other Broke down on way to the vintage Spartanburg sc

[Road trip]

I'm on I-26 south of Spartanburg 

many recommends for mech in the morn ?

['76mintgrün'02]

not a clue, sorry.

I am curious what 'broke down' means...

could you share some details?

What happened?

[Road trip]

Running at 60mph

car lost  power 

mot appears it a ignition problem 

I'll post diagnosis soon

[achman]

Will the car crank but not start?

 

Does the car not crank?

 

 

[Road trip]

It has been diagnosed as a Petronix

fail

no replacement available here in Greenville SC

the mechanic ( Beemer specialist )

is trying to find breaker/points to replace

[JDTable]

I live here in Greenville and I have one out of my project car if you cant get a replacement. I picked up the car a few months and dont know if it works but we can give it a go if it will help you out, just let me know!

Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk

[lilmo]

3 hours ago, Road trip said:

It has been diagnosed as a Petronix

fail

no replacement available here in Greenville SC

the mechanic ( Beemer specialist )

is trying to find breaker/points to replace

ALWAYS carry points/condenser if you run one of those new fangled spark triggerers.  They are not meant for old cars.

[Road trip]

Got the car to Bimmer specialist 

in Greenville 

replaced Petronix with breaker

[bwalvoord]

I live around the corner from Bimmer Specialist and have a set of points. Have Paul call me or send me a PM. Paul did some work on my E9 and knows his way around these cars.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HDyour phone number.

[cda951]

8 hours ago, lilmo said:

ALWAYS carry points/condenser if you run one of those new fangled spark triggerers.  They are not meant for old cars.

 

Before completely condemning the entire notion of electronic ignition on our cars, I think that we should qualify the above statement by inquiring about the original poster's current coil/ballast resistor setup and how long the Pertronix has been installed. The Pertronix company is very specific about the required resistance in the primary ignition circuit (3 ohms if my memory serves me, same as the factory 02 ballast resistor) because it was meant to completely bolt in to the existing factory setup. This becomes an issue if the coil primary resistance is different from original factory specs and/or if the ballast resistor is bypassed or eliminated, which is VERY common in 40+ year old 02s that have had many different owners and mechanics fiddling with them.

 

If there is not enough resistance in the primary ignition circuit, the trigger unit can and will fail in short order.  In a perfect world, we would eliminate the ballast resistor and have an electronic ignition setup that's designed to run on a full 12+ volts with minimal resistance in the primary ignition circuit, but we have to work with what we have. 

 

I'm not saying that it's impossible that Road trip's Pertronix unit randomly failed, but my shop has installed A LOT of these on Porsche 356s and early 911s with zero issues. My own 2002tii has had one for ~15 years as installed by the previous owner (a good customer) with no issues (factory ballast resistor and MSD coil with proper specs). 

 

Chris

[Road trip]

7 hours ago, cda951 said:

 

Before completely condemning the entire notion of electronic ignition on our cars, I think that we should qualify the above statement by inquiring about the original poster's current coil/ballast resistor setup and how long the Pertronix has been installed. The Pertronix company is very specific about the required resistance in the primary ignition circuit (3 ohms if my memory serves me, same as the factory 02 ballast resistor) because it was meant to completely bolt in to the existing factory setup. This becomes an issue if the coil primary resistance is different from original factory specs and/or if the ballast resistor is bypassed or eliminated, which is VERY common in 40+ year old 02s that have had many different owners and mechanics fiddling with them.

 

If there is not enough resistance in the primary ignition circuit, the trigger unit can and will fail in short order.  In a perfect world, we would eliminate the ballast resistor and have an electronic ignition setup that's designed to run on a full 12+ volts with minimal resistance in the primary ignition circuit, but we have to work with what we have. 

 

I'm not saying that it's impossible that Road trip's Pertronix unit randomly failed, but my shop has installed A LOT of these on Porsche 356s and early 911s with zero issues. My own 2002tii has had one for ~15 years as installed by the previous owner (a good customer) with no issues (factory ballast resistor and MSD coil with proper specs). 

 

Chris

This Petronix unit was installed by

Korman Motorsport  during a complete

restoration, less than 500 miles ago.

Rob Segal who wrote the book on

German Automotive Electrical has

review my installation and agrees it

is proper.

It failed period.

( blue Coil, no condenser)

[arminyack]

Damn Pertronix! Mine did that same thing...left me stranded. I'm back on points/condenser now....until i have another go at getting my 123 dizzy installed. 

[lilmo]

Just carry points if you run an ignitor.  They eventually fail.  I'd replace them every 50k just to be safe.  500 miles means the OP got a dud, though.

[zinz]

...was it a real Pertronix or an Ireland dizzy with the Pertronix-knockoff igniter?  (I bet I know the answer...)

 

Sorry you had troubles, but glad to hear you were able to get going so easily.  

 

Enjoy The Vintage

 

Ed

[Road trip]

4 minutes ago, zinz said:

...was it a real Pertronix or an Ireland dizzy with the Pertronix-knockoff igniter?  (I bet I know the answer...)

 

Sorry you had troubles, but glad to hear you were able to get going so easily.  

 

Enjoy The Vintage

 

Ed

Idk

installed by Korman