ignition issues -- points distributor w/Pertronix ignitor

[kristoj]

Okay, my Spider doesn't have a points ignition, but my Lancia does so hopefully no one will mind me asking the question on this forum. So here is my issue:

Last fall when I purchased my Lancia, it was idling rough and hesitated when first starting out at lower revs. I decided to ditch the points and upgrade to the Pertronix Ignitor ignition module. At the same time, I adjusted the ignition timing to spec, and the car ran pefectly -- like night and day from before.

So over the winter, I had many projects under the hood -- none of which involved the ignition system. The only change I made there was upgrading from my standard Bosch "blue" coil to the Pertronix Flame Thrower coil. Now the car will not start and I have no spark at all.

Here is what I have checked: I checked both coils and both check out good. I also switched between them and it made no difference. I have 12V power to the plus side of the coil with the ignition switched on. I have a good ground to the minus side of the coil with the ignition switched off and infinite resistance from the minus side to ground when the ignition is switched on.

I am not sure where to turn from here, other than throw the points back in and see what happens, though I don't know why the ignition module would have gone bad. Any thoughts on diagnosing this further?

Thanks for the help!

[kristoj]

Update: I put a voltage tester on the output from the ignition coil and I am getting voltage when the car turns over (and a faint spark that I didn't see earlier when I put the main coil wire to ground). I am only getting about 9.5 volts, but I assume that is because the battery is now very weak. I will have to charge it over night. However, my voltage tester was showing no voltage to the number one plug wire. I assume this means a bad dist. cap and/or rotor? They both look pretty good and I cleaned all the contacts before throwing it back together.

Also, I have an inductive timing light and it is not flashing when the car turns over -- even when put on the plug wire from the coil to the dist. cap.

[baltobernie]

Do you still have the Bosch coil? I'd put it back on and see if the problem goes away. I too have the Pertronix (on my Spider) and the ignition expert who rebuilt/recurved my dizzy said that the Blue coil is good up to 7k. This guy's specialty is Lucas, so he should know all about automotive electrical limitations.

[kristoj]

Thanks for the reply, Bernie. Yes, I still have the blue coil. I will try swapping it out again tonight. I am also going to swap the plug wire that goes from the coil to distributor off of my Fiat as I don't like the looks of the one end -- could be a bad wire.

Two additional questions to pose for testing purposes:

1) Regarding the side terminals on my coil, with the ignition switch off, I have no voltage on the plus terminal and I have ground on the minus terminal. With the ignition switch on, I have 12V power at the plus terminal and no ground at the minus terminal. Is this normal?

2) With my inductive timing light, should it not flash when I am turning over the car attempting to start it? Is this a good way to determine if you have juice to the wires?

Thanks.