Ballast Resistor Removal

[Maverick1988]

Installed a pertronix flamethrower and removed the ballast resistor. What wires go where? Any idea? Also checked the hall effect pertronix ignitor that came with the GQ which has been flawless up until now. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. The green tape is still on the magnet ring and there is no adjusting the air gap from the screws that are fitted.

[Yendor]

Hi Maverick1988, welcome to the forum. When you get a chance post up an introduction, it's just something we ask of new members.

With bypassing the ballast all you need to do is join the White with a black trace wire to the two Red wires.

The other pink? wire that looks like it in running to the inline fuse holder, I'm guessing is for some accessory. If this was connected to the ballast resistor you can also connect it to the white and red wires.

Or you can connect it to another ignition supply. Do you have LPG fitted?

Personally I wouldn't fit the Flamethrower, I have heard a lot of bad reports from people when fitted to Patrols.

I will just keep using the Nissan coil or a Bosch GT40R.

[Maverick1988]

Thanks for the feedback. The pink wire? is a red wire from the fuse holder which ran to the ballast resistor originally. I shall tape this off for now. The Maverick is dual fuel with LPG and petrol. The rest is pretty much a standard set up from when I bought it 4 years ago along with a dual battery set up. I still have the bosch coil that I replaced with the flamethrower and will hang onto it for now. The flamethrower is suppose to have a 3 ohm resistance built in and therefore does away with the ballast resistor.
Not sure what you mean by running a black trace wire to the two red wires. The 2 red wires shown in the pics are joined together already and have a connector at the end as shown. The black and white wire is independant. There was one other white wire which came from the dual battery set up which also went to the ballast resistor. I completely removed that and it is not shown in the pics. From what I understand the free wires shown in the pics dont go back onto the coil but simply are to be joined back onto each other with the exception of the fuse?

[Yendor]

Just join the white wire with the black line on it to the two red wires.

I thought it was strange the accessory wire going to the fuse holder was pink, well it's definitely pink on my computer anyway .

It doesn't matter what colour it is, there is a good chance this may supply power for your LPG system you might need to follow the wire and see where it goes.

[Maverick1988]

Wired up the white wire with the 2 red and placed the fuse line back onto the + on the coil. Started after 3 goes. Ran extremely smooth. But unfortunately the old problem came back. The Maverick stalled for no apparent reason within a couple of minutes. Started 1st go again and idled nicely for at least another 5 minutes when I noticed flashes coming from the distributor cap. The Maverick went to stall a few more times but kept going. I suspect the damaged sensor box (shown in the pics) may have something to do with what appears to be some arking out inside the distributor. Guess I will have to replace it with the lates pertronix lobe sesnor electronic igniition unit. Many thanks for the wiring tip. I would not have worked it out myself as my auto elec was too lazy to do it for me. Hence I am doing the repair/maintenance myself..... Really enjoying the challenge and learning along the way.

P.s you were right about the inline fuse. Without it hooked up to the coil the gas sytem would not start.

[Yendor]

No worries mate.

It was a bit hard to pick up the damage on the sensor, the white mark looks like it might be old heat transfer paste. Going by the last photo it looks like you have plenty of air gap.

I would check the distributor shaft for excessive wear.

If you can see flashes inside the distributor cap this make me thing you have a problem with the high voltage side.

I would check the distributor cap for cracks make sure that the little carbon brush in the cap is still there and is in good condition. Check the rotor button, a lot of guys swear by the extended rotor button.

Also check your HT leads and spark plugs.

Other things that can cause intermittent misses are, other items connected to the negative side of the coil such as radio suppressor, tacho feed and even your LPG.

You could try temporary disconnecting these items and running it on petrol and see if problem still occurs.

[Maverick1988]

How do you check the distributor shaft for excessive wear?
The only other item connected to the coil was the radio supressor which has been disconnected.
The cap was replaced with a brand new one just a week ago as part of the maintenance I was doing.
The earth wire is still good and in tact.
Not sure about the carbon brush though? Is this perhaps the earth wire I am referring to?

The white substance was hard as a rock which I chipped off the face of the sensor.
Tends to make me think that something has broken down and a build up has taken place of some sort from the high voltage.

Any more info is apprecieated. I shall replace the ignitor with the latest lobe sensor and see how I go.
The extended rotor button will come next when I can afford it.

Thanks for the feedback, its been invaluable.

[Maverick1988]

Found the possible cause of the distributor problems. The cap had no oring seal and no gromet for the wire outlet port. Removed the base plate to find the parts at the local spare parts place in Bayswater. As I was talking to the guys who wanted to extort money out of me for a whole new distributor I found that the base plate had a big crack in it. Not generally visible but once held up to the light at a certain angle became quite evident. The crack ran half the length of the base plate. I did buy a new hall effect elec ignition but still have it sealed in the box. The guys at pertronix have been excellent with their knowledge and parts and are still convinced that their electronics are solid and not the problem. We shall find out once I replace the dodgy parts! Its been a learning curve and so far I have only been out of pocket $50.00 thanks to the new flamethrower coil I installed. At least I have a spare bosch coil if needed and cleaned up some unnecessary wiring. Last resort will be to go to Patrolapart for a replacement dizzy for $120.00.

[Yendor]

Hopefully that is the problem. I'm not sure which base plate you a referring to.

I would still try disconnecting all the wires from the negative side of the coil (apart from the black one thats goes to the distributor) as a test before replacing the distributor or fitting the new hall sensor.

The carbon brush is in the distributor cap, it makes contact between the rotor button and the centre of the cap. It should be ok with your new cap.

[Maverick1988]

Replaced the hall effect pertronix ignition and all is good again. Started first go! Took the Maverick for a test run after 3 weeks of sitting in my front yard and didnt miss a beat. The only thing left to work out is where I should place the negative lead coming off the dual battery. (forgot that it was there after disconnection the ballast resistor and associated wiring). Taped it up for now but will have to deal with it sooner rather than later. Will give the old hall effect back to pertronix as this was the problem in my view. Probably at least 10 years old and the sensor may have become porous. The auto elec hinted that there was some moisture build up inside the distributor. God knows where else it could of been arking out from?

[Maverick1988]

Today the Maverick died again. This time the alternator was not charging. Lucky I had the porta pack in the car and restarted it after approx 15 minutes. Off to the auto elec tomorrow!