reluctor and the pickup, but it sure worked fine for him the years he drove it before he p***ed. This was some 20 or so years ago, the module Jim used was a Delco or an Echlin, don’t recall. But surely wasn’t an imported unit. In effect he kept is distributor looking stock.
You have to laugh. 2 module failures without any other reported troubleshooting or parts replacing, and there's a chorus of "use points!". Points are most certainly a downgrade, otherwise pertronix wouldn't exist. Also, if you're not troubleshooting why the modules are failing, replacing the distributor with a points distributor may not actually solve anything. The problem is not that he's running HEI. I've never had an HEI fail on me in all the combined miles I've put on well-used, relatively unmaintained HEI's. Lets help the guy actually diagnose the problem at hand. Just telling him to downgrade may be funny or fit with your preferences, but it's not help.
Points may not fail you but what about the condenser? If the condenser fails you're still dead on the side of the road. I had a new Standard brand condenser fail one week after install on the converted Chevy distributor in my flathead. IMO it's the poor quality of replacement parts on both HEI and conventional distributors that is the issue. I had a GM HEI unit on a 350 in an OT GMC pickup that did need a replacement rotor on one occasion and a module on another occasion (fixed both problems on the side of the road with the spares I carried) but it had a gizillion miles on it and never required anything else.
Ebay, https://www.ebay.com/itm/1564541605...1gytXokwBFBj3f7XHDAjN3I6Q=|tkp:Bk9SR8S7_YjSZA 990, the standard GM module.
used to run dual point dizzy in the dragster. son say ought to new mallory stuff. after 3 dizzy quits, i rip out the mallory and went to a gm hei. no problems since and we turn 6500 rpm which everybody says you can't do that. lol
My friend has had the car about eight years and the car had the HEI distributor in it when bought. I do not know what brand name it is. When the original module failed it needed to be fixed quickly so a module from Advance Auto was used. It failed in two weeks and another Advance Auto module was used to get the car home. What he would like to do is replace the module with a quality (made in USA) module now he has time and carry the one in it as a spare. Up until the past two weeks the car has ran flawlessly with no ignition problems. We tend to think it was just a poor quality Advance Auto part hence the question for what brand module has worked for some of you.
In above posts people suggested: checking voltage, grounding, using heat sink compound, purchasing quality OEM or better components. We are hoodlums with a sick sense of humor hence the points comments. LOL Dan
I was a mechanic in a local shop when these were new. typically when the modules failed it was because of a bad spark plug wire or another secondary problem, when the spark has no place to go it can jump through the rotor to ground in the dist shaft, many times taking out the module in the process. another common failure was the wires to the pickup coil breaking from the vac adv moving back and forth thousands of times. With that said I would never run one of those ugly son of a *****es and I can't imagine anyone that cares anything about a traditional looking engine compartment running one... yuk...people that say that electronic ignition cars run better than cars with points have never ridden in my cars....
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