Assuming coil in cap.

 

This is what I assume he has installed. Picture from ZIP website.



It’s not HEI and there’s no separate amplifier unit. More like a Pertronix distributor I guess. I agree his description just doesn’t make much sense to most of us. Hot coil with no voltage to it. 8 volts at coil by simply connecting two wires from ballast resister together. Without it making any sense it’s difficult ( impossible) to offer any answers. I would like to know what the voltage is at the battery and the coil with the engine actually running but it sounds like it will no longer run. Maybe posting some photos of the firewall wiring will turn up something. I assume the car probably has an original wiring harness. Is there any evidence of it being cut, spliced, repaired, taped up, etc? Have you tried cleaning the bulkhead connectors? Do you have another multi-meter or can you borrow one to check your readings? Calling the manufacturer/seller might help but the 8 volts and hot, de-energized coil description isn’t going to give them any helpful info either.

 

You probably are using a cell phone and a computer, not a rotary dialed phone or paper and pencil and they are "something considerably more exotic".

 

The cell phone won’t work on 60 year old land lines either. The pencil and paper don’t require electricity and will work anywhere.

 

This is a manual trans, and you are absolutely right, where is the 8 volts coming from when I am measuring at the coil from +post to the -post.

 

Yes you are correct this is what I installed and have a new coil coming after the first one heated up and failed? IK did check my readings with 2 different multi meters. Here is a picture of the coil wiring, and the harness was replaced from the original. When I contacted Pertronics, they said it was very unlikely a coil failure...

 

most throw away and buy a new cell phone and computer every 5-10 years. As by then what they had is obsolete. While the same paper and pencils they made 100 years ago are still being made on the same machines. While we all appreciate new tech you still should marvel how old tech still works.

 

Thank you

 

To verify you are getting voltage to the coil with the ignition turned to OFF, I would recommend you disconnect the wire at the positive + terminal of the coil and make a measurement and then disconnect it at the R terminal of the solenoid and take a measurement with both disconnected, both with the key OFF. That should tell you if the have a shorted ignition switch or a shorted contact in the solenoid. The only other option is a short between either of the two wires and a normally hot wire fed, e.g., the battery gauge wire attached to the solenoid BATT post.
Also, some electronic ignition manufacturers require a diode in the wire from the R terminal of the solenoid to prevent current flow to the solenoid when the engine is running. I don't know if your setup requires a diode or not.
In addition, what is the red wire on the coil + post? There also appears to be a connector with red, black, and tan wires under the distributor - is that the feed to the distributor? You have a yellow wire on the negative (-) terminal of the coil that goes into a wire harness - or - is behind the harness and a black wire out of that wire harness grounded to the valve cover bolt? Your problem may be in this added wiring harness for whatever it is. You need to find the manufacturer's wiring diagram for the distributor and if you need additional help, post it here for the experts to review. Also, the wiring diagram for the added red wire to the unknown device is needed.

I was trying not to express my opinion, but I have the stock points set up on R66 with over 13,000 miles and it is still running great. On the other hand, I have a Chrysler type amplifier with a magnetic reluctor type pickup on the 68RS and it starts easier and runs great also. Over the last 50 years or so, I have had Malory, Accel, and various other electronic components fail after a period of time. Neither is fool proof and lasts forever. Each individual is allowed to chose what he prefers.

Ron

 

I believe R66 has addressed this in far more detail but this is not a correct measurement. You need to measure at the positive coil terminal to ground. A coil has 2 separate windings in it that have no continuity between the neg and pos posts when no voltage is fed in. When voltage is fed in to the coil a magnetic field is created that energizes the coil terminal (to dist cap) by mutual induction.

 

Rguilbert,
Do you have their contact info for tech? info@dragonfireperformance.com
They also have a phone number, but not sure if that will get you to tech....
888-732-7718
2304 Perseus CT.
Bakersfield CA 93308

2304 Perseus Court
Bakersfield, CA 93308

888-732-7718
23042304 Perseus Court
Bakersfield, CA 93308

888-732-77182304 Perseus Court
Bakersfield, CA 93308

888-732-7718 Perseus Court
Bakersfield, CA 93308

888-732-77182304 Perseus Court
Bakersfield, CA 93308

888-732-7718

 

Please post the wiring instructions for the distributor and a picture of the wiring diagram for the distributor if they provide one. You cannot measure voltage effectively across the coil. To measure coil voltage, measure from ground with the black meter lead to the coil with the red meter lead. If you are reading 8v across the coil with the key off, you will see about 12.8v on the coil posts when measured to ground meaning you have a short circuit sending 12v to the coil with the key off. The ignition switch then becomes suspect.

 

I was getting a 0 volt reading at the coil with the key turned off, and only 8 volts with the key turned on. The yellow wire goes to the distributor and the distributor has a 3 wire connector harness that goes to the coil and the solenoid. I think I need to see if I have mis wired the solenoid end.
Thanks very much for the thoughts and suggestions. I will look again after work and take some more pictures if I have further questions.
Thanks again to everyone that is helping!

 

This is correct.

The most likely reason for measuring 8 Volts is that the switching transistor in the distributor is incapable of pulling the (-) terminal all the way to ground. Measure between the (+) terminal and ground for an accurate reading.

This is not correct.

There most definitely should be continuity between the (+) terminal and the (-) terminal. Continuity is unrelated to whether there is applied Voltage or not.

​​​​​​​

 

Excellent points. If he's getting eight volts across the coil, then it would be informative to see if his supply is only eight volts or if he's getting three or four volts from the C- terminal to ground, indicating an issue/defect in the module power transistor circuit/wiring as you pointed out. ​​​​​​​

 

Dan,
I certainly understand WHY someone would want to do it----In my case, I simply wanted the latest technology and when it went wrong(first twenty minutes) I took it as a challenge and a "learning experience" to see if I could "solve the problem." It IS a hobby ya know. However, after a year of having my brother in law tow me home every time I went somewhere, I got tired os non starts, blown up coils and the like---and no one, including the mrf's of the parts could give me any further help it seemed prudent to cut bait----As the song says "ya gotta know when to fold em."

Yes, it was a learning experience-what did I learn---
First---"one size does not fit all"----these electronic units are not made for a specific car or electrical system but for a broad spread of cars----and each one is very different. There is just something about MY 62's electrics that simply does not like electronic ignition. So---who am I to argue.

2nd--the easiest solution is usually the right one---
Eddie

 

how is this the latest when it was bought out over 50 years ago??? If you want the latest use coil packs and eliminate the dist all together

 

I had similar problems with my HEI setup for same year and HP engine.

For fun I hot wired the distributor (pink wire) directly to the battery. I did this to see if the ignition switch was an issue. it ran great in that configuration. so i went back thru the wiring and made sure everything was solid. I have not had an issue since.

Another thing to consider is the Voltage regulator, I read somewhere that not all electronic ignition modules have over-voltage protection, so if you are using the original voltage regulator (mechanical one) it could cause damage because it does not have over-voltage protection either. The old Vreg its a pretty crude instrument for maintaining voltage, but it works with an old points system because they are tolerant of spikes in the system. So, I removed the original vreg and got a solid state replacement (that looks like the original) to prevent that from happening.


Edit: so it is possible that the new ignition module (solid state) could be damaged now.

 

Right, I confused high resistance with no continuity. Needed a second cup of coffee. Looks like it’s the high voltage terminal that’s isolated.

 

Respectfully (not trying to pile on), the secondary winding is tied directly to the primary winding. If the two windings were truly isolated, the coil would need four terminals. As we see, these coils have three terminals. The secondary high tension winding is connected on one end at the center post, while the other end of the winding is usually attached to the coil + terminal.

Easier and cheaper to manufacture.