warm motor won't start

[rca1pollock]

im probably going to GIVE UP!! thought i had SOLVED the problem by adding 1.2 ohm resistor before coil. have 3.3 ohm coils and 1.2 ohm resistor. brought coil input voltage down to 12v while running.. ..guess what? she died 3 times requiring me to swap out for cold coils each time. should've kept my old points ign!! like a DUMMY..i even threw out the plate&cond&points! i'm getting good readings on coils when they're cold. and they aren't getting as hot..but still getting to NO spark condition and OPEN coil after running for while. thought about CALLING pertronix..but will probably get different answers from different techs. could bad e.i. module be ok at first..then not give spark or maybe coils readings look good when cold but fail after getting just WARM now. I MAY just throw a new IGNITER 2 and coil at it. or maybe go back to points?? WHYCAN I TROUBLESHOOT A WHOLE LOCOMOTIVE @ WORK but can't figure thiis out?

 

[Bondo]

WHY CAN I TROUBLESHOOT A WHOLE LOCOMOTIVE @ WORK but can't figure thiis out?

Ayuh,..... Now ya know how I feel when I'm told the train won't move, 'n I gotta fix it,.....

 

[achris]

Which Petronix?

 

[rca1pollock]

flamethrower 3ohm coil and regular igniter e.i.

 

[achris]

I believe the Igniter-I can make coils hot, but for it to be causing 2 coils to fail in exactly the same way I find a little hard to believe.

 

[rca1pollock]

talked to pertronix today. tech said coil MUST B BAD. hate to throw another at it. they said xtra resistance is not needed and coil can handle 15 volts. maybe ill have to go back to points? they want me to send coil back across country to test it. cant wait weeks!

 

[achris]

Coils' are $20 a pop at Summit. As for going back to points, I wouldn't. Serious backward step.

 

[NicksterFL]

rca1pollock, I'm having exact same issues. thought it was vapor lock for long time, but today I checked for spark and .. no spark.

I'm running a Mercruiser 3.0.
I run for an 30-40 minutes and slow down and the coil gets hot and i lose my spark. If i cool the coil off with water poured on the base, it will fire up again until it's hot.

Running the following: [h=1]PerTronix 40611 Flame-Thrower 40,000 Volt 3.0 ohm Coil[/h] [h=1]PerTronix 1146A Ignitor for Delco 4 Cylinder[/h]

 

[rca1pollock]

i have EXACT same setup..symptoms...tried resistor in front of coil to bring volts to 12...quit runnimg sooner..took resistor out and on muffs voltage into coil is 13.5 which pertronix said was ok..and constant 7volts on neg side coil..gonna try on lake tomorrow...is 7 volts constant a good reading?

 

[achris]

i have EXACT same setup..symptoms...tried resistor in front of coil to bring volts to 12...quit runnimg sooner..took resistor out and on muffs voltage into coil is 13.5 which pertronix said was ok..and constant 7volts on neg side coil..gonna try on lake tomorrow...is 7 volts constant a good reading?

You added resistance and it quite sooner. Interesting. But extrapolation, reducing resistance may solve the problem. If you still have the original coil, which should have a primary resistance of around 1.2Ω, try putting that in place of the 3Ω Pertronix coil.

Chris.......

 

[rca1pollock]

i don't have old coil. both coils I have now are about 3.3 ohms and i increased that with a 1.2 resistor. to get input voltage to exactly 12v. but pertronix support said hot coil and 13.7v input to coil is fine and xtra resistor would cause earlier failure and it did. either module is bad or maybe coils are getting WORSE. gonna try to take it out tomorrow

 

[achris]

See if you can find a 1.2Ω coil from somewhere (which is what was standard on these 2.5 litre engines). Try that.

 

[rca1pollock]

well..called pertronix and ordered new module and coil. should be here by weekend. i'm sure it will solve problems. will post results as soon as possible. if others with the same problem find the answer..please post on this topic..thanx for everyone helping

 

[skippy2235]

Is the voltage getting the coil hot or the location on the engine. Try mounting it away from the block. Like get longer coil wire and hang it from zip tie somewhere and see it stills gets hot.

 

[NicksterFL]

I talk to PerTronix and they suggested I remove my resistance wire (tape it off) from the coil (3ohm) and wire 12v directly to the coil from the electric choke wire. They said the coil may have been starved for voltage, which resulted in it getting hot. i have this setup now and plan to test next week.

Another issue I had was within my distributor. with the magnetic collar, the rotor was sitting too high and hitting part of the plastic where the metal studs come down. I saw this video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxrhgUa11-M ) and thought I'd check. Sure enough, same problem. So i shaved the base of the rotor down just a tad.

 

[NicksterFL]

rca1pollock, we both have the exact same problem. Did you notice if your symptoms got progressively worse? I thought it was the onset of summer and ambient temps, but now i'm wondering if my ignition module & coil is just starting to fail and I need a new one.

 

[rca1pollock]

tried mounting coil away from engine. didn't help. i did bypass resistor wire and am getting at least 12 volts to coil positive. symptoms do seem to be getting worse sooner but it's not any warmer out.

 

[NicksterFL]

I wonder if having them wired incorrectly with the resistance wire, is what caused the coil and ignition module to fail.
When I first installed mine, I was able to run all day with no issues, then with each trip it was getting progressively worse. Just just missing at idle. then occassionally it would die, and restart, now it dies sooner and takes awhile to start up again.

guess i'm looking at buying whole new igniter and coil.

might get the Igniter II this time.

 

[NicksterFL]

I just ordered 91146A Ignitor II and the 45111 Flame-Thrower II coil (0.6ohm) so we'll see how that works.

 

[rca1pollock]

keep me updated on how your new setup does. I'll do same. i'm getting igniter 2 also