Ignition problem no spark

grumppyoldman

grumppyoldman

Well-known member
On my 55 Fairlane with a 302 engine, I have a Mallory 29440 coil and I dont know what the distributor is. It has Ignitor !! pickup coil, the rotor sets on top of a plate that has the advance weights on it. The wires from the pickup coil go out the bottom of the distributor. Checking the coil with VOM thewire terminals with wires off has continuity, but has 0 ohms, it supposed to have a low ohms reading so I'm told. I'm using two different parts Mallory coil ans Ignitor !! pickup in distributor, will that cause problems, it's been running good for months. Al
 
Thanks for the info. I have done some checking and my dist. is a Pertronics. I found info. that the Pertronics dist. will work with other type coils. I don't want to put the coil back on like it is, the screws in the firewall have nuts on the inside and I cant turn the screws and hold the nuts. Going to have to pull carpet and card board under dash to find the nuts, ain't going back like that. Al
 
You have a PERTRONIX BILLET HEI DIST.

IMO, you should be using a PERTRONIX FLAMETHROWER II COIL. It is a canister type coil (oil filled) that looks like the OEM coil.

Take the MALLORY COIL and throw it as far as you can. MSD, ACCEL and MALLORY have been bought by HOLLEY (this is not the same HOLLEY CO of years ago) and all products are CHI-COM.

PERTRONIX is domestic and most of the product USA made, except some coils (and there is good reason for that).
 
Do you need a ballast resistor with this coil? ( 3 ohm Flamethrower coil ) I've seen mention of a resistor in some cases. Al
 
grumppyoldman said:
Thanks for the info. wasn't sure about the Mallory coil with Pentronics dist. will replace with proper coil. Al
Click to expand...

Now that was just IMO only. For some reason, people like eye candy more than something that works. Instead of mix-matching, one should stay with the same manufacturer's system(s).
 
grumppyoldman said:
Do you need a ballast resistor with this coil? ( 3 ohm Flamethrower coil ) I've seen mention of a resistor in some cases. Al
Click to expand...

Do you see any ID on the housing that ID's the DIST as being a PERTRONIX FLAMETHROWER? Their cataloging is very confusing (and I have three levels of remedial reading in high school).

If yes, they recommend straight BAT VOLT to both module and coil. You want an oil filled FLAMETHROWER II coil unless the MODULE is IGNITOR III.

You are working with a 12V NEG conversion?
 

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The modual inside the dist. has Ignitor !! on it. I have looked at the pentronix dist. and it is like the one in my car. Thanks for the diagram, that helps a lot. Al
 
grumppyoldman said:
The modual inside the dist. has Ignitor !! on it. I have looked at the pentronix dist. and it is like the one in my car. Thanks for the diagram, that helps a lot.

Al
Click to expand...

OK. You want the FLAMETHROWER II OIL FILLED CANISTER COIL - 0.6ohm

Wire as above schematic for hot spark. 12V NEG system upgrade on the engine, correct?
 

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I got the coil today, installed it and still no spark. I'm wondering now about the pickup moduel, I haven't checked it yet, but it doesn't show that its been hot which is one thing that happens when it goers bad. Another thing I wished I'd looked at after turning the engine over several times, if the rotor was in a different position. Just say'in!!! The car is located about 10 mi from my home. I'll have to go back tomorrow and take my wife so she can operate the key while I watch whats going on under the hood. Still trying. Al
 
This is a 55 w/ later 302 SBF with a later 12V NEG GRD SYS, correct?

There are two diagnostic sequences below. One is for IGN 1 but describes how to power ICM straight from BAT for testing.
 

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Yes that's the way it's wired. I ran a seperate wire from ignition switch to the coil pos. side to bypass other wires, still no spark. Also bypassedf amp. gauge still no spark. Checked dist. to make sure it was turning. Still no spark. Going to look at switch wiring to see if switch is bad, got it out of dash and had to take a brake, tired. Al
 
Did you run a hot jumper from the BAT directly to the RED LEAD on the module? If she fires off that, then the problem is in the IGN SW/WIRING.

Check grounds in the DIST. We still don't know what make it is.
 
I did not do that, but checking other places I found that test and will try tomorrow. I saw another site where they said there was no way to check the modual in the dist. others said you could. Will run those too, I have been going in circles checking every thing I can think of. The car was really running good, then went to start it up and no spark. My 41 6 volt and points fired up no problems. I'm thinking the modual is bad. Keep looking. Al
 
Have you checked the air gap (spacing) between the module and the pick ring (terminology?) under the rotor? It might have moved somehow.
 
I saw another site where they said there was no way to check the modual in the dist. others said you could.
Click to expand...
You have to be careful of what is said on sites. You ask a question and you will get fifty different contradicting replies and suggestions.

The info I posted was from PERTRONIX.
 
Well , it looks as though the Mallory coil was not the problem . However, it is always best to use the proper Pertronix coil w/their module (or distributor), anyways .
As always , JMHO !
 
I ran the coil test today, ran neg. from batt. to dist. ran jumper from batt. pos. on red wire of coil. black lead on meter to black coil lead coil lead. Turned on ign. to run and got batt. volts. couldn't turn dist. shaft enough to get a voltage drop, so bumped ign. switch to turn dist. voltage was supposed to go to 0 it only dropped To 10.5 volts. Ordered a new Ignitor 2 from Summit. Let you guy's know how that works for me. Al
 
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