Ignitor I--Starting Issues

[kylehamilton79]

Last weekend I installed the Ignitor I and afterwards it fired right up was running rough and missing. I checked everything over and over and thought it might need the full 12V to the coil, but never could find anything saying that it for sure did. My friend suggested running a wire to the solenoid by the battery, since it is hot only when the key is turned forward. Hooked it up and it would run but was still rough, so we advanced the timing and it seemed to help a little, but ran out of room to advance.

Last night I decided to set the timing and bumped the engine to TDC and set the rotor pointing towards #1 cylinder and then ran all the plug wires according the firing order. Engine would crank and sputter, but would not run. I tried moving the distributor advance/retard and then trying again but it wouldn't crank. I've read all the posts on here about the Pertonix Ignitors and haven't found anyone with a problem like this yet.

I've checked the ground strap, gap for the module, etc. The car ran fine before I parked it for a thermostat job, and decided to do the simple electronic ignition swap that would only take 15 minutes. One post said the guy just installed it and hooked it up to the coil and he was done.

BTW, this is on a '68 289 engine, bone stock, stock coil, stock distributor. All I've done engine-wise is rebuild the carb, change plugs, and plug wires. I'm learning/teaching myself as I go, so I'm definately no expert in this area, but I read and watch videos a lot so I have better knowledge. Thanks for the help.

 

[Az Pete]

I have used these on several '66 Mustang 289's.... All good, When ever there was a problem, I went back and installed the stock points and condenser. Re-tuned the engine so I know it is timed and set to run proper. Then, install the pertronix and start the engine. If it does not start, it is NOT a timing, plug wiring, or carb issue....it is in the Pertronix or the wiring.....

 

[kylehamilton79]

I went and bought a new set of points and put them in. The engine will just turn over and over now and won't ever start. I finally ran the battery down and my jump starter doesn't seem to be working. Not sure why it won't start now. It ran and started fine before.

 

[2+2GT]

Back to basics. Charge the battery, and reset the initial timing to 6° BTDC. Then try to start the car.

To set the timing, turn the crank to 6° BTDC. Use a spark indicator, or old spark plug, to observe the spark. Turn the ignition on, and rotate the distributor counter-clockwise until you see a spark. Tighten the distributor hold-down.

 

[kylehamilton79]

Well I tried using the spark indicator and hand-turning the crank to 6 BTDC, and never could get a spark last weekend. Tonight I bumped the engine to the compression stroke using my TDC whistle, then hand-turned the engine to 6 BTDC again. I set the distributor rotor pointing to the #1 cylinder. Tightened everything back down and checked the plug wires and firing order according to the same book I used when I changed plugs and wires the first time. When I go to crank it I get fuel spraying out the carb and no start. I hate to sound like an idiot, but I can't figure out why it's not running. I set the point gap using my Dad's technique of using a thin knife blade, which is what he used on his old 289s.

I'm out of ideas and would appreciate anyone's advice on what else I can try. I really don't want to take it to a mechanic, because I want to do everything myself on the car. I've read and read articles and posts on setting timing, point gaps, running plug wires, finding TDC, all that. I think I've tried everything I could find the past 3 weeks. Maybe it's something simple. What I thought the problem was before today was that I had the distributor 180 degrees out. Thanks again.

 

[D.Hearne]

You do know that there's 2 TDC's for each engine cycle ? If it won't start on TDC, then rotate the crank one more time around to TDC again and reset the firing order on the distributor cap. And set the timing to 12* BTDC instead of 6*. 6* is retarded, litterally. It'll run better at 12*. And your wiring harness has a resistor wire built into the harness that feeds the coil, everything I recall about the Pertronix was that they don't work well with that resistor in the wire.