[gto65conv]

65 WS stock, Pet Ign III/Flamethrower III coil, 5+ yrs old. Sunny SW Fla 75deg, drove 1/4 mile, died. Tried gas in carb, nothing. Flatbed home, next morning started right up. I've had this car 20 yrs and nothing like this. I'm not a Pertronix fan but at the time they had the best rev limiter. I'm short on diagnostic tools here. Is this a typical Pert problem? I had a 3 hr AAA wait that I'm not anxious to go thru again field testing it.

[steve25]

Well you kinda got 2 choices.

If you still have the stock coil and it was known to be good then put it in and take a drive, or you can load some tools in the car along with the stock coil and take a drive and if what’s in there now craps outbpop in the stock coil.

[mgarblik]

A decent field test would be to start and run the engine until it dies. When it dies, immediately check for spark with a spark tester on the coil wire removed from the center of the dist. cap. If you have spark, something non-ignition related is the cause. No spark, remove dist cap and spray with some kind of freeze agent available or a little shot of R134A on the Petronix module. If it then starts back up, Petronix is shot.

[Sirrotica]

When I worked on forklifts we converted many of the older points style units to Pertronix conversions. The reliability was less than stellar, from that exposure, I'd never use one in anything I wanted to be dependable.

[Dragncar]

Junk the Petronix and go with a quality single point combined with a 6AL with rev limiter and be done with it. Lasts forever and almost foolproof.
You can find working MSD boxes Made in America (Texas) on E Bay.
MSD fails, switch some wires and drive home.

[Cardo]

I had 2 burn up on me within 4 years. Dragncar has the right idea if you think you need a hotter spark. I went back to Delco points and condenser, and haven't had any problems at all.

[geeteeohguy]

Been running stock Delco points and condensers in my GM cars with stock distributors for the past 45 years and zero issues. Friends with Pertronix systems have had to call the tow truck more than once. No thanks.

[gto65conv]

The rule in the day, and I was in the passenger seats of 65 GTO's in high school, was a coil was either good or bad. Searching pertronix problems I find claims they can be inconsistent? I bought this coil originally to meet the Pet resistance specs. FWIW my X trashed my cache of spares... The question is, as many claim, they use standard GM coils that don't match the spec with success? Is there a way to test the module? My opinion of Pertronix is less than wonderful. Thanks

[Cliff R]

Pertronix is NOT an upgrade from a good stock set of points. Like every other type of aftermarket points conversion or bug-zapping distributor they are going to fail or cause issues. Not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when".

Not only do they fail but I've ran into a lot of them that don't work well at high RPM's and of course the owner blames the carburetor. The last time this happened was when one of my customers had his fresh 454 Chevy LS5 engine on the dyno. The dyno operator HATED Q-jets and even worse those "flat" cast iron intakes used on the big 454's. The engine wasn't making chit for power and DONE by 4500rpms. Of course the engine builder/dyno operator is hitting my phone and I'm getting the "I told you that Quadrajunk carb and POS iron intake wouldn't feed my engine" crap.

The best pull they made was 425hp @ 4500rpms then it just fell off the graph. I asked them about fuel delivery, etc and finally got around to the distributor and got a very nasty response that he built it for the engine and set the curve to be all-in by 2800rpms and it was set exactly to 36 degrees total timing. Then he mentioned that he installed a Pertronix to replace the points. I told him to toss that POS in the trash can and put the points back in it. Reluctantly they did so and the very next pull was 587hp @ 5800rpm's!

That's about the 200th time I've seen that sort of thing with aftermarket bug-zapping crap. I'm telling anyone on here not to use them because my comments typically get responses where folks have used them succesfully on everything they've owned since Moby Dick was a minnow. I'm only saying that doing this sort of thing full time for decades I've ran into WAY too many issues with those parts and will not use any of them........FWIW......

[F ROCK]

I switched to pertronics about 5 years ago when i couldnt find a decent set of points.
I was in the habit of buying 3 sets of Echlin points so i hopefully find one good set. That stopped working out.
The old echlin points seemed to last a lifetime but the ones i was finding were bad right out of the box.
...And then theres those unipoints or whatever. I've never had a working set of those.
In frustration, i went to the pertronics.
I've had no problems with mine, yet.
Mine is an early version, the first "Igniter" i think.

[Formulajones]

It's the pertronix lol.

I don't trust those things. Had a set in my bird back when they were only a pertronix 1. It did the same thing, would get warm and shut down. Only did that on the highway with extended time at rpm. Back roads were fine. I could park on the highway about 20 minutes and it would refire like nothing wrong. Drive another 5 miles and shut down again. Sent it back in to pertronix for testing and they did find something wrong with it. Sent another new one free. Installed that and same thing. Drive around back roads for 2 weeks and fine. Soon as I hit the highway it shut down withing 5 miles.
I reinstalled the points and it's been perfect for the last 20-something years. Ran the same set of points for 15 years without a single issue. I run the accel points in everything here that still has points (4 cars) and never a problem.

I came to the conclusion that the pertronix did not like the Pontiac with the distributor buried in the back basically under the intake with little to no air flow. Gets hot and shuts down, because I had better luck on Chevrolets and fords with that pertronix where distributors weren't so buried and had better exposure but these days I avoid the points replacement junk and just prefer points, very simple and never lets me down.

[tom s]

I have been running the Pertronix 1 for 20 plus years with no failures.I have them installed and setup by ignition people like Suntuned and Ignitionengineering.FWIW,Tom

[gto65conv]

You collectively confirm my ignition issues.. I switched because I was fed up with points that pitted/failed annually. I've had early model petronics issues, hoped the latest model was finally something more than a Heathkit (for the oldtimers) I'm guessing the coil didn't cause the failure, though I don't know if coil architecture has changed? Thoughts?

My quick solution seems to be purchase another module (tripower junkie) with a 30 mo warranty and hope I don't get stuck waiting 3hrs for AAA on a mild Saturday morning (another issue) Thanks

[Formulajones]

I'd be more curious as to more detail why or how your points failed/pitted annually. I never have to touch them in four different cars, not even for adjustments.. I check them with a Dwell meter once a year or so but that's it. They never move. 2 of the cars are daily driven. I think one of them must have more than 60,000 miles now on the same set of points.

In fact, the Firebird that I drive everywhere and race the snot out of, as I mentioned had the same set for about 15 years. It was suggested a few years ago that I should change them when I was talking about being stuck at a certain ET/MPH. For giggles I did, and the car ran "THE SAME" LOL I kept the set of points that came out, there is nothing wrong with them.

[59safaricat]

Electronic ignition works well when properly designed, the problem is that aftermarket stuff is generally cheaply made junk.

Back in 1999, had a buddy with a '66 mustang with a modified 302/built AOD that he installed a MSD 6AL that died on us...ironically in a Kragens parking lot. Less than 5 months old. Thankfully I was with him because he did not have AAA or any other tow service. Neither one of us had cell phones back then but payphones were still the norm.

Had a buddy with a '65 Ford Galaxie that installed a Pertronix kit that died on him in 4 months. The engine never ran right from day one but I don't think he wired up 12 volts to the unit. Not familiar with Fords of that time, but it probably had a resistor somewhere in the circuit for the points system that needed to be bypassed.

[gto65conv]

[QUOTE=Formulajones;6423127]I'd be more curious as to more detail why or how your points failed/pitted annually. I never have to touch them in four different cars, not even for adjustments.. I check them with a Dwell meter once a year or so but that's it. They never move. 2 of the cars are daily driven. I think one of them must have more than 60,000 miles now on the same set of points.

I was running stepped down voltage, had to rewire to get 12V to the pet, tight distributor shaft and lubed, changed caps/wires over the years. I would be the last car starting at cruise nights with a modern starter. The pet changed all that. From what I read on here all the points are Chinese junk?

[GOAT8U2]

Here's some quick thoughts.....

I add vibration dampening to all mounting points of important electronics. Also shield from heat if in doubt.

If you have a possible known issue to ruin your day, your time and possible your life while driving, only the best most reliable part gets on the car (price be damned) IMHO. Stalling out is horrible, but do it while turning left into in coming traffic, get out the Huggies from the glove box. LOL

[Formulajones]

[QUOTE=gto65conv;6423144]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

I'd be more curious as to more detail why or how your points failed/pitted annually. I never have to touch them in four different cars, not even for adjustments.. I check them with a Dwell meter once a year or so but that's it. They never move. 2 of the cars are daily driven. I think one of them must have more than 60,000 miles now on the same set of points.

I was running stepped down voltage, had to rewire to get 12V to the pet, tight distributor shaft and lubed, changed caps/wires over the years. I would be the last car starting at cruise nights with a modern starter. The pet changed all that. From what I read on here all the points are Chinese junk?

I still buy and use Accel points, the only points I've used for nearly 40 years and still good quality, no problems.

I've never used anything from the chain stores as the ones I've had in my hands just seemed cheap to me, even years ago. Spring tension was weak, and the contacts were hollow. Maybe they have better versions at the chain stores? I don't know, but I just always stick with Accel points and been completely happy.

[gto65conv]

[QUOTE=Formulajones;6423177][QUOTE=gto65conv;6423144]

I still buy and use Accel points, the only points I've used for nearly 40 years and still good quality, no problems.

From my experience with Accel, they are the absolute worse electrical products. I would try their points BUT, in the classic story my X put a 20 yr accumulation of parts to the curb. Small price to pay actually, I'll struggle with the Pertronix for now.

[Formulajones]

I've never experienced a single issue with Accel points, even using the stock 23 ouncers to 7200 rpm. Even the set in the Nomad dates back to about the mid 1980's lol, that thing still hits on the first turn of the key. Both of our daily drivers still use them. Honestly I wouldn't change a thing on the dailys as they have proven to be dead nuts reliable. The set I have in the Z I bought only a few years ago when I put that car back on the road and don't see any change in design or quality. They've been going strong since and the dwell hasn't even changed.
I have 2 more sets in the packages I bought within the last year that still look just like the old sets.

Now the caps and rotors I can't comment on as to quality these days, I haven't bought a set from Accel in a lot of years.