cooked pertronix??? prestolite distributor

[mrscullini]

'79 scoutII, 345 with prestolite distributor with recent pertronix upgrade.

On the battery, I installed quick release terminals, the vehicle sits a lot so I remove the terminals so the batter doesn't drain. It has worked great. Downside is, when I do connect the battery terminals I don't always get a good connection. So when I try to start, I'll get a small arc on the pos terminal. I'll pull the terminal off, clean the carbon with scotch brite and reconnect. This sometimes happens multiple times before it finally starts. I know, the quick release terminals are junk.

Anyway, yesterday, this happened and now no start. I've got fuel, the thing cranks and cranks. Could that momentary arc on the battery cook a pertronix module? Is there a simple resistance test I can do on the module?

 

[ihpartsjeff]

I like to forward customers with these questions to the manufacturers website as they will have detailed information for diagnostic repairs. Here is a link to Pertronix's website that deals in diagnostics - Pertronix Troubleshooting Tips (Ignitor)

 

[mrscullini]

I like to forward customers with these questions to the manufacturers website as they will have detailed information for diagnostic repairs. Here is a link to Pertronix's website that deals in diagnostics - Pertronix Troubleshooting Tips (Ignitor)

Thanks Jeff. I'll send them an email.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

I didn't mean to send you away, of course either myself or one of our awesome tech moderators will be glad to walk you thru any procedures. I just find certain companies already have real good flow charts on diagnosing their parts and Pertronix is one of them hence the link I provided that should have answered your initial problem.

 

[mrscullini]

I didn't mean to send you away, of course either myself or one of our awesome tech moderators will be glad to walk you thru any procedures. I just find certain companies already have real good flow charts on diagnosing their parts and Pertronix is one of them hence the link I provided that should have answered your initial problem.

No worries, didn't think you were shuffling me along.

I did check their site before posting here, however, didn't see anything specific to this.

I have a pretty good feeling I cooked the module, just want to get some confirmation before I drop 90 bucks on a new one.

 

[Scoutboy74]

Is this a Gen I or a later module? Yeah, you really need to do something different with your battery terminal connections. They need to be rock solid. I suggest a Perko switch.

Check for voltage at your coil POS terminal with IGN switch ON. If you don't have power there, you have an issue upstream of the module. If you do have power there, remove one spark plug wire boot of your chose, slide the boot back to expose the brass contact, position it roughly 3/8ths of an inch from chassis ground where you can watch it and have a helper buzz your starter. A spark sufficient to ignite the air fuel mix in the chamber will easily jump that air gap to ground. Low light situations will aid in seeing the spark.

 

[mrscullini]

'79 scoutII, 345 with prestolite distributor with recent pertronix upgrade.

On the battery, I installed quick release terminals, the vehicle sits a lot so I remove the terminals so the batter doesn't drain. It has worked great. Downside is, when I do connect the battery terminals I don't always get a good connection. So when I try to start, I'll get a small arc on the pos terminal. I'll pull the terminal off, clean the carbon with scotch brite and reconnect. This sometimes happens multiple times before it finally starts. I know, the quick release terminals are junk.

Anyway, yesterday, this happened and now no start. I've got fuel, the thing cranks and cranks. Could that momentary arc on the battery cook a pertronix module? Is there a simple resistance test I can do on the module?

update, i got in touch with pertronix like jeff suggested. their tech support was great, super responsive and helpful. sent me a troubleshooting guide and determined the module failed.

i reported back and they told me it was under warranty since it was less than 30 months old. they sent me a replacement at no charge.

highly recommend the upgrade for anybody still on points or the oem module. even though i had an issue, pertronix service is fantastic.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

update, i got in touch with pertronix like jeff suggested. their tech support was great, super responsive and helpful. sent me a troubleshooting guide and determined the module failed.

i reported back and they told me it was under warranty since it was less than 30 months old. they sent me a replacement at no charge.

highly recommend the upgrade for anybody still on points or the oem module. even though i had an issue, pertronix service is fantastic.

Thanks for the feedback. It's always good to know when our suppliers take care of our customer concerns and back their products. We don't always get that in this industry.