Well, after performing every electrical test known to man it turns out that the 2-month old Pertronix Igniter II sensor was the culprit. Hats-off to Pertronix...they promptly replaced the unit under warranty. I hope it was just a fluke because I don't want to be stranded on the side of the road again. Needless to say, I carry my points and a screwdriver with me everywhere I go now...

The thing is that I have no idea why the unit broke. The symptoms mimicked those of an under-voltage condition: Truck would run for about 2 minutes and then it was like someone pulled the plug. Wait 5 minutes, restart, then it just died. I did everything from replacing the in-distributor ground wire, directly grounding the distributor to the battery, cutting the "pink wire" and running 12-gauge wire direct from the ignition switch to the coil, and new 8mm plug wires. It definitely was the unit and I'm glad they replaced it. I think that all my electrical system upgrades I did as part of my troubleshooting will serve me well in the long run and now I know more about electronic ignition then I ever did before. My only regret is that I just didn't opt for the Igniter III....my thoughts were that I am going with a whole Pertronix distributor at some point so I didn't want to spend the extra money on the 3 vs. the 2...oh well.

Some interesting things I noticed in poking around the ignition system and some tips:
1) For the stock look get the epoxy potted coil. I got the oil filled one (not knowing any better) and it can only be mounted in the vertical position.

2) Take a look at your lobed cam inside of your distributor. 49-years of points riding on the cam have visibly worn it down. I'm sure that the points do not open as far as they did when new, however the wear looks to be even. I guess you set the gap with a feeler anyways so lobe wear maybe isn't an issue...not sure on this, others might want to chime in. The points cam cannot be replaced separately so a new distributor is your only option if keeping points.

2b) On the flip side, the igniter triggering magnet slips right over the lobed cam and works fine in spite of the lobe wear. You might opt for a dab of glue inside the triggering magnet just to be safe.

3) I think any ignition system, even stock, would benefit from better grounding of the distributor. At the very least get out your sandpaper and sand the distributor points plate and all wire contact areas. The stock distributor relies on direct contact with the engine block for grounding. My direct grounding to the battery may be over-kill but over-kill is my middle name!!

4) If stock-look isn't your priority I'd suggest installing one of the 50-60,000 volt, square coils on the inner wheel-well or firewall and then you'll never have to upgrade again. My plug wires are bright red, so the stock look went right out the window already with me. Now I wish I had just sprung for the HV coil right away.

5) Plug gap can be increased by .005" with any electronic, high-voltage ignition. Pulling 8 plugs is a chore but your truck can take advantage of the modern ignition system.

6) After talking with the tech on the phone, the .030 "point" gap with the electronic ignition can be increased to as much as .060". Now, .060" is a little excessive but .045" or so will give you some wiggle room with an old distributor. As a magnet trigger the gap only has to be within the effective distance for triggering, excessive point gap would cause running issues but the magnet doesn't care. I am unable to look inside the distributor when it is spinning away but I bet that there is a little slop that might cause the magnet trigger to occasionally rub up against the sender unit. I suspect that perhaps this happened a few times to my unit as there was a small scuff on the face of the sender.

 

Oh, one last thing: If you REALLY don't care about originality go ahead and bypass the ignition switch to coil connection altogether and directly wire power to the coil via a rocker switch on the dash, aka NASCAR. It's also function as a kill switch and you could always mount it under the dash and then it would function as an anti-theft system.

 

I keep a spare Pertronix module in the glove box... I found it in the salvage yard ($5) because I check ALL the old rigs for lil gold nuggets.

 

In all of your testing, did you test the coil? Also did your Pertronix II require a resistor set-up(either the "Pink Wire" or an external block resistor? I was just thinking of possible reasons for it to fail.

 

"In all of your testing, did you test the coil? Also did your Pertronix II require a resistor set-up(either the "Pink Wire" or an external block resistor? I was just thinking of possible reasons for it to fail."

Coil is fine. After installing the new unit the truck runs like a top. I have the low-resistance Igniter 2 coil, so no resistor is required. The Igniter 2 unit prefers a full 12 volts.

 

Not long ago another member on here also needed a tow due to a failed Pertronix ll units coil after about 15-20 miles of use.

No info on how the coil was mounted an think it was a oil filled can't remember.

I wonder if they've been having some cheap labor making some of there units.

With the many vehicles of fords mounted OEM coil laying flat almost under the air cleaner housing we or most of us we assume all coils can be mounted
anyway we please. As most of us don't think we need to read the instructions that come with a coil..

That will some time end up in the failure of that coil.

Maybe this is why the ford motor Co. used a coil mounting brackets to fit only a ford coil, an you can't mount a another makers brand of coil with out having to use a shim spacer of some sort to hold the non ford coil firm so it won't slide out.
Orich

 

Blew one up some time ago....just a few months old at the time. I have run these for 25 yrs and never had a problem with Pertronix till we failed to step down the voltage on the one that blew up in the Dizzy. Once we put the Balast Resistor on what was a full 12 volt line....no more troubles. Been 9 years .

 

Pertronix sez no more than 8 amps for their Ignitor 1, the other models have limits as well, always measure resistance through the primary circuit make sure not to exceed spec.

The ballast does drop the primary ignition voltage but the reason is to lower the current. Heat. Also make sure distributor has clean tight path to ground.

 

From what I have read on other forums Pertronix is made off shore, don't remember exactly when that happened.

I think a lot is of it is just luck good or bad. I've had my oil filled coil on my Y block mounted horizontal for 3 1/2 years and 8,000 miles with no problem, not saying that is correct..

 

I've used Pertronix and never had a problem. Most people don't. The fact that they replaced it with no problems says a lot about the company.

 

I have had more trouble with the "replacement" ignition switches in my 69 f-250 than any other part of the ignition system over the past few yrs. It is now a simple on off and a remote push button start. Since it is now EFI there is a simple toggle that turns off fuel pump as my "anti-theft". Still has the resistor wire in place.

 

That's the direction I'm moving towards.

Quick question...is the "Pink Wire" routed only through the resistor that is mounted to the coil or is there some in-line resistor somewhere behind the dash? It seems to me that having cut the wire and bypassed it might have been unnecessary. If all one has to do is just disconnect the resistor on the coil it would be "problem solved."

 

The "pink wire" itself is the resistor. It runs about 1.4 ohms. It is under the dash and then disappears at the firewall.

The ignition coil has no resistor attached per se, but it has an internal primary winding resistance of about 1.4 ohms as well. Total primary ignition circuit ohms resistance then, is about 3 ohms. Remember a fair amount of current is passed so use 12 ga. or better wire to replace the "pink wire" ballast.

 

Mine failed after about 2000 miles. They did send a replacement pickup.

However, my problem was with the tech rep. I told him all that I checked...12VDC at coil, 10VDC during crank, distributor ground verified at 0.1 ohm, coil resistance checked, no tachometer installed, wiring verified per instructions. He told me to check voltage, then said a bad ground was often the problem. I reiterated that that had all be checked and double-checked, and that the truck was now running fine on points.
He treated me like a dope throughout the process.
It was only when I began to get pretty mad that he agreed to have a replacement sent.

The replacement comes, gets plugged in, and I now have about 2,500 miles on this unit. I still keep a set of points, a condenser, and a feeler gauge in the glovebox.

I realize that they may have a newbie to deal with occasionally, but this installation isn't rocket surgery. He can ask that I double check a few things, but should be able to discern a knowledgeable customer when he hears one. Regardless, they should never treat any customer as I was treated.

 

Heck no! It ain't brain science either lol