Logo

Pertronix Ignitor

mpt

Contributing Member
"I had the same experience as

"I had the same experience as Bob D had back in July 2006 with the magnetic sleeve. It would not slide all the way on the distributor cam to allow the rotor cap to fit on its slot. I applied too much pressure and cracked the sleeve. I'm going to call the Pertronix factory asap to ask why? I just shelled out $115.00$ for it and now it's junk! I have twin 4cyl BB140A's in my 1981 Bayliner 3270 Explorer. I decided to go with electronic ignition one engine at a time after realizing that points/condensor are out of style and after I bought the boat last summer I realized that the port engine seems to have a history of burning up points according to the captains log that the previous owner wrote about. Reading all of the success stories got me pumped on the pertronix, now I just feel like I wasted my money. Maybe they sent the wrong parts. the kit number is 2842. Why should it take any elbow grease at all to get the sleeve to seat all of the way down? It worked for Bob D but not for me!!

http://www.marineengine.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?tpc=12487&post=45577#POST455 77\clipart\clipart {angry}"
 
"Sorry to hear that Marc. Hop

"Sorry to hear that Marc. Hopefully Pertronix will send you a new sleeve and you can get that one on OK. ONce you get a new sleeve, I wonder if perhaps putting a little light oil or something slick on the inside of the sleeve would help? I did not have to do that but it might work. Good luck and let us know how it turns out."
 
"Marc, I don't know what w

"Marc, I don't know what went wrong during the sleeve installation. I recall I did not have any problems installing the sleeve in the distributor from the AQ140 I used to own, and I certainly did not need to apply any lubricant. However, I still keep the installation instructions, and they state:

"Install magnetic sleeve over distributor shaft, onto point cam. <font color=""ff0000"">Rotate sleeve until a slight locating position is felt <u>before applying pressure</u></font>. With magnet sleeve lined up on point cam, press down firmly ensuring sleeve is fully seated"

To me, this means that, if the sleeve is not properly aligned and you press it down firmly, chances are it will break. I am not sure whether or not this is what happened in your case, but other than you being issued a defective sleeve or a sleeve of the wrong size, I don't see another explanation.

In any case, I think you should contact Pertronix and let them know what happened. I don't know of their policies, but I would expect that they send you another sleeve.

In my opinion, you have not wasted your money by choosing to upgrade to electronic ignition. Pertronix is a proven electronic replacement for points which has been successfully used in the marine and automotive industry for many years. You just have to get Pertronix to send you another sleeve, finish the installation, and say bye-bye to points forever, like many of us have already done. BTW, my current boat has a V8 Chevy instead of a 4-cylilnder Volvo engine, but the ignition is also electronic and I would never consider going back to points."
 
I just got off of the phone wi

I just got off of the phone with Pertronix and they were very nice and are sending me a new sleeve in the mail!
 
"Marc, when you install the ne

"Marc, when you install the new sleeve, try to apply as even pressure all around the sleeve as you can. I remember pressing down pretty hard with both my thumbs, one on each side of the sleeve, and it finally seated all the way down onto the cam. Once you get that cam on, the rest of the install is very simple and you will be very glad you did the conversion."
 
Use a socket that fits over th

Use a socket that fits over the sleeve and press on the socket so that it goes in verticaly and not angled in relation with the shaft
 
"Tell ya the truth that is wha

"Tell ya the truth that is what I did when I cracked it! I first tried about a half dozen times pushing it on and pulling it off after it turning ever so slightly to get it centered exactly over the cam shaft. Then I decided to use a socket that matched the OD of the sleeve. I than used a soft hammer to give it a few persuasive taps (elbow grease) and then it went on the rest of the way, except that it cracked also!
angry.gif
. They told me this morning at Pertronix that if I have to, use an exacto knive to shave a little clearance off of the inside of the sleeve. But before I attempt that I think I might try using some emery cloth and clean up the cam shaft and then apply some lubrication (maybe KY
lol.gif
) and hopefully that will do the trick!
proud.gif
For right now I'll just have to wait for the new sleeve in the mail."
 
"I got the new sleeve in the m

"I got the new sleeve in the mail yesterday (fri) and it too wouldn't slide all the way down on the shaft, so I took the advice from Pertronix and did a little filing on the inside of the top of it with a point file and it slide the rest of the way on! The next thing I was concerned about was the wiring. The instructions show a pretty basic diagram to follow, but on my boat I wasn't sure about the red connection because I don't know if it has a ballast resistor. The coil on both engines originally has 2 wires from the (-) post and one wire from the (+) post. I disconnected one of the gray wires from the coil hoping it was the one that goes to the distributor and not the one that goes to the ignition key (it disappears in the harness) and I did the same when it comes out of the harness to the dist. The only red wire from the coil also dissappears in the harness after it leaves the coil. So all that said I went ahead not being 100% sure if I had a ballast resistor and connected the red end from the IGNITOR to the piggy-back flat connector on the(+)post of the coil and the black to the (-) post on the coil. The first turn of the ignition key started the engine right away and MAN did it start up smooth without missing a beat!
biggrin.gif
It even warmed up faster than with the old system of points and condensor! So I must have done the wiring right the first time. I also slapped on a timing light and adjusted the timing around 8 degrees BTDC to meet specs. My next big test is to take it out for a cruise and run it for awhile at about 4000 rpm to see if there might be some long running issues but I am confident that all should be fine and then I will order a second kit for the starboard engine. Thanx to all for the support!
thumbs_up.gif
"
 
"Glad you like it, Marc. For f

"Glad you like it, Marc. For future reference, the grey wire on the (-) of the coil goes to the tachometer, and the red (or purple) on the (+) goes to the ignition switch. The back you removed from the (-) of the coil went to the points.

By the way, welcome to the Pertronix Believer's Club."
 
"Mine was tight getting on, I

"Mine was tight getting on, I just put a spark plug socket over top and tapped very gingerly until it sank down over the cam lobes on the distributor.

Great lil units, sure beats the reliability of points, but you can still carry points in case of an emergency."
 
"Hello everyone,

I have an


"Hello everyone,

I have an AQ131A in which I have already installed the ignition module (P/N 2842), I just can't seem to decipher the wiring instructions. All I have attached to my ignition coil is a purple wire (+) and a white (possibly gray) wire (-), in addition to the "plug wire" in the middle. I have no idea if I have a ballast resistor or not. The wiring diagram in the Clymer book says I have one, but I can't find it. I believe my ignition coil might be original equipment. I can't tell you anything about it other than it was made in Argentina and has the number 4030 on it and is branded as "dze".

Just for clarification, I had removed a purple wire from the points. I'm just not sure if it is the same purple wire that was connected to the coil.

As you wrote previously, "...the grey wire on the (-) of the coil goes to the tachometer, and the red (or purple) on the (+) goes to the ignition switch. The back you removed from the (-) of the coil went to the points." I don't have a black wire, just the purple and white.

Any assistance you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Chris"
 
Don't quote me on this one

Don't quote me on this one but if memory serves the black wire goes to the white wire on the coil - seems like we ran a new one..

The other one goes on the ballast resistor - on the 12v side - that's that big white block about 4" long and 1 inch wide sitting about 1 foot to the right of your coil...

Just take voltage measurements to confirm - it was so easy a caveman could do it.

I sold my boat or I would take a pic for ya...
 
"Scott,

Thanks for the info


"Scott,

Thanks for the info. Are you saying that you connected the black wire from the ignition module to the (-) post on the coil in addition to the white tachometer wire?

I looked and looked but failed to find the resistor. I wonder if the coil has an internal one. I can't even find any reference to this particular coil.

Chris"
 
"To all:

Here are some pict


"To all:

Here are some pictures to help clarify what I'm trying to describe.
85128.jpg
These were the only two wires attached to the coil, other than the "plug wire". White (-) and Purple (+)"">
85129.jpg
Same wires, different angle. Note how they disappear into the wiring harness."">
85130.jpg
Is this purple wire the same on that attached to the (+) side of the coil? This wire was for the original points."">
85131.jpg
Coil - Top"">
85132.jpg
Coil - Side
 
"And one more thing, I just c

"And one more thing, I just checked the resistance of the coil. It read as 4.7 Ohms. Am I safe to assume that this coil has an internal resistor and the ignition module can be connected directly to the coil?

Thanks, Chris"
 
"Smokediver,

1) The pu


"Smokediver,

1) The purple wire usually comes from the ignition switch and feeds 12V to the (+) of the coil. Get hold of a multimeter, set it to read volts DC, connect one lead to the purple wire and the other one to ground, then turn the ignition switch on but do not crank the engine. If your meater reads 12V, this is the purple wire that needs to be connected to the (+) of the coil.

2) I assume you have a tachometer installed in the instrument control. Get hold of an multimeter, set it to read continuity or ohms, and measure continuity between the signal wire going to the back of the tachometer and the white wire you have in the picture. If you get full continuity, that is your tachometer wire and it must be connected to the (-) of the coil.

3) Your points must have been connected to the (-) of the coil in the past, for otherwise the engine would have never worked. They should have had either a white or a black wire; but in any case, you don't need that connection anymore.

4) Now, connect the red wire coming from the Pertronix module to the (+) of the coil, and the black wire to the (-) of the coil. You should have now two wires connected to the (+): a purple wire from the ignition switch and a red wire coming from the ignitor module. And you should have two wires connected to the (-) of the coil: a black wire coming from the ignitor, and a white or grey wire coming from the tachometer.

That's all, your Pertronix ignition module is wired as it should.

Regarding your coil, Pertronix wants you to install a coil with at least 3 ohm resistance, so yours should be OK. But remember that prior to measuring the resistance, you have to connect together the two multimeter leads to read their own resistance, then deduct that figure from the ohms reading you obtain between the (+) and (-) of the coil."
 
"Pescador - if he has a resist

"Pescador - if he has a resistor and cannot find it then he will not run properly - but as you said if he has 12v on the + side of the coil he can wire it st raight to the + of the coil and the black to the - of the coil.

They are easy- in fact it's more important to get that .030 gap correct and line the pertronix up as middle of the adjustment as you can


Scott"
 
Back
Top