I went to fire the SunCoupe up today and I have a no start. There is no spark. Cap and rotor all look good. I am running a Crane XRI that has been in the car for some 10 years now along with a MSD blaster II. I checked the resistance of the coil and I have 1.1 ohms on the primary and 4.4K on the secondary's which seem in spec. I am believing the XRI went out. I did confirm distributor rotation also. Looking at probably replacing the ignition module. I see like 4 plus Pertronix systems. What is the differences between all of these and what is my best bet to go with? Looking for experience and advice inputs. Or other options. Thanks, Mike
I know lots of guys have success with Pertronix, but I can't honestly recommend them. I think the Lectric Ltd points replacement is hands down the best. It is more expensive. https://www.lectriclimited.com/breakerless-se-electronic-ignition-conversion You can put points back in and use them to trigger an MSD box. Then get your distributor converted to magnetic pick up down the road.
Thanks Larry. Who makes a magnetic pickup for our distributors? Or are you referring to an entire new distributor ? I want to keep a pure stock appearance, BTW. I have done a lot of reading on the 4 different versions I saw. Basically an original and a new updated (which I have seen people say they are not as dependable) which each have a version that requires distributor removal or one with a lobe sensor.
I've been using the one wire conversion for close to 20 years now with ONLY one failure which was the cause of the consumer. You use the stock distributor so everything remains stock looking. Only you & I know it has Electronic Ignition. I also rebuild & recurve distributors for better performance, & IF you can keep your foot out of it, get better fuel mileage. No need to replace distributor as the "Nail" distributor is about as bullet proof as you can get. As far as I'm concerned is MUCH MORE reliable than ANY replacement. Tom T.
I had my distributor converted to MSD trigger by the Ignitionman, Dave Ray. He may be up and running again, not sure, https://www.davessmallbodyheis.com/ Dave has 2 options, MSD trigger, and HEI. Same trigger as above. Not sure if Jim Weise can convert distributors. You might check with him.
Thanks Larry. I didn’t see that somehow, lol. I will look into these options. I really appreciate the replies.
Do you have a battery charger that you can charge the battery and try to start again? I'm not committed to this being your car's problem, but I had a similar issue with the XR1 (now made by FAST), and is it was due to the voltage at the coil dropping too low when engaging the starter. The way I figured it out was to put my volt meter up to the windshield. I attached the positive lead to the + side of the coil and the negative lead to the - side of the battery. When moving the key to the start position to engage the starter, I was able to see the volts at the coil when starting. That time, it dropped down to 6.5V. I charged the battery and it started at 8V. After this, I replaced the battery and have not had the no-spark/no-start issue since. Note that my car is set up to provide a full 12V to the coil, like an HEI would use. If you have a volt meter, this test will save you some frustration down the road, if you have the same issue with the replacement system.
I did notice that my battery tender was reading off. When I began cranking the motor over, it was mildly sluggish. I reset the charger, and after my troubleshooting, it was cranking over much better. I will try again tomorrow to see if there is any spark. I did see 12V at my coil when I was checking for power to it.
Thanks again everyone for their inputs. I believe I will go with the one wire application if I find no spark after ensuring the battery charger has done its job overnight. I did see once I rest the tender/charger, it was sitting at 70%. I do believe that should have been plenty enough to run the ignition system. I still need to look into my ignition system as I noticed the last time I had my distributor out to replace the o-ring, the timing was a little jumpy when setting it. I am thinking I have too weak of springs on it. I have had some discussions with other gearheads where I live and it was mentioned that springs can be too loose and unstable. So... I'm gonna order some of those soon also.
Update Today, I had my neighbor come by to crank the motor, as I wanted to be sure I had no spark. I wasn't absolutely sure my test device was good. I pulled the coil wire from the cap. Had him turn the key and there was spark. Hmmmm I put everything back together and after a few cranks to get fuel up to the carb, I had fire off. It was cold and no choke on my combo... After the third fire off, I had nothing. Now there was no spark from the coil. I metered the coil primary and secondary's, and they still looked good. I commenced in removing the XRI and installed the single wire kit. It wasn't too bad to install (although I would like to advise them to not combine silver washers with black screws and black washers with silver screws WHY ???) Got the cap back on and wires all back connected. BAM ! It lit off immediately. Not to put the timing light on it once it warms up to drive. Maybe in a week or two. I noticed a change in my tach operations. It I super stabile now. I had noticed maybe 18-24 months ago that the tach needle was a little bouncy, as in dropping off every now and then. I am thinking the old module had been showing signs of failure about to happen for a while and I didn't catch the clue. Thanks Larry and Tom for your advice and experience !
