Pirana electronic ignition system.

[WHITEGQ]

Hi All,
Looking at fitting a Pirana Electronic Ignition system to my GQ, TB-42 runnning straight LPG. Just wondering if anyone has had any experiences with this system, or if anyone can tell if they are any good or not. Can get unit fully fitted and tuned for $350 at local 4wd center.
With thanks Jeff.

[Trolatron]

Mate I have that set up in my gq and would like to change it to a Petronix set up because all the parts are inside the dizzy.The other guys on here know more about it thechnicaly
My mate has petronix and has no trouble with water crassings but I ocasionaly do.

[WHITEGQ]

Hi Trolatron,
Thanks, just a couple of questions, did you have this unit fitted or was it already on Patrol when you bought it? If you fitted it, did you notice any differences with the way it ran? ie power, economy, in general th way it runs.
With thanks Jeff.

[Trolatron]

The gas was already on it when I got it. It runs better on gas than petrol . When on petrol it has a slight miss when I put foot down . The last guy who tuned it said it could do with a new carby that was 12 months ago now.someone told me it runs better on gas because its set up that way as in you can't have it perfect on both not sure how correct that statement is though.

[gq4200]

What type of coil can you use with it? If you can use a high energy EFI coil then it will be great. If you read the instructions for pertronix..

Q. What type of coil can I use?
A. The Ignitor™ is compatible only with a "points style" coil.


which IMO makes it no better than swapping your $8 points every year.

[Yendor]

12 Months,

I was lucky to get 2 months out of a set of points (running on gas and petrol, (carby)) on my GQ before I at least needed to clean them and reset them.

I am a big fan of removing the points and replacing them with an electronic ignition system, running a standard coil. (sorry Paul).

[gq4200]

Mine never really gave trouble. IF your condensor is gone then the points don't last as long. I tried the genuine mitsubishi (I think) ones from the dealer, and also the bosch ones from Bursons seemed ok as well. Same points as used on some of the L-series engines.

[97_gq_lwb]

Pertronix ignitions work great.
You will always have to compromise a little when tuning for petrol and gas as they like different timing.
Unless their is a product that will let you have two different programmable timing maps

[jc58nc]

I have a Pirana in my GQ but about to swap it to a Pertronix Hall Effect (Magnetic) for two reasons.
With the Pirana if the Switching Led gets dirty the engine will stop, I've had it happen with a previous car.
You are limited to maximum coil current flow of 5 amps (12v/2.5ohm (min)= 4.8amp)
My choice of the Pertronix Hall Effect over the newer Lobe firing version is that it's more reliable and I have a lathe so the machining is no problem.

[Robo]

They do a version where you don't have to machine it. Have this one in my 4.2.
From memory 1762LS is the part Number.
it simply picks up on the cam lobes on shaft, worth the extra $$ for this version in case of emergency.
Cheers

[jc58nc]

The machining does not effect the points lobes if you have the need to go back to them, you just take a small amount off the flange above the lobes so the "magnet ring" slides over the flange and sits on the points lobes.

[WHITEGQ]

Thanks everybody for your responses, will look into these systems a bit more before doing change.

[rusty_nail]

if you wanna wait, im days away from installing a pertronix, im going to post up photos and ill be posting economy changes up as ongoning updates.

[jc58nc]

I've just swapped from the Pirana to the Pertronix, new ht leads, new coil and extended rotor button. And the difference is amazing. At idle the Tacho used to jump all over the place, now it's steady on 800RPM and very smooth.
I checked the advance while I was at it, 9deg Vacuum, 20deg Mechanical with light springs to advance sooner and I run 15deg static timing. So 44deg maximum (up to 45deg suits LPG) My standby fuel is Premium Unleaded, it's happy with the advanced timimg too.

[WHITEGQ]

Hi all,
Well had the new pirana system fitted to my Patrol, also had mechanics fit new coil. Well picked Patrol up from mechanics and they said "it goes great, big difference", HA HA, took for a drive down town, Patrol was running like SH*T, backfiring and just generally running shit, then it had a massive gas backfire. Pulled over and put all intake back together, went straight back down to mechanics shop and told them what had happened. They said leave it with us we will look at it further. Went back after work, they now said that my plugs and leads were stuffed, so they replaced them and had another go at tuning Patrol, once again they said Patrol was running great, HA HA.

I live 35klm from where I work, Patrol was running like SH*T still, on my way home Patrol backfired several times, and just in general had stuff all power, I have to go up a pretty steep long hilly section to get home, before having this work done I could get up this hilly section in 5th gear, and stay at 100klph right to the top, well this trip I was lucky to be able to hold 75klph and was down to 3rd gear. NOT A HAPPY CAMPER.

Well as it was the weekend couldnt do anything till monday, but as I usually do all my own LPG tuning, I checked all settings on gas, well the settings where all up the sh*t, so did a retune, got Patrol running a little better and stopped it from backfiring when putting foot down, but still guttless as. Had funeral on Monday, so took Patrol back to mechanics on Tuesday morning at 07.30, well it sat out the front of their workshop all day and didnt get touched, took back on Wednesday. As I work right next door to mechanics I watched my Patrol go in and out of the workshop about 5 times throughout the day. Finished work at 5pm, went into mechanics to see what was the go, well they said that they had done a few things on Patrol, firstly they said "You have valve problems, that the valves either need adjusting or that they are most likely burnt out, they could try adjusting them, but no guarentees this would help". Now I would like to say that the cost at the start to purchase this unit was $250, plus $100 to have it fitted and tuned. Well I get the bill the next day and HOLLY FU*K, its now up to $780. Once again they said "Patrol is running ok, but they said with the valves needing attention, they got it the best they could, but they still said it went really well". Once again Patrol ran like SH*T on the way home.

Here is what was happening with Patrol, put foot down it was like, a really stuffed Diesel, no power, put foot down to floor and once again it would backfire through throtlebody, and blow air intake apart, then at around 3000-3500 rpm it would just take off, all power back, sometimes when you first take off it would be fine, still no where near as good as before having all this work done. Spoke to a couple of mates about it, one is a mechanic and other is auto electrician, they both said same thing, that it sounds like electronic unit is faulty.

Drove Patrol to and from work for a couple of days, then went back to mechanics and told them what was going on, they now tried to blame my LPG, saying it sounds like my converter is stuffed. Funny thing is Patrol was running well beforehand, no trouble with gas at all.
So far they have blamed my -plugs and leads- been replaced,
-valve problem- was ok beforehand, but may still be an issue to have fixed,
-gas converter- was running fine beforehand, converter is only about 15 months old.

Well really got sick of this, so yesterday decided to remove Pirana system and put points back in to see if it made any difference, Took distributor cap, rotor and top plate off, was surprised to find all electronic bits in dist where all plastic, also the little black brain box in engine bay was only stuck on with double sided tape, gave it a push and it fell off. So got old points system out of toolbox and refitted it, roughly checked timing and reset it, started Patrol, was running rough, so redid timing, reset gas mixtures and took the old girl for a run up the road. Well to say the least, I now ALMOST had my old Patrol back again, plenty of power to pull up the hills, power there from idle right up through the revs, and once I had fine tuned gas, NO MORE BACKFIRING. Now, yes I think I do have some issues with my valves, which I am going to do clearences next weekend, if valves are stuffed I will relace head.

I will take unit back into mechanics on Monday morning, and see what they have to say about it. Also since fitting this unit my economy has taken a BIG dive, going from about 350-370ks from 100lts down to 300ks -100lts, really happy about that. I had gone from having a Patrol that I enjoyed and loved to drive, to a Patrol that I really didnt even want to drive at ALL, now back to a Patrol thats great to drive again. I may look into fitting a petronix system later on, only wanted electronic system due to the fact of having to change points so often, and being told that I would get better power, economy and more responsive.

Sorry to all for rambling on, but I just thought I would share my experience with everyone.

Jeff.

[97_gq_lwb]

You have to wonder why they let some mechanics out of the zoo to begin with.

[WHITEGQ]

You are not wrong there, one of the younger mechanics at this place owns a GQ, with a carby TB-42 in it, I asked him a question one day about points and what he sets his timing at in his GQ, his answer was "points what points, all GQ's run electronic distributors", I am thinking holy sh*t I hope he never touches my Patrol.

[TD_Wagon]

I'm adding one more vote for pertronix,
I ran the piranha on my supercharged TB was up to the task but blew up two of the control boxes, one was from water and the other from a faulty coil, so no great when they cost 180 each.
Now i run a pertronix and no issue at all and you can run any coil.