Pertronix burning sparkplugs

"You said it stumbled with the

"You said it stumbled with the points, too.

Make sure the distributor's ground wire is installed and securely fastened."

"Niklas,
There was an earlie

"Niklas,
There was an earlier post here where somone was using an aftermarket rotor that did not fit down tightly against the Pertronix magnetic ring. This allowed the ring to move up and down a little bit causing missfires.
Just a shot in the dark........."

"Makomark, I measured, and the

"Makomark, I measured, and the dist. is grounded.
Chuck, I have machined a nylon ring to make sure the magnetic sleeve don`t move up n down.
I don`t know how to go forward with this issue anymore. Guess it`s time to take a boat electrican to look at it $$$$$."

"Doesn't leave a whole lot

"Doesn't leave a whole lot of stuff that is common between running with points and Pertronix. Can't remember if this was asked but is there any sideways slop in the distributor, worn bushings, can you grab the dist and move it sideways at all?"

"Did you test the spark on the

"Did you test the spark on the center cable, between coil and dist cover, to see if that disappeared as well?
If that is steady, it leaves the problem to rotor or cover. If still missing, double check the sensor gap to the ignitor."

"Bob, I have tryed to push and

"Bob, I have tryed to push and pull the "axle" at the mid of dist. and in my opinion it isn`t moving that much (maybe some thousends of mm).
Morten, I did test the center cable from coil to dist. but it "flickered" so fast I couldn`t notice a "miss". The sensor gap isn`t adjustable with this pertronix kit, module have an own "breaker plate" where it`s attached to. So the sensor isn`t using the oem breaker plate.
Today I put my "oem" coil back and feed it with 12v straight. Before that I measured the coils ohms. and it was a bit under 3ohms. It seems to work good and didn`t overheat but who knows, time for a test ride.
Thanks again."

"I'm just trying to recap

"I'm just trying to recap everything in my own mind because of the length of this and the previous post.

Stumbles both on points and Pertronix.
You've replaced the Pertronix
You've replaced the coil
You've run on the Pertronix from a separate battery (eliminates boat wiring)
You've disconnected the tach, ESA and diode fix
You've changed high voltage wires
Problem seems to be electrical as the stumble can be seen using the timing light on any spark plug wire

Have the rotor and dist cap been replaced?

Probably missed a bunch of other stuff, feel free to add to the list, if nothing else it will make a good list to take to the shop."

"Because so much has been done

"Because so much has been done and no possitive results- let me tell you a story-- true story-- about a miss fire in a 15 hp honda 4 stroke outboard--Drove me nuts- had 3 timing lights hooked to it and a complete running engine in the next slip/ after trading out the entire ignition system and having the "spare" motor run great on the trouble some boat, I packed the engine away for winter project.

This wandering ignition was cured with a new cam shaft. I know-- why would a cam kill the ignition to cylinders un effected?? But just one last thing to do before jumping off the bridge."

The dist. cap and rotor was re

The dist. cap and rotor was replaced last season and I drove the boat for about 10 hours. They look like new but I`m going to change them.
I have put in a new 95ah battery too.

"So here is what I have found

"So here is what I have found with having recently installed the exact same setup.
I had left the original 12+ wire from the start solenoid and added the 12+ from the alternator (to the + side of the coil), I had a pretty good miss at this point. So when I disconected the 12+ from the start solenoid and left the 12+ from the alterantor, I was able to clear up the miss. I tested this by hooking up the 12+ start and the miss came back.
Hope this helps someone.
David"

I don't understand why you

I don't understand why you have to have any type of insulator around the coil or why it needs to be vertical mount. I have the Flamethrower II on both ford 5.8l engines horizontal mounted. I trust you have the high vibration epoxy filled as its the one for marine. I was the one Bob Hill mentioned above about the ballast resistor as when I installed mine engines would not run right. In fact it actually burned out my CDI ESA's. If you are going to try that make sure you get marine rated. It has a sealed back Napa has a 2.2 ohm. Mine are plastic strapped right to the coil runs great dont need the diode fix with them.
After I installed the resistors one engine was not firing right on one plug. That turned out to be at the distributor cap the wire terminal was broken and not providing constant spark. New terminal problem fixed. Another thing I would try is to buy a piece of spark plug wire and replace the one on that plug or just change with another existing and see if the problem follows to that plug.

"I contacted pertronix and the

"I contacted pertronix and they told me that the coil is broken and that they send me a new one. I haven`t had the time to test drive the boat yet with that "oem" coil 3ohm, like I posted earlier."

"Niklas,
In the meantime try

"Niklas,
In the meantime try the OEM if OK you'll feel better. After install of new one check it to see if it gets warm/hot. If so, ballast fix will fix that."

"Solved?
1 hour test ride. I

"Solved?
1 hour test ride. I drove slow and at full speed and cut it out sometimes and started it again and drove... It seems to work good with this 3 ohm coil. which is feed with straight 12v.(no resister ballast). The "esa" is working like it should and no stumbling anymore.
Pertronix is sending me a new flame thrower II coil 45.000v. 0,6ohm and I`m going to test it too. Do I have to install a ballast (2,4ohm) to make it work. If I have to install the external ballast do I loose spark power? I`m sure that the "esa" don`t work correctly if I go under 2,6 ohm. that I have tested with different coils and ballasts. Best thing is to have that 3ohm. so that the "esa" is working like it should.
I would just like to get everything out of that pertronix kit.
Thanks guys for your help."

"Hello, some advice please. I

"Hello, some advice please. I have recently purchased a boat with a 2.3 liter Ford OMC stern drive (don't laugh to hard the price was right). I have done some work and it is running pretty good but from about 3/4 throttle to full throttle it pops and miss fires a bit, when I back off a little it smooths out and runs good. I have put a new rebuilt carburetor on the motor as the old one was in such bad shape (big improvement). I have put new points,spark plugs,rotor and dis. cap on it. Pretty sure I have the point gap right but my dwell meter craped out and I can't buy one locally anymore. Set the timing. I have done just about every thing you would do with an engine tune-up. One funny thing I have noticed though my dash tachometer seems to read the right RPM at idle and up to maybe haft throttle, then it goes off the scale at 3/4 throttle, whats with that?

I have being reading a couple of posted threads here and am thinking I may want to upgrade to an electronic ignition system from Petronix to improve my engines performance, hoping not to have the problems sum others have had. Ignitor 1 or Ignitor 2, flame thrower coil 2, hmmm. What are your thoughts on this gentlemen. Should I get it running good through to full throttle before trying the ignition change?"

First idea I have is start a n

First idea I have is start a new thread. This one is already way too long.....

"I agree with Chuck about star

"I agree with Chuck about starting a new thread (even though it's related) and in my opinion you want the existing points setup to work properly before replacing the ignition and possibly introducing more problems. One place to check is the timing advance springs and weights under the points plate, maybe they are rusted up or even have a broken spring?

Please start a NEW thread though first."