Jack -
I had the same thing happen to a Pertronix unit I bought ten years ago...
it failed three years ago, seven years after I bought it. I sent the unit
back to Pertronix and they sent me a new complete unit, no questions asked,
eventhough it was clearly out of warranty. I should say the new Pertronix
unit was better designed and probably won't fail this way, but the old unit
design, despite being flawed, still lasted an impressive 7 years and ~40,000
miles.
Luckily I had spare points in the boot, but was very happy to get back to
the Pertronix unit when it came in the mail!
Cheers,
Alan
'53 BN1 '64 BJ8
On 9/23/05, Brashear, Jack, N <JNBrashear@garverengineers.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Cap'n Bob, I just wanna pass on some info to you and anyone else who
> uses Pertronix. This happened to me a few days ago: My Austin Marina
> (18V engine with Pertronix) which normally runs like a scalded dawg
> began to run really rough. No. 1 cyl had a dead miss. Examining
> everything I could think of (wires, rotor, cap, intake leak....so on)
> turned up nothing. No. 1 just wasn't firing. Now I always heard that
> electronic ignition worked right or it didn't work at all...nothing
> between. Not so. There is a Mechanical part of the Pertronix (the
> rotor-magnet assembly) which fits over the cam lobes of the dist shaft.
> That assembly has a top cover and a separate base piece which were
> apparently supposed to be permanently attached to each other.
> Sandwiched between these are the magnets that cause the plug cables to
> fire. Well, the base and the cover came from together. They can't move
> very far apart because of the very limited space they have to work in.
> Anyway, they separated just enough for one of the magnets to become
> displaced a tiny amount. The other three were still in place. My local
> LBC parts supplier gave me a new rotor from another kit he had in stock
> and he told me that the manufacturer should warranty this apparent mfg.
> defect. Anyway, the new rotor took care of the problem and all's happy
> again. If this problem happens to one of ya'll, take a look at the
> Pertronix rotor before you send your car to the scrap yard.
> Just FYI,
> Jack
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-spridgets@autox.team.net
> [mailto:owner-spridgets@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Robert E. Shlafer
> Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2005 4:03 AM
> To: Bill L; spridgets
> Subject: Re: pertronix/points/crane
>
> Well, Bill....
>
> ......if it makes you feel better, my first PerTronix failed for the
> same reason.
>
> We were more careful in routing wires the 2nd time around.
>
> Since the unit failed within 2 days of purchase and installation,
> PerTronix (through the dealer) took the unit back and supplied a
> replacement at no charge, though the reason for failure was our improper
> installation due to lack of experience with the unit.
>
> Cap'n Bob
> Basic Frog
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