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 Posted: 10-19-2010 01:40 am
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jarnol123
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ok from my picture I have the red wire (with tape on it) or a black & White wire. Which one do you think is the ignition?

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 Posted: 10-19-2010 02:09 am
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jarnol123
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OK I connected up the red wire (with tape, cloth) to the +ve of the coil along with the red wire from the Pertronix ignitor. I connected the pertronix black wire to the -ve of the coil. Tried the starter and no spark from the spark wire that I pulled out of the dizzy cap. I held it close to the engine and nothing. I guess the coil is shot or I'm not getting power at the coil.

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 Posted: 10-19-2010 02:17 am
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jarnol123
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Ok, I checked the voltage with my multimeter and there is 12V. SO i guess the coil is shot?? funny though as I bought it new and it's never been used in a running jensen, ie this one!! Is it possible it got burnt out somehow?

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 Posted: 10-20-2010 02:22 am
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jarnol123
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OK I put the old coil back in and got a spark (see pictures) .

The other 2 pictures are of the switch from the crane/allison elec ignition. My thinking is maybe it got fried by the flamethrower coil and somehow the coil failed after that??

Attachment: Picture 031.jpg (Downloaded 197 times)

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 Posted: 10-20-2010 02:23 am
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jarnol123
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switch pics...

Attachment: Picture 032.jpg (Downloaded 49 times)

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 Posted: 10-20-2010 02:24 am
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jarnol123
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c

Attachment: Picture 033.jpg (Downloaded 46 times)

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 Posted: 10-20-2010 12:56 pm
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Brett Gibson JH5 20497
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I use a flame thrower coil with the Allison and have had no issue so far, of course with that said

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 Posted: 10-20-2010 02:57 pm
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jarnol123
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I think the problem is that I installed the Pertronix Flamethrower Coil, replacing the Lucas Coil, and it somehow fried the Crane Allison switch in the Dizzy (see pic earlier in this thread). When I tested the old Lucas Coil again last night I got a spark so i guess the flamethower must be faulty or I somehow shorted it out??

 

Anyway, I now have the Pertronix Ignitor in the Dizzy and i plan to use the original Lucas Coil with it. Anyone else have this set up? If so, any issues with voltage to the coil...i.e. I have a 1975 healey and it doesn't have the ballast resistor, only a red wire from the ignition with a red cloth insulating it. I would think the Pertronix Ignitor is compatible with the Lucas Coil but i just want to throw it out there before I make the change.

 

Thanks for your help!

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 Posted: 10-20-2010 03:24 pm
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subwoofer
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The above picture clearly shows that the old coil is meant to run with a ballast resistor, and since you have a late car and can't see any, the resistor is likely to be part of the loom. There is no cloth insulation anywhere on my car, it could be a piece of relatively high resistance wire spliced into the loom?

Anyway, if I'm not much mistaken, the Flamethrower is a 12V coil, meant to run without a resistor. I did the mistake of keeping the ballast resistor and changing the coil to a 12V coil earlier this year, it ran fine for two days with brand new spark plugs, after that it gradually got worse, and after a weekend of driving it would hardly run at all. Then I realized my mistake, took off the ballast - and voilá! everything was back to normal.


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Joachim

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 Posted: 10-20-2010 04:53 pm
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jarnol123
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What is the loom?  Are you saying that I should go back to the flamethrower (ie a new one that works) to go with the pertronix ignitor or can i stick with the lucas coil?

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 Posted: 10-20-2010 05:23 pm
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subwoofer
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The (wiring) loom is all the electric wires in the car, basically.

What would happen when using a low-impedance coil like a Flamethrower with a ballast resistor is that the voltage drop over the resistor becomes excessive, and the coil won't be able to make a spark at all. Your multimeter may not be fast enough to pick this up, and will only show 12V when the circuit is open.

If you run a wire straight from the battery to the +ve terminal on the coil, will it run with the Flamethrower then? The bypass circuit on the starter may not work, mine has packed in at least.

I believe you have two options: Run with the old Lucas coil, or locate and get rid of the ballast resistor and install the Flamethrower. I don't think there is anything wrong with it, just the ghost of Joseph Lucas throwing you a curve ball. Option 1 is probably the easiest.

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Joachim

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 Posted: 10-20-2010 05:42 pm
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jarnol123
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Ok, well I don't believe the 1975 had a ballast resistor so I can't remove it. What i don't know is if the flamethrower i installed fried the crane allison switch.

The thing that worries me now is if i get a new flamethrower do i get the 3 ohm or the 1.5ohm version?? Also, the flamethrower coil should work fine with the pertronix ignitor switch i would hope?

 

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 Posted: 10-20-2010 05:53 pm
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subwoofer
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Just use the old coil, it should run fine with it. I don't know if the FT coil killed the Allison or if it simply died of old age, either is possible. If the wire running up to the coil from inside the car indeed is a resistor wire (it looks funny in the picture), then the FT may not be faulty at all.

I really don't know if the 1.5 or 3 ohm version is right, could have something to do with how many cylinders it is meant for.

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Joachim

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 Posted: 10-20-2010 06:02 pm
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jarnol123
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well i tested the FT coil the same way i tested the lucas coil, i.e. hooked up the red power from the ignition to the coil and the wires from the petronix ignitor, attached the spark wire to the coil and held the other end near the engine block, then turned it over. Got a spark from the lucas but not the FT.

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 Posted: 10-20-2010 06:10 pm
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subwoofer
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And because of the resistor wire, the FT coil may not have seen more than 4V across the primary - depending on coil resistance. That would not be enough to make a spark. So until you test it with a wire directly from the battery to the +ve terminal on the FT while performing the same test, you can't say anything about the FT.

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Joachim

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 Posted: 10-20-2010 10:54 pm
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jarnol123
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Ok i'll test it tonight and report back... thanks again!

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 Posted: 10-24-2010 03:10 am
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jarnol123
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So i ran a wire from the battery to the +ve terminal of the coil and got a spark when I held the lead next to the engine block and turned the engine over.

Therefore a spark is being generated so either the rotor or the dizzy cap could be faulty?? I don't think the Pertronix Ignitor could be faulty as it's brand new. Mind you the dizzy cap and rotor are almost brand new too.
I can't see any obvious damage to the cap or rotor...is there something i should be looking for??

If i do have to buy new ones can i get them from Autozone or somewhere like that?

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 Posted: 10-24-2010 04:57 am
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Art DeKneef
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I don't know that Autozone and such will have them. Maybe a place like Napa or BAP Imports might have them.

That being said I have some extra in one of my parts drawers. Let me know if you want to try them. I'm located in Mesa. 480-529-4430

Art

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 Posted: 10-24-2010 07:03 am
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subwoofer
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jarnol123 wrote:
So i ran a wire from the battery to the +ve terminal of the coil and got a spark when I held the lead next to the engine block and turned the engine over.

Therefore a spark is being generated so either the rotor or the dizzy cap could be faulty?? I don't think the Pertronix Ignitor could be faulty as it's brand new.


So when you fed 12V directly to the FT coil you got a spark? That means that the resistor wire drops the voltage to the coil too much for the FT coil to work.

Neither the cap or the rotor is at fault, you have to bypass the resistor to make the FT work!

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Joachim

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 Posted: 10-24-2010 07:03 am
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Jensen Healey
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Look for carbon tracking inside the cap. It looks like a fern drawn with pencil. Use a bright light to check. Check the side of the rotor for tracking and also check with a ohmmeter. Any contact from the brass on top to the spring underneath means it's dead.

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