To those who wrote with questions and suggestions (and for all those
who just are interested):
The failed unit was a Pertronix Ignitor LU-142A purchased 3/20/98. It
was not immediately installed, but rather was put into a Lucas 23D
(mechanical advance-only) distributor later that year. It had less
than 20k miles on it, but it had enough for the installation to have
shown that it worked fine.
Circumstances: I was accelerating out of a turn and heading downhill.
Nothing dramatic. The engine misfired rapidly several (3-4) times and
the car shuddered during this. The episode ended with a loud bang,
then silence. I rolled downhill into a very nice parking lot with (!)
shade trees.
The suggestion that the distributor could have worked loose is
well-taken. It did not seem loose when I replaced it in the parking
lot. It certainly was not extruded fromthe block at all (not to say
that this would have happened necessarily). If I have enough time, I
reinstall it to test.
Thanks for the input,
Jeff
>Jeff,
>
>Before you give up on the Ignitor you might want to give Pertronix a jingle.
>Their number is 800-827-3758 M-F about 9-5 PAC. They have fantastic
>support IMO, and should be able to figure out what went wrong. They also
>have a 30 month warranty with basically no questions asked. I think you will
>be pleased if you give them a ring, they want to find out what problems are
>out there so they can try to resolve them.
>
>Did the car die completely? That would normally be the case if the unit
>fails I believe or did it just start backfiring and missing? If the later it
>could be that somehow the dizzy turned in the block and the timing ended up
>way off. This happened to me on one of my cars at one point and was easily
>resolved. Just a thought.
>
> I have been selling their units now for quite some time and even have them
>in my three MG's (one of them for 5 years) and never a problem.
>
>
>Cheers,
>
>
>Jeff Zorn
>Little British Car Co. / Vintage Motors, Ltd.
>www.LBCarCo.com
>
>Also visit the premier MGA Website
>http://www.mgcars.org.uk/namgar
>
>In a message dated 8/4/00 9:19:02 PM Eastern Daylight Time, jboatri@emory.edu
>writes:
>
><< Spridgeteers,
>
> My Ignitor failed this evening on the way home from work. I had the
> old dizzy with points in the boot, so I popped that in and was on my
> way. Of course, it was a little dramatic when it failed since there
> was all kinds of backfiring and shuddering. There was no warning.
> Lesson learned, back to points.
>
> Jeff
> -- >>
--
__________________________________________________
Jeffrey H. Boatright, PhD
Assistant Professor, Emory Eye Center, Atlanta, GA
Senior Editor, Molecular Vision
<http://www.molvis.org/molvis>
<mailto: jboatri@emory.edu>
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