Pertronix should I throw it on a bonfire ??

Very generous offer you made, Don. That is wonderful customer relations. Pay attention, guys...
I've always been pleased with the performance from Pertronix Ignitors in every car I've installed them in.

 

Dont screw up and leave the key on. It'll burn up quick! Ask me how I know. Points do the trick for me now.

 

That indeed was a problem with the Ignitor but is NOT with the Ignitor II and III.

 

Pertronix is great and their customer service is excellent.
I have left the ignition on with my Ignitor I accidentally a few times over the years and sometimes for almost an hour, I believe, before I noticed.
The flamethrower coil has gotten burning hot, but I never had any failure or any other problems.
Do you believe in angels...?

 

Hotroddon. I can't say enough good about your Co's customer service. Your above and beyond and I thank you. The few times I've heard of issues like this the first thing I ask is, Have you called there Tec line. The answer is always the same,"NO". Why is that?
The Wizzard

 

You got that right! I have complete Pertronix II setup (module, plug wires, coil) in my SBF and not once, but TWICE left the key on while tuning the carbs and suffered nothing more than a dead battery. It's a hell of a lot more reliable than a couple of my buddies cars with MSD ignition systems have been.

 

HotrodDon
That is a super stand up thing to do!!. For myself I am very very satisfied with the Pertronix product! Keep up the good work!

 

Well it did quit raining today and I spent some time on the damn Edsel (I really think it like rotting in that Idaho field) and I came to the same conclusion that hotroddin did while I was gone. That is an awesome offer, I do now believe its my fault these parts went bad.
I also think I screwed up and caused the problem , I bought 2 units at the same time and didnt not notice they were different, I installed the type II first which said "NOT" to use the resistor, in my 1970 Torino, that one works fine , then installed the other in the Edsel and wired the new wiring with out the resistor which I believe caused the coil failure.
I then tried to find a 1.5 ohm non Pertronix coil as at that point I did not trust another Pertronix coil, I ended up installing the MSD Blaster 2 coil (my ohm meter quit working so I installed it anyway) I'm sure that MSD coil fried the Pertronix Pick up and that coil I believe is still good (I well check it out later)
Next I stole the type II pickup from my Torino tonight and the Edsel fired right up , tomorrow I well also grab the type II coil and from there I hope I well have no further issue's.
Don I'm sorry I stopped here first before calling your tech. line, I have just not had good luck with other companies the last 2 weeks (I'm on my 9th call to one company without a return call or actual person) Should I ever have another question I well call first , promise.
edsel

 

My '59 Galaxie (332 V8) has the same resistor in the same place, bypassed it when I installed my Pertronix (not II) & flamethrower coil. Fired right up the first time and hasn't given me one problem in two years. Also still running the original generator so no issues there either.

 

I have a pertronix set up for my flattie did not install it yet. Running 12 volts with a resister, starts and runs good. Maybe I will use it for a different project.

 

"They say it is the #1 cause of failure (low voltage). The wiring should be:
Keyed ign, to ballast resistor to + side of coil. Negative side of coil to the dist. & the positive wire from dist to a full 12 volts(on the front side of the resistor). "

This is the key to not only pertronix but also the Mallory Uni-lites surviving and working as they should. That and to make sure they are very well grounded.
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The MSD blaster 2 coil doesn't have enough resistance for the Pertronix ignitor. I found out the hard way. The directions said that a stock coil was adequate. I was fooled by myself because I had painted the MSD coil flat black years earlier to look stock. Pertronix still warrantied it even though I admitted what I had done.

The car was converted back to points for another reason. After running for a while, it would just lose spark. After a couple of hours it would start working again. Points were put back in after the car crapped out 2 hours from home. We couldn't decipher if the module or the ignitor coil was at fault, so both were returned to stock.

Dave

 

the Ignitor I is dangerous and should be recalled, it has not, and so i will not use any product by pertronix.

why does it bother me that much? because i know what happens when one "burns up", it literally burns up, as in flames. i experienced a very close call this spring, i dropped off a customer's car one morning after doing some work on it, he parked it in front of his business all day, goes to leave and it won't start. he calls me, naturally i go check it out, to find the dizzy cap melted, the rotor melted, and the pertronix unit an exploded little charred POS. his truck came dangerously close to burning to the ground just because he left the key on. and the worst part is, if it did, i would have thought it was my fault, having had just worked on it. i changed it back to points.

that was my second failure i've dealt with, the first, i had bought a running car with a pertronix+MSD 6(redundant i know, but that's how it was), drove it for a few years, after many hours of diagnosis, spent $$ on parts, i finally gave up on trying to get the car to run right, i gave it several complete tune ups, ran all the usual checks and found nothing wrong, but it ran poorly under load and broke up at higher rpms, but well before it should. finally it started to quit while driving, only to start up again after ten minutes or so. i finally yanked the pertronix, went to points triggeriing the MSD, it ran smoother, made more power according to my ass-dyno, and picked up 500 rpm.

i'll give a company a second chance, but like george w bush said, "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, you, you can't get fooled again". i've got a few hundred dollars beyond the cost of the units wasted chasing and fixing their problems, not to mention the time.

but don't worry, chances are your car will be just fine, maybe.

 

I understand any product at any time can have a problem. What I don't get is, How do people shut there motors off then turn the Key back on and walk away? That just don't add up. When I turn a motor off the keys come out and go with me. Must have something to do with the Neighborhood I grew up in. It just makes "Common Sense" to me.
Key on, walk away, melt down. That's not a parts failuer.
The Wizzard

 

Pertronix should make their products fool proof, I do!

My products are made for eight year olds to hookup. If you hook it up wrong, it just won't work, but not burn out.

 

I found that out the hard way after installing a new Ignitor. Too bad for me. I went back to points before spending any more money on the product.

Steve

 

The Ignitor is NOT dangerous and there is no reason to recall it. Over 3.5 million of them have been sold and we have never had a claim of someones car burning up, or anything close to that. We have never had a call that said it caused a Fire, ever. In fact the failure/warranty rate is under .1% which for an electrical item is pretty damn good!

We have done testing on the units with the "key" left on for hours on end. If the unit happens to be in the position that is the same as when points are closed, you are completing an ignition circuit and creating energy, that without a spark has no where to go. Eventually it will get hot enough to melt the Ignitor and even the cap and rotor. We have never seen or even heard of one actually burning though (as in flames) and I doubt this one did either - Did anyone see flames or is this an assumption?
And had that same scenario happened with points and they were closed there is a very good chance that it would blow up the coil as the energy would be created there and the coil can only take so much heat. I have seen many coils explode in cars with points where the ignition was left on, and that makes a far bigger mess than a melted Ignitor. Happened in my own shop when a mechanic went to answer a phone call and left the key on for 30 + minutes and there was oil and shrapnel everywhere including damage to under hood paint, not to mention well "Burned" points.

The Ignitor II and III by the way do benefit from 30 years of newer electronic technology and have circuitry that shuts them off if they do not sense a movement in the system after only a few milliseconds.

I still can't figure out why so many people leave there ignitions on, especially for 8 hours while they are working. Most people I know shut their car off and take their keys with them. Yes I know there are those old Chevy ignition switches that allow the key to be removed with the ignition still on, now there's something that should have been recalled!

 

I don't believe I have ever had any trouble with Pertronix. You probably got some of your wires crossed......

 

My first pertronix unit was the ignitor I. I smoked it while I was debugging a motor issue. Shut the motor down to look at something and left the key in the "On" position. While leaning over the motor I smelled and saw smoke. The first thing I did was check my key and found that it was in the "On" position (so it can be done). My fault. I then read in the instructions that if the power is left on to the unit for long periods it could damage it. This was totally my fault. In this day of electronics I thought it was odd that there was not some type of safety built into this unit to prevent this type of thing from happening. Anyway I bought another and only got 30 miles out of it before it quit again. At this point I was fed up and went back to points.

A year later I researched the pertronix a little more and found that the Pertronix II had solved this issue of leaving the ignition on. I then called and talked to a pertronix technician and learned why my second pertronix I had failed....because I was running an MSD Blaster Coil (0.7 ohm). Again, my fault. He was very helpful and knowledgable about my problem and his product.

I then purchased the Ignitor II with their Flamethrower Coil, pulled my Dizzy to set it up properly, installed it and couldn't be happier. My thought was if I went with their complete system I should have no problem.

Well thousands of miles later my pertronix ignition is running great and I couldn't be more happier.

Talk to their tech folks about your application. They are very good and are willing to help you. They want you to be successful with there product. I highly recommend there ignition system, and their customer support.

 

My '68 ran great, put Pertronix in it, ran the same but figured it was better. It started sputtering one day after about a year almost didn't make it home tried a bunch of stuff adjusted the carb etc. Nothing worked. Finally just said well I'll throw the points back in and started up and ran great. I'm not getting another Pertronix.

 

Same here. I had one in a 60 baja and lost it right away. Points are where its at any way.
Ive never broke in the middle of nowhere and filed the electronic ign and got back on the road.
I have learned about fuel line in the middle of nowhere however

 

Had the same problem with a Pertronix II SBF in my daily. Switched back to points.

 

Along with "I tired nothing and I'm fresh out of ideas"

And "I keep doing it the same way and I don't get different results"

 

I work for the Exhaust Division of the company.

 

Of course I know J.
Have for a few years before we bought the JBA exhaust company from him. Intersting fellow.

 

We used to sell these at a auto parts store i worked at a long time ago. The manager came in one day and said to give them away because there were so many problems. I've never seen anyone limp home on bad black box. Points are where it's at.

 

I'm kind of a big fan of tinkering, Still haven't seen a burned out ECM get anybody home. Not a big fan of electric fuel pumps either.