Ford 400 Pertronix troubles

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Apr 30, 2024 | 08:17 PM

Pumpkin78

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5th Gear

Joined: Apr 2024

Posts: 5

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From: New York

Ford 400 Pertronix troubles

Hello all, I am very new to this site (my first post). I’m a young kid just trying to figure these things out on my own. I have a 78 F150 with a 400 and a c6 and recently installed pertronix distributor D134620 with the flamethrower coil. I can get the truck to start but it will barely run and sounds like it is running on 6 cylinders. I have verified that I have a solid keyed voltage source (11.7 volts). I also directly connected the coil to my battery to verify that it wasn’t the voltage source and it ran exactly the same. I checked the continuity between the breaker plate and negative terminal on the battery which showed me 0 ohms of resistance (max resistance is 0.2 ohms). The only things I can think of left that could be a problem is my spark plug wires or that the distributor may be a tooth or two off but it dropped right in when installing it. Any help would be much appreciated if anyone has experienced these problems before or knows what is the problem.

May 1, 2024 | 09:18 AM

beartracks

Lead Driver

Joined: Nov 2000

Posts: 6,641

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From: Albuquerque

firing order? I think you need at least 12volts running.

May 2, 2024 | 04:22 AM

manicmechanic007

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Joined: Jul 2020

Posts: 10,554

Likes: 2,670

From: Near Salt Lake City

If the breaker plate bushing is worn, the PerTronix will bounce the spark all over the place or have none at all
Put the points back in and set the dwell
See how it runs then
Points work fine if set correctly on a good breaker plate
So does a PerTronix
Both coils should have 12 volts to start and 9 volts to run on
The later electronic ignitions with E core coils are designed to operate on 12 volts constantly

May 2, 2024 | 11:46 AM

Crop Duster

Logistics Pro

Joined: May 2015

Posts: 4,474

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From: Tri Cities, TN

Sounds like it is out of time or not wired correctly or a little of both. Did you have a timing light? Do you need some detailed instructions on how to time your engine?

May 3, 2024 | 12:53 PM

mark a.

Lead Driver

Joined: Mar 2004

Posts: 8,924

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I've never heard a good word about anything they make.

May 3, 2024 | 05:16 PM

tjc transport

i ain't rite

Joined: Mar 2005

Posts: 65,586

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From: Marlboro Mental Hospital.

i have installed over 100 pertronix units over the past 40 years, and only had one bad one. and that showed withing 5 minutes of first start.