Help with Electronic Ignition Install

[colnago]

I just put in a Pertronix electronic ignition and coil this morning. Now the truck won't start. The engine turns over, so the battery is good. The install is pretty brainless (put Tab 'A' in Slot 'B', etc). The hardest part was getting the coil out of its bracket. I checked for fuel, and that's getting to the carb. I checked all connections, too (electronic ignition going to +/- connections on coil, high-voltage line between coil and distributor, ignition to + on coil). I made sure my gap was 0.030", too (forgot about that one at first, but now it's set). But I'm not getting any hint of trying to fire from the engine.

Any guesses as to what could be bad? I'd rather not start putting things back in, but that's kind of where I'm at right now. This is on a 352 FE, if it matters. I haven't changed the plug wires yet; that was the task for tomorrow afternoon, if the electronic ignition went OK.

Thanks,

Joseph

[colnago]

Also, what's that doo-dad (technical term) going into the block right behind the distributor? Is that the water temp sensor? I noticed this morning that the wire to it was broken. This wouldn't prevent the truck from starting, would it?

Thanks,

Joseph

[Mancar1]

That thing-a-ma-jig is for your coolant temp gauge I believe, and no it will not prevent starting. Make sure you have the wires hooked to the proper coil terminals. Also that you put the sleeve on the rotor and did the air gap. Check all connections for tightness and cleanliness. I installed the petronix 1 and flame thrower coil on my 68, 390 a while back and have had no problems, I just left the Ballast res. wire in. I know you already did all this, but I am just trying to help. Can you post pics of your install?

[colnago]

Mancar1,

I didn't have a ballast resistor in the stock set-up. Is this something that the PO could have taken out, and shouldn't have? The Pertronix instructions were a bit confusing on the ballast resistor. The Ignitor instructions say to leave it. The Flame Thrower coil instructions say to remove it. Looking at the points and condenser, I don't see anything "special". Is this something I can physically see, or is it part of the wiring itself?

Thanks,

Joseph

On edit, there wasn't anything going from the distributor to the coil. I only had the negative lead coming out. With the electronic ignition, I have both a red (+) and black (-) wire. Am I missing something?

[colnago]

Okay, if the photos uploaded correctly, the first photo is the Flame Thrower coil. Positive is on the left, negative on the right. I have the ignition wire and the ignitor positive going to coil positive. I have the ignitor negative going to the coil negative. I suppose the high-voltage line could be bad; I haven't checked this out, but I did make sure it had a firm connection to both the distributor cap and the coil.

The second photo is the ignitor. The magnet is on the shaft in the middle. The gap between the magnet and the ignitor is 0.030". The original grounding wire is attached to the base plate of the ignitor. You can see the temp probe right above the distributor, at about 11:00. The wire to this is broken; I'm not sure if I broke it, or if it came that way (although I thought the temp gauge worked before ...).

The ignitor wires are way too long, but I wanted to get things working before I started trimming wires.

I did remove the rotor on the top of the shaft inside the distributor. Do I have to put this back in?

Thanks,

Joseph

[colnago]

Yep, it needed the rotor. I guess I glossed over that in the instructions.

Now, it's sputtering, and trying to start, but it isn't. So, I know it's getting spark, fuel, and air, but not at the right time. I've heard that you sometimes need to adjust the timing when adding in an electronic ignition. Is this where I need to go now? Or do I still have a potential problem with missing the ballast resistor?

Thanks,

Joseph

[fireguywtc]

I doubt you are missing the resistor if you have a stock setup. The stock resistor is a wire that is in the loom under the dash, behind the instrument panel. It maybe a problem that you still have a resistor wire in this setup. I would start by putting on a battery charger and seeing if that helps.

I just recently put a pertronix ingintor 3 setup in my 70 and I already had a higher voltage coil. It will start when it is cold just fine, but I drove into town and when it was hot it would barely start the first time I shut it down. I shut it down a second time and it wouldn't start after that. However, it would still crank fine. I suspected weak voltage/amperage getting to the pertronix module while cranking the starter was not allowing it to spark. I think it must have a minimum amount of power to work. What that minimum is I don't know. I was finally able to roll start it after pushing across the parking lot. Later that day after I got home and let it cool, I was able to cold start it with no issues.

I don't know how the heat is affecting me, but I think when the battery is getting hot I am not getting enough power. You maybe having similar issues with not enough power. Enough to crank, but not enough to adequately fire. I would start there. You can also bump the timing up some and crank it to see if that helps. You will have to redo the timing anyways.

[colnago]

Well, I just checked the battery voltage. 12.25V when off. I don't remember what it should be, but I think it's supposed to be higher than this. So, it probably is too low to fire things up. I'll put it on a trickle charger overnight, and give it a try tomorrow.

Thanks,

Joseph

[fireguywtc]

That is about the voltage mine has. That doesn't actually seem too bad, but you can have good readings when the battery isn't being used and still have a weak battery. The only way I know to test the battery for sure is have a load test done on it.

[Mancar1]

Yes that rotor is needed. I forget things myself now and then. More often now than then:lol: Did you press down firmly untill the magnetic sleeve seated? Takes some pressure. Your right it won't hurt charging the battery up fully. 12.6 is fully charged, anything less it is not. I have my plugs gapped at 40. Sounds like you'll get it running and timed in the morning.

[1972hiboy]

There should be no resistance at all in the ignition wire circuit. I installed a pertronix 2 and thier coil. Caled there support line becasue I had weird hard starting at times....cranking but not firing. Their tech line siad to eleminate any resistance in the circiut. I would get a multi-meter and check y our voltage at the pos. + terminal on the coil to make sure you got a full 12 and not 8 or less. Also if you have a automatic choke power wire coming off the pos. term on the coil that will drop your voltage from 12 to 6 or7 volts ... ask how I know.

[fordman]

do the petronix instructions say to change the coil to high voltage coil? if so and that coil is a full 12 volt coil then the problem is the resistor wire needs to be removed so the coil can get a full 12 volts. if not then i dont know what the problem is.

[colnago]

The new coil is a high-voltage coil. Which means my homework for tomorrow is to chase down that resistor wire. Sounds fun. Ugh! This was supposed to be easy!

On edit, if I find the resistor (or resistive wire), do I remove it (cut the wire), or do I bypass it (splice in a new wire)?

Thanks,

Joseph

[fordman]

do the petronix instructions say to change the coil to high voltage coil?

[michael69]

It is the pink wire coming out of your ignition switch(key switch). yes you have to remove it and splice in another wire of the same gauge of the others. Cut it about an inch from switch splice in new wire then cut it about an inch from were it goes into firewall and splice in the other end of new wire.