petronix problem

914lover · 10-02-2004, 06:31 AM

Ok boys and girls, I thought it would be a good idea to take my 02 jeep and the wife's 02 Rover in for service on Friday morning since we had the day off for a Cubs game. Why not, great Chicago fall weather, the Cubs fighting for a wild card spot and a nice day to be "forced" to used the 914. Well 1 block from the car dealer the thing surges twice then dies. After towing it back home I find the problem is the NEW petronix ignition. I have less than 100 miles on it and now it's dead. After the conversion my little 914 ran GREAT. It started faster and acceleration was much smoother, but why did it die? I have run one of theese in the past in a 65 Triumph with no problems so I'm confused. Is it just one bad unit? Are they just not compatible with the 914? Any recourse with the company? (new free one) It's just a kick in the pants because it was running sooo good! To top it off the Cubs lost and are now finished, both new cars are in the shop and I was really looking foward to sitting on my butt this weekend. Anyone else with this conversion that has had a problem? What did you do? thanks for letting me vent. B

Mike Kunz · Mike Kunz's Garage

If you contact them, they'll likely replace it...they did in my case. I discovered that I had left the key on at some point while in the garage and the Pertronix cooked...apparently they don't like that. While I got a free replacement, I didn't install them...not sure how reliable they can be and you can always get the car to run even if only roughly with a set of points....don't like getting stranded!

Good luck.

Mike

Alfred1 · 10-02-2004, 10:58 AM

http://www.aircooled.net/new-bin/viewproductdetail.php?keyword2=IGN0001&cartid=

IMPORTANT NOTE! You MUST make sure your ignition coil has the ballast resistor. Stock Bosch blue coils have the 3 ohm ballast resistor INSIDE the coil. If your coil or primary ignition winding doesn't have this ballast, the pertronix or compufire in the distributor will BURN UP and leave you walking. There are 5 different "Bosch Blue Coils", and only one of them has the ballast in it (guess which one ACN sells?).

914lover · 10-02-2004, 03:10 PM

Boy oh boy do I have egg on my face! After a more in depth investigation the problem was a short unrelated to the petronix unit. After a new splice and a little wire I'm up and running fine. Sorry, sorry,sorry. But the Land Rover needs brakes and rotors AGAIN!

bd1308 · 10-03-2004, 06:27 AM

yeah my dad has a rover, that thing is always in for somethign...well only one time was it my fault...