Pertronix trouble shooting

[Biggredd2069]

Have a message into their tech support. Figured I'd get some help here too. I'm at work so can't do anything til I get home but here goes. Have 68 newport with 383. Bought the igniter 2 pertronix. 91381a. Feel like I have everything installed right but it just keeps trying to turn over without actually starting. I hooked up the red wire to the left side of the coil and the black wire to the right side. I didn't bypass anything, just a simple setup. Are you able to tell from pic if I did anything wrong?

 

[Triple Pickle]

I’m not familiar with this set up but, there’s no left or right on a coil. It’s positive or negative. It looks like one of the wires isn’t very tight on there in the pic.

 

[Biggredd2069]

I should probably edit my words. The original wire coming out of the distributor from the points set up was red at the end and hooked up on the left side of the coil. I'm assuming since it was red that was the positive. So I put the red positive of the pertronix on the left side of the coil (positive) and the ground on the right side of the coil. I did have bolts tighter when I was trying to start it. Was playing around with stuff when I took the photo so that may be true the bolts aren't as tight as they would otherwise be.

 

[roadcuda]

Are you still using the ballast resistor? I've installed three of them in my cars and on each one the red wire had to be hooked up to the resistor on the side with full power from the battery. Then you should have the wire from the other side of the resistor to the + side and the black to the - side of the coil.

 

[Biggredd2069]

I went straight to the coil on the positive. I guess I could look into wiring it to the ballast resistor. I'm not the greatest mechanic in the world so not sure I know if I'd be doing the resistor part correctly. Just wanting to try if nothing else and if I fail, then I'll get help. Would the ballast be right next to the coil? Like I said I'm not at home to look in detail.

 

[Triple Pickle]

Are you still using the ballast resistor? I've installed three of them in my cars and on each one the red wire had to be hooked up to the resistor on the side with full power from the battery. Then you should have the wire from the other side of the resistor to the + side and the black to the - side of the coil.

Yes, it would appear that you have only the coil and sender hooked together without any power going to the coil from the Ignition??

 

[Triple Pickle]

I went straight to the coil on the positive. I guess I could look into wiring it to the ballast resistor. I'm not the greatest mechanic in the world so not sure I know if I'd be doing the resistor part correctly. Just wanting to try if nothing else and if I fail, then I'll get help. Would the ballast be right next to the coil? Like I said I'm not at home to look in detail.

The resistor is a white ceramic block on the firewall usually

 

[Biggredd2069]

Wow. Sorry. Getting thoroughly confused now on something that should be so simple. They only give you about a foot of wire on the kit. A positive and negative. Are you saying I need to get a wire and run it to the resistor at the firewall? I we under assumption was just simple connections near the coil. Am I making this more difficult than it needs to be? Trying to learn as I go. So I appreciate the hand holding.

Also, in this pic I'm attaching there is a bundle of wire coming along the valve cover and a wire branches out to the coil. What is this wire ?Just a ground ?

 

[Triple Pickle]

Your ballast resistor is pointed out by the green arrow in the upper right hand area of this pic.

 

[Biggredd2069]

Ok. So long story short I need to go buy extra wire and run it to the ballast resistor ?

 

[Triple Pickle]

Are you still using the ballast resistor? I've installed three of them in my cars and on each one the red wire had to be hooked up to the resistor on the side with full power from the battery. Then you should have the wire from the other side of the resistor to the + side and the black to the - side of the coil.

This

 

[Mike66Chryslers]

The Ignitor-2 should have come with wiring instructions in the package. Here is a copy.

http://support.pertronix.com/file.p...ture=6237ce76d2e23f260679c84e2a302c7bb81b3eb2

They say you can A) wire direct to the coil and bypass the ballast resistor, which you can do by disconnecting the leads from the ballast resistor and connecting them together, OR B) keep the ballast resistor in-circuit to the coil and connect the Ignitor-2 red wire to the ignition-powered side of the ballast resistor.

Option B is what the above commenters are describing, and is probably the safer way to go when using a stock ignition coil.

Whether you choose option A or B, you still need power to the + terminal of the coil, by keeping the original wire connected to the coil + terminal attached to it.

 

[Biggredd2069]

I guess I was just under the impression everything in the kit was all I needed and within reach of attached wires. I'll stop by the store and buy wire to reach to the ballest resistor. I have the instructions, they're just very basic...like my knowledge of this project. Hopefully I'l up and running soon. I'll follow up.

 

[Triple Pickle]

Just look it all over again and think about it. I think you’ll get it fired right up. Don’t feel bad we all overlook simple stuff sometimes. It’s all part of learning. Until you get old. Then it’s part of..getting old! Lol

 

[67Monaco]

I guess I was just under the impression everything in the kit was all I needed and within reach of attached wires. I'll stop by the store and buy wire to reach to the ballest resistor. I have the instructions, they're just very basic...like my knowledge of this project. Hopefully I'l up and running soon. I'll follow up.

Just disconnect the wires from the resistor, hook them together and see if she fires. If you look at the coil it will have a + and a - on it. Red from the pertronix to + black to -.

 

[Biggredd2069]

OK. Think I got it. Let me clarify where I stand. When I disconnected the points it had one wire attached to it with a red tip, connected to the left side of the coil. I'm assuming that is the positive on the coil. I'm not seeing a designation on the coil of pos or neg. I did not disconnect anything other than that one wire from the coil. so I take the black wire from the ignitor and plug it onto the right side of the coil, which is the negative. I then bypass the positive side of the coil, add a wire extension onto the red positive of the ignitor and run it to the ballast resister and hook it up to the 12 v side of the resister and I should be good to go? That sound right?

edit. I see you mentioned the coil should state + or -. I'm working in a dark garage so I'll look a little closer and make sure I'm hooking it up properly.

 

[Mike66Chryslers]

I think you have it backwards. There should be + and - symbols somewhere near the terminals, though they may be quite small. The points used to connect to the NEGATIVE side of the coil, which is the wire you removed. The black wire on the Pertronix attaches to that terminal. The red wire on the Pertronix should be extended and connect to the ignition-switch side of the ballast resistor.

Here, I got this from another forum. Your original points system is the top picture. Modify your wiring so it matches the middle picture, which is the same as "Option B" in the Pertronix instructions. Ignore the bottom picture, which corresponds to "Option A" in the Pertronix instructions.

 

[Biggredd2069]

Mike 66. Your exactly right. I did have it backwards and this diagram is perfect. I'll print it and get it done tonight. Many thank you's to all that let me try and restate it in my own words to get this right. Go team!!!

 

[rexus31]

I've run it with the Ballast Resistor in place but I eventually went ahead and removed the guts and soldered a wire between the two ports of the ballast to retain the factory look. It ran both ways but decided it would be better to get full voltage. Make sure your gap is correct between the pickup and the halo on the rotor using the feeler gauge included in the kit. Sounds like it should fire once you get the wires switched.

 

[Biggredd2069]

This diagram is what pertronix should add in the manual. I likely would have had it done right away. I did measure the gap twice already. I'll definitely measure again for good measure. Excited to finish now!