Dizzy help please.....

[sean m]

OK.......so here's the deal. Cars been running rough for a while. Put new plugs and ignition wires in hoping to get it running right again. All went fine, still feels like it's missing.

Did search under "rough running". Based on some posts I read I decided to look into the dizzy (perhaps water, cracked rotor, etc.)

Take the cap off and notice the black wire in the dizzy that is underneath the rotor had been rubbing on the bottom of the rotor as it spins and now shows bare wire. Anyway, decide to put electrical tape around it......DAMN if it didn't come loose.......now where does it go? I assume into the black box in the dizzy, but before I screw up more and take it apart, thought I'd ask you guys.

Heres a picture. First and foremost looks like a thorough cleaning is in order


The car is a 77 S....I'm a dizzy idiot so take it easy on me, I don't think there are points on this distributor. What is this black box inside the distributor and is that where the wire is supposed to go? Is this Pertronix? I've read some posts where people were switching to it due to reliability issues.

Thanks for any help.

[lucittm]

Sean,
This is the source of your rough running engine. I had a '77 S, great car. Had to sell it when I went overseas. I installed one of these units too.

The black wire is the signal wire going to the coil so it would not be a show stopper until the rotor finally cut it in half. The other wire is 12V to the coil and you DON'T want to ground it. You have to allow slack inside the unit so the wires don't get pulled across the rotor. I suggest a small zip tie on the inside of the distributor after you have pulled the wires back through. Use a piece of shrink tubing (from Radio Shack) on the section of bare wire first.

As a temporary measure, I would put a ring of 5-min epoxy around the black wire 1/8" from the end and hold it against the pickup module (black cube). If it holds and conducts, then you are OK. In the meantime, I would procure a new module from pertronix http://www.pertronix.com/
.

[Flieger]

+1 on shrink sleeve (heat shrink tubing) and zip-ties.

Tidy wires are happy wires

No electrical-tape

[sean m]

Thanks Luccitm and Flieger........just ordered a new Pertronix Ignitor from our host.

Upon closer inspection, there's no way to get the black wire back in the Pertronix that's currently in the dizzy.

Thanks again for the help.