I left the power on my 59A in my 1932 Ford Pickup for several days. The battery was on a battery tender, so it was not dead. I am not getting any spark. It has a Mallory Unilite. The pickup is 12V negative ground. It is as I bought it last fall. Did I toast something in the distributor or is it the coil? I recall some thread about the Stromburg ignition having an issue when the power was left on. Any theory on why all five gauges now do not light up or the needles do not move now too? The gauges are some older VDO electrical ones. If you have a recommended test, please be very explicit with your instructions. I have read extensively about things electrical, but still have a hard time not just thinking it is black magic. I can read stuff and think I understand it, but in practice, I still struggle. Thanks in advance for your assistance, patience, and understanding.
A hard & fast rule is NEVER charge a battery with a unilite hooked up , or weld on the chassis , or attempt to jump start , or disconnect the battery , this list is long & unforgiving . Abide by the rules & unilites work very well . There's a very simple test to check the module , Google it !
Before you assume the battery is fine just because it was on a tender. Unplug the tender and put a multimeter set to DC Volts on the battery posts to verify that the battery is in fact fully charged. Maybe you got lucky and the tender is shot and the car is fine. -rick
You're not giving us a lot to go on, but there are a couple suspects from the little you've said. First things first: How old is the battery? Have it load tested, don't just check it with a multi-meter (you do have one, don't you?). The gauges being "dead" would indicate no voltage to the dash. They should not be wired with the coil, but some builders do dumb stuff. Do the headlights come on? The radio? If you bump the key does it turn over? (My DeSoto wagon had a 4 year old battery, 750 CCA that showed 12.5 but wouldn't start the car and failed a load test.) The fact that you keep on a trickle charger indicates a problem. Unilite ignitions are sensitive to failure with high voltage, a bad regulator can fry one, so can a high amperage charger or jumping a dead battery. Leaving the ignition "ON" will fry coils, but it'd probably have just blown up. If the battery checks OK, and it cranks, I'd replace that Unilite with the system of your choice. A points distributor is pretty simple to service and check, and should be in your skillset to replace. You didn't tell us what kind of an engine it is, but it'd be good to learn how to take care of it, whatever it is. I like Pertronix ignitions, despite their having a bad rap with traditionalists. There are literally MILLIONS of them on the road, in farm and industrial equipment, they are simple and reliable in my humble opinion. If you're nervous about one failing, just like a set of points, throw a module in the glove box for a spare. If it's an SBC, you can get a small cap HEI that looks like a points distributor, nobody will know but you. Do some simple checks, it's satisfying to learn new skills.
To check Unlight is good , Check for power & ground to eye/module . Then pop cap & rotor off , with power "On" use cardboard or non-transparent plastic & slide in notch to break beam To see if coil sparks , My self only issue with Unlight to burn up Eye/ Module since 1990'was Not to disconnect distributor wiring plug when welding & power On not running for long period of time. & Unlight needs a ballasts resistor. I never ran one "Positive ground thou"
I've got 2 cars with Unilites. I'd never heard about not welding or using a battery charger with them. Hell, one is on the charger right now ! The HAMB collective never fails to teach me new things. That's what I like about this joint.
I have only had issue when Welding with a Unlite & MSD , A few years ago , I was lazy & I new better to take 5 mints to lower car & disconnect batt to do a Tac weld & took eye /module out !! Cost of new eye & other gaskets 3 extra hours to fix , was a unique set up to get to distributor. So now any welding I disconnect battery . With a Mag I pull out just to be on safe side.
As of now I have not gone out to mess with it. It is too hot for me as of late. The engine turns over fine, so I think the battery has adequate charge. I will verify battery condition and do the Mallory test at some point. https://documents.holley.com/a605_test.pdf I know the wiring needs to be looked at also. Back when I first got this vehicle, I noticed it had solid core wires, which I knew was a no no with the Unilite. When I made new wires, I bypassed the chrome tubes that the solid core wires were routed through. They look neat and pretty, but I believe they are also a no no for the Unilite. I still need to redo the four or five wires that for other things that someone routed through the bottom tube of the fancy Flathead plug loom on the drivers side. Once again, it is neat and tidy but makes servicing and diagnosing things a pain when there is zero slack in the wires and they are all the same color. Thanks again for all of the suggestions.
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