The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop petronix ign.

Hello, Has anyone of you had any problems with the petronix ignition system? The first two that I instaled in my 235 chevy engine lasted obout 2 months each and went bad. I just installed the third one and the motor will not fire let alone start. I connected a jumper wire from the positive post on the battery and the pos. post on the coil thereby bypassing the ignition circuit and still nothing. I prevously performed a detailed check of the ignition system and everything checked out normal. Are these problems inherent with these units or could something else be going on? Thanks for your help. olgzr

Ive used 2 of them & never had a problem. A lot of the fellow stvebolters have them & you seldom hear of a complant. It's possible your dist is not grounding good. Run a small wire from a clip screw on the side of the dist. to a ground on the engine. You posibly might have a mismatched coil or if it is running on 12 volts you still need the resister in the circuit.

We have used them on several race application, and the only problems we had are ground issues (like Wrenchbender said). On a new or rebuilt dist. they are painted which does not make a good ground. We ran a wire from the bottom plate, where the module (points) mounts to and external ground (allow for dist. advance).
Petronix works better without the resistor. We have never ran one with a resistor.
Hope this helps

Steve

Had one on my 54 and no problems for 5 years.

Have had nothing BUT problems with Pertronix on my '50 3100. Went back to traditional points. And timing the engine was so, so much harder with Pertronix... I ended up getting my money back for it and the flamethrower coil.

Also, you CAN'T run Pertronix with resistor...it needs full 12 volts at all times.

I have been running 12v and 6v Pertronix ignitions on 235s and 261s without problems for over 10 years. I will most likely put one on the 6v positive ground 270 GMC engine in my COE.

The grounding consideration mentioned by Wrenchbender Ret explained why I often had hesitation at high rpm.

In a 12v 216/235/261 set-up, if you do not have a coil with 3-4 ohms resistance, you are supposed to use the ballast resistor (the Pertronix Flamethrower coil has 3 ohms of resistance).

I have run 2 pertronix on different engines with no problems, but it needs a full 12 volts. If the resistor line is there, you need to by pass it. If the coil has a built in resistor, you need one that does not have the resistor in it.

Thanks guys for your info; I will hook up a ground to the distributor and see if that solves the problem. olgzr

If you don't want points run a HEI system. Most of the petronixs people carry their old points with them just in case. A modgel is a lot easier to change in the dark than a set of points, I've ran both and had better allaround preformance from the HEI for less money. A HEI from a 250 0r 292 six is easly adapted to a older six. Some of the vinders on the stove bolt offer a HEI that looks like the old point dissy. my 2 cents worth.

Call petronix and ask for there help. It has a 30 month warrenty and they will back it. I know people who have ran there retronix for 10 years with no issue. My points have been gone since the day I swaped mine. not a issue since.

A short in the ignition system might have damaged the Pertronix unit (at worst), and a short would have kept the Pertronix system from working properly (at best).

I have had no problems with my unit.

Tim