Petronix ignitor fried-Need HELP

1960 chevy with 235engine,3/4cam,Dual 2barrel Webers,Petronix ignitor,Petronix flamethrower coil.Took car on a 50mile round trip.Was hard to start;then on highway it stalled&quit running,1/2mile from home.Popped the dizzy cap off.Found this metallic grey powder all over the inside.Burned up ignitor.What happened?Should I use stock points???

Thanks in advance

 

I still don't trust those things. I run points on my nostalgia "T". I've heard about 40% bad about them.

 

Call the tech line at Pertronix. Very helpful folks

 

Had mine for 3 years, NO issue...-0-......must be a Voltage issue.....I would be calling the Tech Line.......

 

oh yea...I have it in 6 of my rides.......

 

you might as a precaution check the charging system. i had one burn up and pertronix told me that they cook at about 17 volts which i already knew i had a bad alternator(regulator was bad) and it cooked the pertronix along with the battery. bend over when you get a replacement!!

 

I had a Pertronix module in my flathead for about five years, and it ran great. However, as predicted by others, it died without warning one afternoon and left me at the side of the road (fortunately, it was sunny and not raining). Have since gone back to points, and frankly haven't noticed any big difference in performance. So, I'll probably stick with the points, especially since they give some warning before they go south. JMTCW.

 

The forst thing I do with any vehicle is an electronic ignition. I have used tons of Pertronix units with absolutely no problems for years now.

 

Pertronix Customer Service is Outstanding. Not only do they stand behind there products there Tec guys will help you find the problem so it don't happen again. If it's a product failure they will make good on it. Stop wondering and just call them. They don't care if you've had it for years or just bought it, they want to help you.
The Wizzard

 

Nada problamos,... running 3 years now.
Have to maintain that 0.010 inch gap, if you have some new wear,
there you go, or not...
.
.

 

I Have a Pertronix in my coupe and no problems. I have no quarrel with points, but where do you find good QUALITY points these days? Tom...

 

I've been converting to Pertronix modules for the past 15 years. I've always carried a set of points in case of failure but have never had a problem. Friends are running them too without trouble. Sounds like an isolated case.

Doesn't someone on the HAMB work for Pertronix? Hotrod Ron???

 

Got them in all 2 of my hot rods,,truck has had one for 5 years,,wagon for a year. HRP

 

I have a petronixs dist. in my gasser It died one time called them told them it was out of warranty they said send it anyway .Came back all fixed no charge. Very good people to deal with.

 

Yes, hotroddon is with pertronix and is super helpful.

 

Ive run pertronix and never had a problem. Never see much of a difference other than easier starts.
I even fried one once installing it backwards.. positive to negative.. called themfor giggles. Told them its fried on my fault and they still warrantied it.. their customer service is A+.. my only complaint is the price keeps going up.

Nathan

 

The coil needs to have the correct resistance. Contact GMC Bubba for the ohm value for the pertronix. Plug gap also needs to be 030-035

 

I've installed over a dozen- 10 good- the above advice is on target- check this also- the dust you discribed is ofen caused when the rotor tip is hitting the contcact plug wire points.I found one new cap that had terminals that acutally turned to the touch.give a detailed inspection of both. it will cause the cap to short out- even crack. another new caphad several inperfections in the dark it thru spark every where-

 

Me too!

 

You have used them for years?? How many miles? How many years on a unit?
Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app

 

Burn up the carbon button in the center of the cap? Thst would cause grey powder.

Nathan

 

I had a Pertronix die in my F100 - luckily it was in the driveway!

It gave a 'symptom' in that for a while each time I turned the ignition on the tach needle would rise up momentarily (about 1000rpm) the set right back down again, this was before I had hit the 'start' button..

This started about 1,200 miles form home and the ignition died about ten days later.

Now I carry a spare Pertonix kit in the F100.

I am running a Mallory Voltmaster coil and did not use to run a resistor - but run one now!!

BTW: The Pertonix was at least 7 -8 years old when it died.

 

I tried to talk my buddy out of Pertronix, he didn't listen. He called me because it seemed like his timing was out by 180. Played with it for a while and it shutdown in his driveway. If I recall correctly, he got another one from Pertronix and has had no issues. I think the biggest issue (and I don't know for a fact) is that their electronics may not be robust enough for underhood application and that's why their failure rate is so high. Stock is pretty good and points and coil worked ever since Tesla figured it out. Should work fine on stock or mildly modded engines with no issues.

I'm running points on my flathead and Stock Duraspark II on my 351W. When the 351 gets built, going with a GMC Bubba setup.

 

One thing that's bad for any electronic ignition is bad secondary wiring. that spark will go somewhere.

 

I'm not sure where you got these ideas, but first of all, out electronics are more than "Robust" enough to handle underhood heat - they are rated for and tested at temperatures up to 400°, and you had better never see that undehood.
Second, our failure rate is not "So High", less than .01% over the past 40 years. If it were "So High" or like the other guy posted "40%" we would not have sold over 3.5 million of them and been out of business years ago.
And Tesla did not figure out the Points Ignition system for automobiles, that would be Charles Kettering. Tesla did get a patent for an ignition system, but it was not the battery powered points type system that is in your car. If anything it was closer to an electronic ignition CD style system.

 

I bought a Pertonix around 1990, lasted about two months and died. I thought "can't be the the Petronix, it's all electronic"!
Dealer was nice enough to send me a replacement, it lasted about two weeks.

 

I'll answer that. I bought my first one in about '89 because a friend suggested it control the problems I was having with point bounce in a 12 second street bug. Worked like a charm! Second one went into my falcon not too long there after and ran for about 10 years of daily driving with out a hitch. Still have it and when the car goes back on the road it will be used again. The Plymouth got it's Pertronix in '96 and ran it for the first 100,000 miles untill about 2004 when I bought a complete MSD system for ease of messing with the ignition curve. In 2007 I put the current unit in my Maverick, and have driven the wheels off of it since. There have been several others over the years, both mine and customer cars, but those are the ones I have persnally driven to hell and back.

 

Oh, and if you guys are concerned about heat, My home town Phoenix is about as hot as you can expect to get and be somewhat survivable... Daily drivers all.

 

I have found that if you use one of those unneeded high voltage coils and the rotor is not rated for that voltage the electrons will blow though the rotor to the distributor shaft. When it does this it, will take out the Pertronix unit too... I don't know why but it does it. I see it at the track. A car will start to misfire on the track then quit. Careful inspection of the rotor will find a little melted spot inside the rotor about the size of the head of a pin or smaller(us old guys use a magnifing glass) in the rotor where the electric arc traveled to the shaft.
I found that most cars work well with a 30,000 volt coil. I run 14.4 to 1 compression and I use a Bosch blue coil...I don't have any problems...I also use a Crane ignition unit too
I see guys with broken cars roaming the pits holding a dead Pertronix unit like a dead rat by the tail. There is usually a melted rotor and a zillion volt coil involved too.
Your results may vary.

 

I had one in my T, crapped out after a couple months, just pitched in the circular file and put points back in. Have replaced a few in customers cars as well, never reported a single one. So, in my PERSONAL car experience, they have a 100% failure rate, just depends on how you twist the numbers

And he said he has heard nothing but 40% bad about them, thats not the same as saying 40% fail. That means of the people THAT HAVE TALKED PERTRONIX to him 4 out of 10 were complaints. Most guys wont sit there and tell guys how a system works unless it either fails, or WAY out performs another system. His 40% statistic is as useless as your .01% statistic.

HF has sold billions of tools, many guys have no issues with them, that doesn't make them a "good tool". It means that the guys that don't complain have either not had their tools fail, or that it simply wasnt worth their time to complain.

.01% of 3.5 million is only 3500 failures in 40 years. I call bullshit on that one.

95% of statistics are made up by people 48% of the time