PINTO CAR CLUB of AMERICA
Welcome to FordPinto.com, The home of the PCCA => General Help- Ask the Experts... => Topic started by: sarahohara89 on February 02, 2012, 09:32:09 PM
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I am switching my 2.0 to an electronic ignition and am wondering if anyone has any recommendation s on that. I found a kit at Autozone for $239, but that didn't include everything neede....appar ently. This is my first time doing something like this so info or advice would be great.
Thanks!
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Pertronix makes a kit that replaces the points. They run about $100 or so. They work great...used them many times.
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Pertonix had been recommended to me. Thanks for the reassurance. Have it and the coil on order.
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It's good stuff!!
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I've had nothing but trouble with the Pertronix Ignitor II units. I've had two outright failures of the output transistor, and one have current leakage from the collector to emitter. The two failures gave no warning. The breakdown acted like a carb issue at first. It had me chasing the choke and powervalve circuits, as it was very hard to start to warm. By the way, this is on a '64.5 Mustang with a 260 v8, converted to alt. After checking all the potential fuel delivery concerns, I backed up to the ignition, only to find the dwell was too long, current and voltage to the primary was low, and my secondary voltage was only 3-4k at the coil. Pertronix was quick to replace the unit each time (lifetime warranty), and each time the failure analysis report that came back indicated that the output transistor failed due to lack of proper grounding... So, I photoed all of my connections and installation, along with recordings made with a PICO scope of voltage drop across each circuit and current flow (inductive probe), in conjunction with secondary voltage readings. After the third failure, I simply requested a refund, with which they eventually complied. I've since converted to small cap DuraSpark dizzy, wired to a GM HEI module, mounted on the bottom back of the air cleaner, to both hide it and keep it cool. i haven't had a failure yet, but its only been about a year and about 1k miles, vs six years and 5k miles with the three failures of the Ign IIs.
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That would be the first bad thing I've heard about Pertronix. I've ran them in many sandrails and some older Fords and never had an issue.
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Ign Is or IIs? I've run into a whole group of folks who have had issues with Ign IIs. I have to agree, most folks running the Ign Is don't have any complaints.
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I've had nothing but trouble with the Pertronix Ignitor II units. I've had two outright failures of the output transistor, and one have current leakage from the collector to emitter. The two failures gave no warning. The breakdown acted like a carb issue at first. It had me chasing the choke and powervalve circuits, as it was very hard to start to warm.
FB71 - this sounds similar to a problem I've had with my 1973, 2.0L - I switched to pertronics, all went well... but over time... the car has been getting harder to start, runs like crap! (loopy) and I have to keep foot on the pedal until warmed up. Once up to temp it purrs like a kitten and runs ok. It also runs hot on warm/hot days at idle and will "vapor lock" leaving me unable to start it again until it cools off, takes a long time to cool off too. If I keep moving, highway speeds, it doesn't lock up... does this sound familar to you and the problems you had with pertronics?
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FB71 - this sounds similar to a problem I've had with my 1973, 2.0L - I switched to pertronics, all went well... but over time... the car has been getting harder to start, runs like crap! (loopy) and I have to keep foot on the pedal until warmed up. Once up to temp it purrs like a kitten and runs ok. It also runs hot on warm/hot days at idle and will "vapor lock" leaving me unable to start it again until it cools off, takes a long time to cool off too. If I keep moving, highway speeds, it doesn't lock up... does this sound familar to you and the problems you had with pertronics?
Dead on.... the EXACT symptoms mine exhibited. To verify, I simply swtiched back to points while the symptoms were present. They were immediately resolved. That's when I took the car to work with me (I'm an automotive technology professor at a community college) and scoped everything. I used to work at Ford Motor Co (as a Service Training Instructor, Mid-Atlantic) with a bunch of other gearheads, some of whom raced vintage Brit stuff in SCCA events. This is where I first started to see this problem. Nothing is funnier than a bunch of middle-aged, tech-obsessed professional performance geeks having their butts handed to them over what really is a simple problem! We chased everything BUT ignition on that Spitfire for hours, over several events. When we finally followed our own instruction (check the basics FIRST), we found the secondary ignition breaking down. The symptoms weren't exactly the same, since this was a track car. The Spit in question went to a Boyer ignition instead, so we really didn't have any follow-up on the Pertronix unit. I didn't think about it again until I stated having trouble with my Mustang a few years later.
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Everything I ran was 1's and that's been a few years back.
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Dead on.... the EXACT symptoms mine exhibited....
when the car comes out of storage in a couple months this is 1st on the list of things to do, I hope it works for me, been frustrating.
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I will be testing my electronic ignition on my 73's 2.0 this spring as well. The car came with what appears to be a very early model of the Crane Fireball XR700 (The module's gold heat sink is exposed), but one of the four tabs on the shutter wheel was broken. I think I can fix it up using JB weld and some 1/8" plastic, though.
If all else fails, I have high hopes in the pertronix unit.
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Thanks for chiming in! Great info. So it sounds like I may be in good shape. I did order the Pertronix Igniter 1. I will keep points handy though! Thanks for the help.
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I have Ignitor II's in a couple of my cars for a few years now. No problems what so ever. I also have the awesome new Ignitor III with the multispark and Digital Rev Limiter in my 29 RPU, I love it!
As for the original Ignitors, I put one in my 66 Mustang back in 1982, and it is still working great 30 years and a 125,000 miles later.
Love em.
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Well I am sending back my pertronix igniter 1 unless someone else wants to buy it from me. We have decided to drop a 302 in it. ;D Wish me luck and thanks again for the info. I will have tons of questions on the motor change at a later date I'm sure!
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Sara - e-mail sent....
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I just found this group!! I've had 3 different Pintos in the past. When I transplanted my 2.0 to a 1977 until I could build up the 2.3, I was already sick of the points. I noticed that a distributor cap for a 2.3 fits on a 2.8 V6 distributor! (both the same electronic ignition) I tried the 2.8 distributor in the 2.0 and it fit just fine. I had to pull the 6 lobed "cam" and put in the 4 lobed one. I did have to put a new groove to index it properly. Hopefully my memory is still good about this, soooo many years later. lol
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I never had any problems with the OE Bosch set up on my '71.