My Electrical Woes Continue

[Elvis]

To review my recent problems, I managed to blow out 3 Pertronix ignition modules before I learned from the Pertronix folks that the new Pertronix coil I had (a Flamethrower II) was not compatible with the basic Pertronix ignition module that I was using. OK, so I ordered a new module and a new Pertronix Flamethrower (not a II) coil. They arrived today. I installed the module and the coil and the car (it's a '67 coup with a 302) fired right up. I was delighted! Well, about 5 minutes later the wire from the coil to the distributor blew right out of the distributor and the engine (of course) died. I checked the cap of the wire and it was extremely hot at the distributor end. I changed the distributor cap, fired up the engine and kept my hand on the cap of the wire at the distributor and it again got very hot so I shut the thing down. I changed the voltage regulator ( I have lots of spare parts) and the engine fired up but the wire got hot again so I shut down once more. My question is - what can cause this wire to get that hot? Sorry for the long dissertation but I wanted to cover all of the points. Any help will be appreciated. E.

[DeltaMustang65]

Sorry about the regulator not working. I'm assuming it's unused. I know this is elementary, but are all the other wires and connections good? I've never heard of the coil wire actually blowing out of the distributor cap. That must have freaked you out a bit.

[Elvis]

OK, I'm a bit happier now but still confused. Today I decided that because this whole ordeal started some time after I installed the Flamethrower coil, I would go back to the old black NAPA coil that I had been using for years previous. Well, it started right up and seems to be doing fine. Any ideas why the wire from the coil to the distributor would get that hot when using the Pertronix coil? They told me that the coil was compatible with my set-up. E.

[stanger66]

are you using big enough wire set ie 8mm or bigger wire set. Its like blowing through a straw small straw hard to blow through big straw easy to blow through. We I put my 302 in Im going to use 9mm or bigger.

[Elvis]

Yes, I have the 8mm wires. I believe they also came from Pertronix. It was kind of scary the way that wire heated up. Just a thought. My old NAPA coil has a note on it stating that it does not require an external resistor. Is it possible that I need a resistor with the Flamethrower coil? There were no instructions with it. E.

[stanger66]

It couldnt hurt to put a external resistor and see if it heats up. I have never heard of that happening before. Try the resistor and see what happens it may fix the problem

[Elvis]

Well, the Pertronix tech support folks told me that their coil does not need an external resistor so I'm not sure what the problem is. All I know is that now that I'm using the old coil everything is fine. I'm going to send the Pertronix coil back and stick with what works. E.

[Gearhead999]

If your wires are a "Good" grade wire and in good shape, I don't think you have anything wrong with the "Hot" coil wire. The Pertronix coil most likely puts out much more voltage then the NAPA coil. Hence more heat.

As far as "blowing out of the dist. cap"....did it fly out?? Or just fall out from vibration?? Was it in the cap all the way and "snapped" in, or loose??
There isn't any pressure in the dist. cap that will blow it out. Something isn't right here if it did.

[Elvis]

Well, the wires are Pertronix 8mm wires I put in about 8 months ago so I think they are good. When this first happened I was not looking directly at the engine. It just died a few minutes after I had fired it up and when I checked I saw the wire was no longer plugged into the distributor. I am quite certain that it had been firmly seated. In any event, it was really hot at the distributor end and as I mentioned previously, it became hot very quickly after subsequent starts and on those tries I made certain it was seated well. I am now using my old coil and everything is working fine so I think I'll just send the Pertronix coil back. E.