There are lots of people who swear by Pertronix, as well as LL. I have seen lots of problems with Pertronix, but until now, I thought the LL was the best way to go if you wanted a stock appearance. It will be interesting to hear if others have the same hot stalling issue. So far, its Tim, Ray, and possibly Brett? I wonder if others have seen this problem and attributed it to causes other than ignition, and they just live with it?
Not since sorting it out have I had any issues at all. Hot or cold. Like Bob mentions, though - seems unless you find a NAPA or other aftermarket coil that works as designed, you're kinda stuck using 50 year old parts to complement what's supposed to be an upgraded ignition. I guess time will tell. Just to be safe, I keep an extra coil (247) in the tool bag I have in the trunk.
This is funny, keeping an extra 50-year-old oil-filled coil in the tool bag in the car so that you don't have to keep a small set of points in the glove box or check the dwell on the points annually. Tim's GSX is dead stock, if it were mine (and I wish it was) I'd have points back in the distributor before sundown today and drive it over the weekend and see if there is any difference with the stalling issue.
Agree. And maybe they could test the entire system under extreme temperature as well. At least enough to simulate under-hood temperatures.
I wonder how well this works in a chevy/olds/pontiac with a rear mount distributor. While the Buick distributor is hot up front, I'd bet those distributors are significantly warmer. Maybe we ought to see how those guys make out with the LL conversion.
Well Larry I thinks its fair to say I'm on that list... No? Pursuant to questions about heat, the issues is the newer aftermarket coils get hot not the LL unit inside the disti. The electrical characteristics change as the coil gets warm. I assume that it gets far enough out of spec that the LL unit shuts down in some manner. Maybe a circuit overload or protection kicks in?
Nah.. I have installed about a dozen of those units in the last few years, this is the first issue I have ever heard of with one. JW
The last statement in that text saying "11 volts is ok" is very misleading.. it refers to testing the system with it running, but not being fully warmed up. The factory resistance wire heats up and drops the voltage as it flows current. If it were 11 volts at the coil running all the time, it would not be running for long.. That would arc the points and/or fry the condenser over time. The only time the resistor bypass wire come in play for starting, is for a hot restart. This is where you have to be careful believing everything you read in a manual. In practice, mechanics have been testing running coil voltage for as long as there has been coils and resistors. That static test is fine for measuring resistance of the circuit, but tells you nothing about the system operation when it's running. Many times we saw ignition problems related to alternator over-voltage.. as I recall, Chryslers were prone to this.. they had a goofy dual resistor block setup, one for running, and one for starting.. and what would happen is the car would start and then die as soon as you let go of the key... this would lead you to tracking down that open resistor, and replacing it. But if you did not investigate further and catch the voltage regulator that was running the voltage at 15 plus volts, you would miss the actual cause of the resistor failure, and that car would be coming back, in a month or two with the same problem. I mean I can check the static ignition timing without the engine running, but it would not tell me the first thing about actual operation of the system. Bottom line, fully warmed up, at idle, the voltage measured across the coil, while it is running, needs to be 6.5-8 volts... Been doing that test since Moses was wearing short pants. JW
I don't think it's the air temp in the engine compartment that's the likely killer or administrator of intermittent, hard-to-diagnose issues. It's the fact that the distributor housing gets cooking from the engine. Remember Ford TFI? They put the ignition module on the side of the front-mount distributor, 1' away from the hot air flowing through the radiator. They ended up offering relocation kit, which had us relocating the module to the inner fender, before they finally relocated the ignition control internal to the PCM. We replaced 1000's of Ford TFI modules and GM HEI modules. They couldn't stand the heat from the distributor housing, IMO.
Good luck with that. I'm sure they've done extensive testing in Death Valley and Alaska, for hot and cold extremes, like the OE's did, and they (OE's) still failed or caused hang-banging issues, by the millions!
I'd still bet the buick distributor is quite a bit cooler being mounted in the TCC. Likely it makes no significant difference in the life of modules or point conversion kits.
Still have mine too - Snap-On as I'm sure yours is. Got it in the mid/late 80's for changing Ford modules.
We had several thumb screw 5.5mm tools too. Sometimes it was easier to loosen and rotate the distributor a little to get better access, and remove (or was it install?) the shorting plug to reset the timing. Remember PIP and SPOUT?
I also have been having near stalling problems the last two summers at stop lights on the GSX Stage 1. When it starts to do that I just go into neutral and then when the lights turn green I pop it back into drive. If I keep my foot on the brake and throttle up slightly she won't stall either. The distributor is using currently the Crane XR-i and I have used the Pertronix in the past without this problem happening on the same car. I'm planning on going back to points to see if that takes care of the problem. It's annoying on hot days always having to go to neutral at stop lights. Other than that issue ... the car runs smooth and flawlessly. More tinkering is in order.
