Kees,
Many thanks for getting back to me. The details of your experience and
Alan's reassurance help a lot to put the Pertronix/tach situation in
perspective. I recall the list discussion about proper coil resistance and
was feeling good about addressing that issue effectively. Then, the recent
list discussion led me to think that my wife would have yet another story
to tell about how my efforts to "simplify" things seems almost inevitably,
to accomplish just the opposite!
Best,
Tom
On 7/29/11 9:59 AM, "Oudesluys" <coudesluijs at chello.nl> wrote:
>Tom,
>
>I cannot elaborate much as I cannot remember exactly where the fault was.
>When I got my Jensen Healey some years ago the Pertronix Ignitor
>(LU-142A/143/144/162A/163/164/166A, one of these types) was already
>fitted and the tachometer was erratic and often read double revs.
>The tachometer is from around 1974 and the Pertronix is from
>before/bought in 10/2004.
>The wiring was a bit dodgy and tired and I replaced some bits and pieces
>I think the wire from the Pertronix and/or tachometer was connected to
>the coil+/resistor junction (this is what I am not sure about), so the
>resistance was only 1,5 Ohms, not the required 3 Ohms. I changed it to
>the other side of the ballast resistor so the Pertronix and the
>tachometer had the resistance of both the ballast resistor and coil, 3
>Ohms together. I also disconnected the wire from the starter motor that
>shorts the resistor to get a higher voltage on the coil when operating
>the starter to compensate for the voltage drop during starting. When
>using an electronic ignition however this is not needed.
>After this all worked as it should and I did not have any problems since.
>Way back in the early 80's I sometimes encountered a similar behavior of
>the tachometer on another Jensen Healey. I had a conventional points
>distributor on that car. The erratic behavior always disappeared when I
>changed/cleaned the points and renewed the capacitor.
>
>Cheers,
>Kees Oudesluijs
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