runway1

Still no ignition. Ok, the coil sees ~11.6v when I touch the + terminal and ground the - on the manifold and other grounds. When I touch both the +/- studs of the coil, I get nothing, 0, nada.

Is this normal or does it mean the module is fried? The Pertronix II module has both a + & - wire coming out. I would think the coil (when wired up and the ignition turned on) would register some voltage, right?

This is p#$%ssing me off!

Starfury

The coil doesn't get voltage until the motor starts turning over. The Ignitor pickup needs to be at the proper point on the reluctor to supply voltage to the coil, just like a set of points that would need to be closed to send voltage to the coil. In addition, the Ignitor II has an automatic ignition cutoff to keep from burning the coil up if the ignition switch is left on with the engine off.

runway1

The coil sees voltage as soon as the key is turned "on". It doesn't have to turn the starter, just has to be on.

Car ran great for many weeks and then just died. Carb coughs up unburned fuel. I seem to be getting spark at the plugs but weak, not enough to even power a timing light while turning.

runway1

So if the module was bad, this would cause the reluctor NOT to send the votage, right? I ask this because the unit was placed in the dizzy last Nov. and has never been moved. Looks brand new.

kalli

to be more detailed in the reply.
11.6 at coil+ when you have ignition switch on is ok.
The coil- is sometimes grounded sometimes not. If you had points the open/close position would decide if you had ground at that time or not. similar with an ignitor.

Do you have a dwell-meter in your multimeter?
at the same time, I'd stick to the original post if I were you as I have a hard time remembering what you already tried and I'm not gonna look it up. People only now joining the conversiation will tell you the same things over and over again ...


Kalli

runway1

Good point. And yes, I have a dwell meter. What would I want to look at? I think you're saying when the dwell angle is 0, I should have ground at the coil - terminal, right?

kalli

my theory is that if:
a) engine is grounded (check!) and
b) coil has around 12V plus at coil+ terminal (against engine) and
c) you read a dwell while starting, then the module should be good (must be measured during start or running)

i never tried that with a pertronix and I have lend my dwell meter to a friend. should have it back tomorrow.
So i hope anyone here on the forums can confirm this theory.

Kalli

on a sidenote make sure the module itself is grounded properly. the ground strap of the module itself in a pertronix is usually hooked up to the screw that holds the vacuum canister. mine was loose once causing all sorts of havoc

Starfury

Erm, no, that's right. Sorry, was thinking backwards. The Ignitor switches on the ground side, not the feed side, so the coil always gets voltage when the switch is on.

jlg2002

If the reluctor and pickup coil is bad or gapped too large, the module electronics would not trigger the ground side of the coil to create a spark. (the reluctor and PU coil's only job is to create a magnetic field during dist shaft rotation, From there, the module can short the neg side of the coil to ground which collapes the ignition coil's field- spark!) .
If you're concerned with the coil, take 12v directly to it from the battery and if the coil is good, the mother should put out a nice blue spark. (from what i'm reading, you have either a bad coil, bad module, bad wiring connections/grounds.)

runway1

Ok, good stuff. Thanks, I'll follow this thought.

I also have a post regarding the metal dust I found under the cap. I'm beginning to think I just need a new dizzy. If the metal shavings contributed to some short of optical, magnetic or electrical short, replacing the module doesn't fix my problem.