Car won't start

Posted By: rexus31

Car won't start - 12/27/09 05:24 PM

1965 Chrysler 300. The motor (383, 4V) turns over but it won't fire. It doesn't even act like it wants to fire; it just turns over. The car is stock except for a Pertronix Flame Thrower II ignition and coil. Ballast is bypassed per Pertronix instructions. New wiring harnesses. I have not had an issue with the motor firing other than a bad coil a couple months ago. I swapped the coil this morning with one I know works and that didn't resolve the issue. I've got 12V in Run and Start. Any ideas?

Posted By: monoptn

Re: Car won't start - 12/27/09 05:27 PM

It ain't got no gas in it.......

Posted By: rexus31

Re: Car won't start - 12/27/09 05:31 PM

Quote:

It ain't got no gas in it.......

It's got gas.

Posted By: monoptn

Re: Car won't start - 12/27/09 05:35 PM

Lol, just kidding. But when I read your question, I heard Billy Bob Thornton say "It ain't got no gas in it."

Posted By: Sue

Re: Car won't start - 12/27/09 05:52 PM

dist pickup

Posted By: rexus31

Re: Car won't start - 12/27/09 05:54 PM

Any way to test that?

Posted By: RapidRobert

Re: Car won't start - 12/27/09 08:31 PM

Quote:

Any ideas?

With your VOM, unhook the 2 dist pickup leads & see if it has basic continuity and then see if the dist pickup generates a signal on these same 2 leads when you crank it (not sure which scale (milli volts?)

Posted By: AARCONV

Re: Car won't start - 12/28/09 03:13 AM

Don't know much about the pertronix stuff...put the points back in and try that..

Posted By: rss

Re: Car won't start - 12/28/09 05:37 AM

Have you verified basics like you aren't getting any spark or are we just jumping to that conclusion because the car won't fire up?

Posted By: Hazwoy

Re: Car won't start - 12/28/09 05:57 AM

Here is a great link to help you-

http://www.moparaction.com/Tech/archive/roadside.html

Look at "Cranks, But Won't Start"

Posted By: rexus31

Re: Car won't start - 12/29/09 12:04 AM

Quote:

Here is a great link to help you-

http://www.moparaction.com/Tech/archive/roadside.html

Look at "Cranks, But Won't Start"

Thanks. I've got voltage to the coil in both the Run and Start Position but no spark from the coil. Being as I have already attempted to swap the coil with a known good one, I don't think the coil is the culprit. I think the Pertronix unit failed. I removed the Pertronix unit and sent it back to Summit for a replacement as it was still under warranty. I think I'm going back to the points and will shelf the Pertronix as a back up. The funny thing is, I've run the pertronix on my '64 GTO for 5 years with no issues. I will install the points, stock coil and ballast and report back.

Posted By: Hazwoy

Re: Car won't start - 12/29/09 07:01 AM

The Pertronix is an awesome system. Pretty much the first mod I will do on a car. I did have a 1962 Chrysler with a 361. Had Pertronix in it and then started having running/starting problems several years later. Car had 120k miles on it , I replaced original distributor with a new Mallory distributor. It was long ago but I am pretty sure the distributor bushings were worn out on the original so no way the Pertronix could keep it firing with shaft wobble. Try another distributor maybe if your miles are up there

Posted By: rexus31

Re: Car won't start - 12/29/09 04:07 PM

Quote:

The Pertronix is an awesome system. Pretty much the first mod I will do on a car. I did have a 1962 Chrysler with a 361. Had Pertronix in it and then started having running/starting problems several years later. Car had 120k miles on it , I replaced original distributor with a new Mallory distributor. It was long ago but I am pretty sure the distributor bushings were worn out on the original so no way the Pertronix could keep it firing with shaft wobble. Try another distributor maybe if your miles are up there

The distributor is new.

Posted By: Hazwoy

Re: Car won't start - 12/29/09 10:59 PM

Let us know what happens with the points or new Pertronix.

Posted By: rexus31

Re: Car won't start - 12/31/09 08:49 PM

The Pertronix was the culprit. I put the points back in along with the stock coil and ballast and it fired right up.

Posted By: rexus31

Re: Car won't start - 12/31/09 11:32 PM

Well I just got back from a cruise and the timing is jumping all over the place. I think I have a faulty distributor which may have shorted out the Pertronix unit. I set the timing to 10* BTDC and went for a short cruise. The car started running like it was on 4 cylinders. When I checked the timing it was 5*ATDC. I adjusted the timing to 10* BTDC and went for another ride. This time it jumped to 15* BTDC. I'll be installing a new distributor Saturday. I hope it's a bad distributor and not a bad balancer. My machinist said the balancer looked real good when the motor was rebuilt about 500 miles ago. We'll see.

Posted By: stumpy

Re: Car won't start - 12/31/09 11:53 PM

Balencer wouldn't cause the timing to jump around and make the engine run bad. It would just be off when you set it and stay there.

Posted By: OzHemi

Re: Car won't start - 12/31/09 11:55 PM

Quote:

Well I just got back from a cruise and the timing is jumping all over the place. I think I have a faulty distributor which may have shorted out the Pertronix unit. I set the timing to 10* BTDC and went for a short cruise. The car started running like it was on 4 cylinders. When I checked the timing it was 5*ATDC. I adjusted the timing to 10* BTDC and went for another ride. This time it jumped to 15* BTDC. I'll be installing a new distributor Saturday. I hope it's a bad distributor and not a bad balancer. My machinist said the balancer looked real good when the motor was rebuilt about 500 miles ago. We'll see.

Aside from the distributor, you might check for timing chain slop...

Posted By: RapidRobert

Re: Car won't start - 01/01/10 12:23 AM

might open up the pertronix as it could be somthing simple right in front of you that you can easily deal with

Posted By: rexus31

Re: Car won't start - 01/01/10 01:53 AM

Quote:

Quote:

Well I just got back from a cruise and the timing is jumping all over the place. I think I have a faulty distributor which may have shorted out the Pertronix unit. I set the timing to 10* BTDC and went for a short cruise. The car started running like it was on 4 cylinders. When I checked the timing it was 5*ATDC. I adjusted the timing to 10* BTDC and went for another ride. This time it jumped to 15* BTDC. I'll be installing a new distributor Saturday. I hope it's a bad distributor and not a bad balancer. My machinist said the balancer looked real good when the motor was rebuilt about 500 miles ago. We'll see.

Aside from the distributor, you might check for timing chain slop...

Timing chain is brand new, less than 500 miles on it.

Posted By: OzHemi

Re: Car won't start - 01/01/10 01:57 AM

Saw that, but thought I remember reading about some getting loose kind of fast (and people using the tensioner to help..)

Just a tought if the distributor checks out ok eventually and still have timing issues.

(easy enough to put a socket on the crank and rock it back and forth while watching the distributor)

Posted By: rexus31

Re: Car won't start - 01/01/10 02:08 AM

Quote:

Saw that, but thought I remember reading about some getting loose kind of fast (and people using the tensioner to help..)

Just a tought if the distributor checks out ok eventually and still have timing issues. (easy enough to put a socket on the crank and rock it back and forth while watching the distributor)

Good point. Thanks!

Posted By: OzHemi

Re: Car won't start - 01/01/10 02:34 AM

Just worth checking if the distributor don't fix it I figured...

Posted By: pnypwr

Re: Car won't start - 01/01/10 03:14 AM

Quote:

The Pertronix is an awesome system. Pretty much the first mod I will do on a car. I did have a 1962 Chrysler with a 361. Had Pertronix in it and then started having running/starting problems several years later. Car had 120k miles on it , I replaced original distributor with a new Mallory distributor. It was long ago but I am pretty sure the distributor bushings were worn out on the original so no way the Pertronix could keep it firing with shaft wobble. Try another distributor maybe if your miles are up there

see thats funny as if I got a car with one, first thing id do is take it out and toss it...ive changed out a bunch of them for not working right! I recently was going to install a setup on a cus car (its what he wanted) and used their coil, but you turn the coil upside down you could feel the winding moveing in the can...top quality stuff!!

Posted By: crlush

Re: Car won't start - 01/01/10 03:43 PM

put one in my friends car and the directions say if there is a ballast resistor to leave it but if there isnt one not to hook one up, well anyways his burned out too,he had an ignition switch problem where when you turned the key off sometimes the power would stay on, and it ended up burning the unit out, there wasnt a ballast resistor hooked up on the car it was a 66 riviera, so it burned the petronix unit up.

Posted By: mopars4ever

Re: Car won't start - 01/01/10 03:56 PM

A friend had a Pertronix system in his Chevy. It lasted one year. He put the points back in.

Posted By: 05dakota

Re: Car won't start - 01/01/10 07:18 PM

have had the Ignitor II on my 66 newport since 2005, over 10K miles.

Posted By: rexus31

Re: Car won't start - 01/03/10 10:23 PM

Looks like the distributor was the culprit. I installed the new distributor, the timing is solid and it starts when you barely bump the key.

Posted By: OzHemi

Re: Car won't start - 01/03/10 10:32 PM

Good deal