Pertronix = dead car

[SteveJ]

Jim,

Call me, per my PM. I think I might have a solution.

Edit:

On second thought, try this:

1. Move the black/white wire at the resistor over to the same terminal as the green/white wire. (See attached picture. The B/W wire is marked by the arrow.)

2. Put the positive lead of the Ignitor (red wire) on the positive of the coil. (Make sure you have a 12VDC coil, or you may burn out the coil since you bypassed the resistor.)

Edited August 18, 2012 by SteveJ

[jaltman]

That will certainly work, with an internally ballasted coil, but people seem to be using the pertronix with the stock coil. The way I read the schematic, there is 12v on one side of the resistor in run and 12v on the other side duriing start, but never 12 v always on one side of the resistor. By connecting the pertronix to the ballast you can have 12v during starting, during running, but not both.

Edited August 19, 2012 by jaltman

[SteveJ]

You are right. The start and ignition circuits in the 240Z never power a common circuit at 12VDC. The fix I proposed to you is basically what I did to my 73 when I did the ZX distributor swap.

[jaltman]

I talked to Pertronix today and they said to hook it up on the side that has 12v during the run position. The fact it only gets 6v. during starting will be ok. From this I conclude that voltage is not really that critical. So, thats what they said.

I gotta wait for some other electrical parts to arrive, but further reports are forthcoming.

[DatsunDoug]

The ballast resistor on a 240 is designed to be used with a low resistance (1.5 ohm) coil. Check across the (-) and (+) of your coil. If its 3.2 ohms then you should bypass the ballast resistor. However, if you have a low internal resistance coil then you should use the ballast, or you will overheat and damage your coil.

[jaltman]

Got my new ignition switch today, so now I can actually crank and start my car (a nice feature). Put the pertronix in as directed, red to the 12v on run side and it starts and runs fine. Ticks right off.