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Pertronix ignition fsilure

K

KFFarm

Member
Has anyone had a pertronix electronic ignition fail on them? We have a tractor that was acting up a bit, now it won't run at all. Acts like it is way off time. We have not changed anything. Just wondering if anyone also has had similar experience.
 
Never had one fail yet.

If it is still making spark, it is doing what it does.

Timing is another issue. Take a look at the centrifugal advance, distributor condition in general, clamp tightness, etc.
 
Yep I had one fail on a JD 3020. Acted like a bad condensor. would idle buy when you put the power to it would spit and sputter etc. Made up a quick and dirty test light with a LED from Radio Shack and it showed up as intermittent function of ignition. Put the points plate back in for temp and replaced when I got the chance.

jt
 
They do require resistor (graphite) spark plug wires to work properly. Metallic wires will cause the module to fail. I did have one with the wrong magnet ring once where the rotor was between terminals on the cap when it fired. It ran for a while but eventually burned up the distributor cap to the point it wouldn't run anymore. Metallic wires is the biggest issue I've seen with them though.
 
I have been thinking of put Pertronix on my tractor and heard the same thing but it's not true. I called Pertronix and was told that you can use copper wires but they have to be a min. of 20 gauge wire.
 
(quoted from post at 04:08:46 08/21/17) I have been thinking of put Pertronix on my tractor and heard the same thing but it's not true. I called Pertronix and was told that you can use copper wires but they have to be a min. of 20 gauge wire.
Click to expand...
he "hearsay" is killing me! Post Pertronix official bulletin on the matter!
 
I put one in a neighbor's MF65. He liked it so much he had me put another in his other 65. One failed, I don't recall which one, so I put the original parts back in. They are both still running. It's been quite a few years now.
 
I had two sets fail years ago. Pertronics wanted to know nothing about it. And of course they failed about a month after the warranty expired. I put points and condensers back and have not had an issue. My experience is that the Pertronics is a waste of money. These tractors ran 50+ years on points and condensers so why change now? Not for one minute do I feel I ever gained one more pony or the tractor started any better or worse.
 
Pertronix USED to be a good reliable conversion. But lately there is LOTS of troubles being reported with them, far too many reports to pass them off as bad installations or one off problems caused by purchasers. Buy points and forget Pertronics until they get there issues figured out is my advise.
 
I had one one my 8N Ford and it did not work well, so I went back to the original ignition system and never looked back.
 
Metal wires are not to blame. There are units that have been running with copper core wires for 10 years. That is petronix's excuse for the junk they are selling. They used to be ok but they changed something a few years ago and now they have a high failure rate. I had two fail on my 88 Oliver puller within two months so I went back to points. Total crap in my opinion and I won't install another one until they fix the problem.
 
Make sure the distributor is making good ground contact. Had an A JD that acted up with points. Burnt them up as fast as we could put them in. Cleaned up where distributor mounts to tractor and it took care of that problem.
 
Make sure the unit is mounted solid to the points plate. Make sure your mechanical advance is in good shape.
Incoming voltage, based upon my own tests and usage, for 12v systems, I had a Chevy alternator, hot coil, and I simply hooked up the positive lead from the petronix, to the ballast resistor. That's for best longevity. It will still be much hotter than stock.
 
I've put pertronix ignition on 5 tractors, no problems with any of them, better than having points and a condenser that usually has failed every time you want to use the tractor
 
(quoted from post at 11:19:06 08/21/17) Make sure the unit is mounted solid to the points plate. Make sure your mechanical advance is in good shape.
Incoming voltage, based upon my own tests and usage, for 12v systems, I had a Chevy alternator, hot coil, and I simply hooked up the positive lead from the petronix, to the ballast resistor. That's for best longevity. It will still be much hotter than stock.
Click to expand...
o, you are feeding BOTH the EI and the coil + through the ballast resistor?
 
Yes. I put a h distributor in my
lathe, wired it all up, and spun the
distributor in the lathe. A make shift
test stand if you will.
I used a accel super stock coil, not
the big yellow one, the regular 12v.
First, I shot 13.6v into it, no
resistor. After three mins, coil was
real warm, and so was the unit.
So, I hooked in a ballast on both,
coil and the petronix, same 13.6 input
to the resistor, and it was around
11v going to the unit and the coil.
Still had a spark that bit me harder
than the points, nice blue spark.
The test with resistor, went for half
an hour, no heat in either. Lasted 8
years, till I sold the tractor, and
New owner hooked it back up to full
voltage and fried it in less than two
hours.
 
Anytime I have heard of one failing - I've asked the same question and have yet to get an accurate answer. Was it installed properly? Pertonix makes it very clear that there MUST be enough resistance on the coil primary or it won't last long. I just put one on my Ford 641 and because it has a four-cylinder engine, coil primary resistance must be over 3 ohms. I have seen many installed with less and a few burn out.

Also when such questions are asked -which version Pertonix? There are three and they are all quite different.
 
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