Electronic Ignition questions

uniballer63 · Post by **uniballer63** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 11:05 am

Im looking into electronic ignitions. Im interested in the Petronix brand and was wondering if anyone has any experience running these. Or any other types. How much of a improvement is this over the stock setup? how many mpg are you guys getting after you installed it?

JC-ATL · Post by **JC-ATL** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 12:01 pm

You're definitely headed the right direction.

With most systems, you'll see a small performance improvement, but the largest improvement seems to be in maintenance and tunability - no more points to change. The only downside seems to be that when these things give out, they die completely, and of course, parts are harder to get on the street. Lots of guys keep a set of points in their car for emergencies.

For a stock or near-stock engine, you can't go wrong with a Pertronix or Compu-fire. I used to run a lot of the Compu-fires, but most people around here seem to prefer Pertronix.

For something a little more performance-oriented, I'd go with a CDI. My personal system is a Mallory Unilite Optical distributor, a Mallory Hyfire VI-A CDI, and a Mallory coil, but this is also on a performance-oriented 1915cc. It would, I believe, give your MPG a real kick in the shorts on a stocker, as well, since it's far more efficient than a points system, but it's also a rather pricy option for an otherwise stock engine.

uberbug · Post by **uberbug** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 2:23 pm

I have had great luck with the Pertronix Ignitor and their flame-thrower coil. No maintanence, rock solid timing and better starting.

Post by **Marc** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 2:37 pm

How about the Accu-Fire brand? Are they any good or are they inferior Compufire clones?

uberbug · Post by **uberbug** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 2:46 pm

I have had great luck with the Pertronix Ignitor and their flame-thrower coil. No maintanence, rock solid timing and better starting.

turboblue · Post by **turboblue** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 2:47 pm

Marc wrote:How about the Accu-Fire brand? Are they any good or are they inferior Compufire clones?

Do you mean the EMPI version of Accu-Fire Marc? That is what they call their made in China POS anyway. 30% failure rate for the 10 I bought when they first came out around 2-2/2 years ago. The ones that worked are still working, the others never fired the first lick. I guess the under $40 list price might sway one to try them. I'd get two to have a spare.

Post by **Marc** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 3:00 pm

turboblue wrote:Do you mean the EMPI version of Accu-Fire Marc? That is what they call their made in China POS anyway. 30% failure rate for the 10 I bought when they first came out around 2-2/2 years ago. The ones that worked are still working, the others never fired the first lick. I guess the under $40 list price might sway one to try them. I'd get two to have a spare.

Exactly, I was looking at them at actionimport.com @$35 a pop...(maybe that's an appropriate term)...kinda what I was expecting to hear -thanks!

turboblue · Post by **turboblue** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 3:10 pm

Marc

Compufire track record for me was around 25%. Might be a little harsh on them, but I bought four just to see if they were any good. One failure in four. Pertronix has been the best for me. About 8-10% failure rate for them. I do like the warranty Pertronix has. 30 months and the customer sends the part in for repair or replacement. I don't have to make the call as to whether or not they screwd the thing up or it just failed. Usually Pertronix sends them a new one.
Heck, I have even gotten Pertronix ignitions for a guys John Deere 3010 gas farm tractor! They make them for darn near anything with sparkplugs!