The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Engine died and was unable to restart

i have had my 1950 3100 Chevy for over 20 years and I can usually restart it. Fire or gas.. There was no spark to the no.1 plug but fire to the distributor. I had installed a Pertronix electronic ignition last February. I was in a bad location and had to call for a tow truck. I assumed that my ICM was the culprit. That's just 6 months since I installed the Pertronix 1168LS. I'm interested in comments. I need to correct this and try to avoid a repeat.

lThe engine is a stock 216 and the distributor is a Delco-Remy Model - eerial 1112362-2L20. The coil is a Pertronix 3.0 ohm part # 40511.

If there is fire to the distributor but not to No. 1 you need to look at the parts that connect the fire in to the fire out (distributor cap and rotor). Assuming (never a really good thing) that the rotor is actually rotating seem likely to be a rotor problem but I am not familiar with the Pertronix system so I may be missing something.

The first thing I would do is eliminate the Petronix and reinstall the points. There have been many ‘bolters that have installed Petronix systems with mixed results. Going back to stock will eliminate that variable. If your engine starts, you’ll know the culprit.

Yes, get rid of the Pertonix. Every vehicle I own runs on breaker points with the exception of the 70s Ford trucks. They're all I drive and points have NEVER let me down in my entire life. GM HEI died on my '72 Monte Carlo a long time ago.

But ya, if you are getting the correct spark and voltage to the dizzy top, either the cap or rotor, or both are bad. Don't go by looks, either. Had the same problem on a '36 Auburn. All parts looked perfect. Couldn't understand it but a new cap fixed the problem.

If you want electronic ignition, convert your original dizzy to GM HEI. Parts are cheap, easy to find, and more reliable. Having said that, keep a set of points in the glove box so you can quickly convert to breaker point ignition on the side of the road when this happens again.

As some have said, it's probably the pertronix unit. Unless a catastrophic mechanical timing failure. Re-Read the instructions, cautions and check the gap and revisit the install procedure before jumping out the window. It's not the coil. There is something about using te old condenser mentioned. If the points condenser is in the Pertronix circuit and is used by the circuit, that is a weak spot. Leaving key on will burn out some generations of Pertronix.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0247/6913/4628/files/1168LS.pdf

Make sure that you have the correct ground and voltages at each of the trouble shooting steps that you get from Pertronix.