The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay pertronix

i installed one to day and now the vehicle won't start any suggestion of what test i can perform.

First take out the coil wire from the dist, crank the engine with the wire about 1/4 in from metal. It should shoot a strong spark. If not get out the directions & make sure every thing is hooked up correctly. Get a test light & see if you have power comeing from the ign. switch. Petronix probably has a hot line to help you.

Did the test and no spark. i called the tech line at the co. i bought it from and they sent me a trouble shooting sheet and i seem to have done it right. no juice coming from the coil. new compatible coil so i am stumped. new wires, and cap.

What is the part number of the PertronIx unit?

What is the year of your engine and the voltage and ground polarity of your electrical system?

Tim,I know he has a 235 and a 12 volt system,don't know the year.

Where is your rotor pointing with the needle on ball?

I had a problem when I reinstalled my distributor the rotor was off.

Had to move oil pump with screw driver for the tang to line up properly.

re-time from square 1

He's working on an MGA, guys. All bets are off.

Oops. Is it a twin cam MGA?

it is not a twincam. i have had this car since 1968 and it has never failed me. now that i have installed the pertronix system i can't get it started. have talked to Moss Motors where i bought it they can't figure it out either. Shame on you Cletis i was trying to keep a secret so you would not delete it.

Cletis will probably just move it to where it needs to be.

I don't know anything about MGA cars.

Tim

Cletis has nothing to do with moderating this forum.

There is a difference between diagnosing electrical problems on an American truck and a British car.

Lucas electrical systems- - - - -that's why the Brits drink warm beer - - - -they've got Lucas refrigerators!

Check out the connection where the point spring attaches to the distributor breaker plate. As I remember it, it's very easy to get a ground there which acts like the points are closed all the time. My MGA had a similar problem. It's been about 30 years since I've worked on that system, so my memory is a little fuzzy as to exactly how the insulators assemble. If the wiring harness is grounded there, the trigger signal never gets to the Pertronix amplifier. If it's been that way for very long, you might have fried the amplifier. Yes, I know the Pertronix eliminates the points, but the connection could still be wrong.
Jerry

New installation i have emailing the mgaguru and he doesn't have an answer. i am sure it is some thing i did or did not do. i am going to order new points and try that then put them back just in case. the dist. did not have ground for who knows how long and i rigged one up. i have had this car for 43 years and it always started and ran great until this year. i let it set all last summer because i was dealing with the truck and it was so hot all summer. i should have well enough alone but i wanted to up grade the electrical. will talk to pertronics Monday.

Hey, just a minute.... it was apparently running fine till the man installed an aftermarket AMERICAN ignition sysyem!

We drink warm beer cos we like the flavour of the stuff BTW; difficult when your taste buds 've just been nuked by iced swamp water!

My experience of MG's is very limited, but I wouldn't be surprised if the distributor plate is grounding as suggested above.

have had this car since 1968 and it has never failed me. now that i have installed the pertronix system i can't get it started.


pretty simple IMO-put the points back in....

I think i will order a new set of points and a new rotor. and reinstall them and if that does it i will send the Pertronix back.

why did you mess with it to began with...lol

I made a bunch of pocket change in college, working on Jag, MG, Triumph, Austin-Healey, and other Lucas ignition and charging systems. They were just temperamental enough that the local mechanics in the backwoods Tennessee college town where I went to engineering school would run the other way when one drove (or more likely, got pushed) in! Spit on the sidewalk three blocks away, and a Jag XKE ignition system would drown out!
Jerry

The same reason my truck is in the condition it is in, i wanted to improve its drive ability and i thought that was the way to go. AND, AND, AND i i have found out what the problem is. the ignitor has a big chunk out of the back side. how it happened i don't know but it is there. as per another post i though i would take a a quick look and well while i am here take the old one off and see about tightening down the mounting plate and that is when i saw it. this the first time it has let me down in the 43 years i have owned it. well i will see if pertronix will send a new one.

Well back to your issue you were having. Did you remove the Ignition Resistor from the firewall. I know I installed it on my 235 and it fired right up. Has not had a issue with it in years. I know many people who have had them for 10 years and still no issues. Any how if you have not removed the Ignition Resistor that may be the issue.

Good luck

No resister but a cracked igniter.