Pertronix in a Mallory YC series 8ba dizzy

Hotrodvideo

Hotrodvideo

Senior Member
Grrr, having a hard time getting my 8BA running! I just put in Pertronix in my Mallory YC series Double Life, wired it according to the directions according to the ohms on my coil I bypassed the ballast resistor. It starts and runs crappy and then dies. According to the troubleshooting, I ran a jumper wire from the bat to the positive wire from the Pertronix. Same thing. What could I be doing wrong? Anyone have this happen?
 
Why would you bypass the ballast? The instructions with mine (although not a Mallory) say that if the original system has a ballast, use it.
 
6 or 12 volts? Pos or Neg Ground?
Bypassing the resistor shouldn't cause any immediate problems, but may overheat your coil in the long run.

Check your grounds. Clean them up real good and try again.
 
It's 12v neg ground. The directions say that if you have an internally resisted coil of 1.5 ohms or higher, you need to remove the external resistor. I was thinking of just wiring it back together with the resistor in place to see what would happen. What would it hurt?
I'm also using the old Mallory 2 piece cap & rotor with carbon core plug wires.
 
Adding resistance shouldnt hurt as it will lower the voltage. I have used quite a few of these with the Mallory YC unit with no problems.
The coil cant be low ressitance and 1.50 ohms should be fine.
They do make two kits one for the four lobe cam and one for the eight lobe cam.
Does the module feel hot to the touch.???
 
This is the 4 lobe cam and the magnet fits the 4 lobe cam so I know it's the right one.
I still can't get it to run. I've tried everything Pertronix said to do. I tried adjusting the timing too, no luck. I think I'll hook the ballast resistor back up and see what happens.
I 'll check the module and see if it's hot, if it is too hot what does that mean?
 
The module did not feel hot to the touch and hooking it up with the ballast resistor didn't make it run any better. I wonder if that module is defective??
 
Hotrodvideo said:
The module did not feel hot to the touch and hooking it up with the ballast resistor didn't make it run any better. I wonder if that module is defective??
Click to expand...
Hotrodvideo,
Double check the coil to be sure it has an internal resistor with the correct ohm resistance for your pertronix unit. I did the same thing as your doing. Turned out, that I was sold the wrong coil-i.e., NO RESISTOR at all internally. Got the correct coil and my system worked . Have you put an ohm meter on the coil? My correct coil had the writting..'internal resistor' written right on the cover. Your alternative is to wire the external resistor back into the system..if no resistor in the coil..lol
 
My ohmmeter said 1.9 when I tested it. It says 12V-R on top which should mean internal resistor unless I'm wrong! I have another 1.9 coil and I tried that too and it still didn't run right. If the green tape on the magnetic sleeve comes in contact with anything metal does it ruin it by any chance?
 
Talked to Pertronix today, they want me to send them the module & the sleeve with the magnetic strip. They said something might be defective.
I hope it is, I tried everything else!!!!!!!!
 
Ugh! Still can't get the 8ba to run right. Is the magnet sleeve supposed to be hammered down onto the dizzy cam?? It has a flange on top that holds it in place so I'm guessing no but it seems like it doesn't go down far enough? I've gone over everything a million times and sent the kit to Pertronix and they checked it and said it was good! I've tried 3 different coils too. Can someone with a Mallory Double life dizzy take a picture of it in the flathead with the cap off and post it so I know the plate and module are in there correctly?? Please.
 
Appears as if you have done everything you can do.
I can offer to check it for you. ( at no charge) if you want.
Just send me the coil, and the distributor with cap and rotor and i will wire it up and spin in on a tester . Make it work and return it. I do quite a few of these and havent had any major problems.

Address is on the web site and i will check it the day i get it and call ya........:eek::D

Bubba
 
Also try to ground the housing. I ran one today on the distributor machine and had no spark output. Every thing was new and it just didnt work.
Just for grins i clipped a jumper wire on the condensor hold dwon screw outside the unit to the machine and it ran well.
Learning every day , i guess i had clearcoated the housing too well ????

Try the ground.......
 
it's a 4 lobe cam so I have the ML 187A Pertronix kit. I checked the ground thouroughly but did not run a ground wire because Marvin at Pertronix said I did not need one.
I actually pulled the Pertronix and put new Mallory points back in and it runs fine! Go figure.
 
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