[Mr.MikeDMan]

i need a little help if anyone could look my way...
i cannot figure out why i have no spark. i just bought my first GT(1969) and my car ran for about a week after i got it, then i changed the alternator bracket and the belt, and now i have no spark. the only thing that i can think of is that i did something with the wiring but i have no idea. it was changed to electronic ignition some time ago and i don't know anything about it.
i do know that the coil is a fairly new looking accel... #140001 i think. the way it was wired (as far as i remember and as long as i didnt mess it up without realizing it) was that there are 2 green wires comming out of the sleeve and is hooked onto the neg side of the coil, the red wire from the distributor is going to the pos side of the coil, and the black wire from the distributor is hooked up to the alternator.

thanks
mike

 

[Gary]

Check to see if you are getting power to the coil when the key is on.
The wire that feeds the coil is a resistor wire and the connection can get brittle. So it's possible that when you were working on the alternator, the wire was moved and the connection broken.

Copies of the wiring diagrams are in the Technical section of the Photo Gallery if you need further details.

 

[bear]

You should have the transparent wire and a wire from the starter solenoid hooked up to the positive side of the coil and the distributor wire and a wire for the tachometer hooked up on the negative side of the coil. If it is configured in the original setup. HTH.

Ron

 

[Mr.MikeDMan]

alright i got the stuff hooked up how everything should, but there is still no spark. i have power to the coil and everything looks good. i asked one of my neighbors to look at it(he's a mechanic) and he said it all looked good untill he saw the ignition module. he told me that the sticker looked a little too bubbled and that he would bet that it got smoked. is there a place that i can buy just the module or will i have to fork out the money for the whole kit?

 

[Mr.MikeDMan]

pertronix module

is there a store or web site that sells just the ignition module or is the only option available is a whole new kit?

 

[bear]

Check out the box on the top left of the home page of this site, under product reviews, click on it and when you get to the reviews page click on Opel parts, scroll down the page to the pertronix thread and click on it. When the page opens up there is a thread by Gary that has the BUGSTUFF link to their website and there is also a 1-800 number to contact them for the part you may need. HTH.

Ron

 

[kwilford]

I am confused by your description of the wiring:

2 green wires coming out of the sleeve and is hooked onto the neg side of the coil, the red wire from the distributor is going to the pos side of the coil, and the black wire from the distributor is hooked up to the alternator.

The one green wire is the wire for the tach, and should be connected to the -'ve terminal of the coil. The other? It might be the stock connection where the factory points connect to the same terminal on the coil. Where are the black and red wires coming from? What kind of ignition module do you have? The Pertronix Ignitor is simply a replacement for the stock points. That is, the entire ignitor sits where the points usually are, and functions in their place. Everything else is pretty much as "stock", except the ignitor needs to be powered by a non-resistor wire. The coil (if it is a stock, non-internal-resistor type) should still be powered by the resistor (clear) wire from the fuse box (and parallelled by the bypass wire from the solenoid so it sees full voltage during cranking). The red wire from the ignitor is the "power" wire (and it MUST be powered by a non-resistored power supply, which can be the +'ve side of the coil if it is "internally resistored" and the clear resistor wire has been bypassed, or an auxilary switched wire from the fuse box) while the black wire goes to the -'ve terminal on the coil. If you have the black wire connected to the B+ terminal of the coil, you have probably fried the Ignitor. For Pertronix instructions and wiring diagrams, look in the Photo Gallery under Technical Data, or surf this link:

http://www.opelgt.com/photos/showgallery.php/cat/547/password/

If you have a separate "box" sitting in the engine compartment, then you may have a Crane (or other brand, such as Jacobs, or even an old BEL) ignition module. These modules can be triggered by either a set of points (with MUCH better results) or another trigger of some type (usually optical, or a Hall (magnetic) effect such as the Pertronix Ignitor).

If you want to keep it simple, just buy a new set of points to replace the Ignitor (if that is what you have), and set the gap at .018 inch (eighteen thou on a feeler gauge) when the points are held open by the distributor lobe. If you still don't have spark, try a new distributor cap and rotor. Still no spark? Try a new coil.

Before you do any of the above, make certain you have power to the +'ve terminal of the coil when the ignition is on, and that the points are connected to the -'ve side of the coil (or whatever you have for an ignitor).

If this is all Greek to you, you really need to enlist a friend or mechanic to help you out here.

HTH

 

[Mr.MikeDMan]

wow!

hehe, ok.
the 2 green wires that come from the sleeve are from my tach, i have no idea why there are 2 of them but that was how the PO had it, and they are on the negative post for the coil.
i have the pertronix ignitor and the black wire is to the negative side as well. the red wire from the ignitor is to the positive side. the clear resistor wire and a wire from the starter are also on the positive side of the coil.
i have the accel coil #140001 and there is power to everything just how it should be, up till the pulse from the distributor...
my coil is not being told when to fire to the cap and therefore i think that my pickup module is burned to a crisp.
i hope that was a better description. has anyone ever had to buy a new module, i dont want to pay all the money for the whole kit when i dont need the whole thing.

thanks
mike

 

[kwilford]

First thing I would do is run a proper non-resistored wire (parallel to the clear wire, from the same terminal on the fuse box) to the red wire on the Ignitor. This ensures that the Ignitor gets a FULL 14 volts, rather than the measly 9 or 10 volts the coil gets through the resistor wire. But ONLY to the ignitor red wire; leave the coil +'ve terminal connected to the resistor wire, or it will overheat. Unless it has been replaced by an internally resistored coil; hard to tell unless it is a Bosch coil. Otto, which one is stock (non-resistored)? Is it the tan Bosch coil? If so, then the blue Bosch coil is internally resistored. Otherwise, the opposite. Many coils are simply black, but some are marked; otherwise you can just measure the resistance across the terminals. A resistored coil should measure about 3 ohms, and you DON'T use the resistor wire.

If that doesn't work, I would still try a set of points in place of the Ignitor. Many folks who have a Pertronix carry a spare set of points and condenser with them, in case of such a problem. It takes about five minutes to switch. If you still don't have spark, look for one of the problems I mentioned above. If you now have spark, and want a Pertronix Ignitor again, you have to buy the full kit. Which is mostly the Ignitor anyway.

HTH

 

[tekenaar]

First thing I would do is run a proper non-resistored wire (parallel to the clear wire, from the same terminal on the fuse box) to the red wire on the Ignitor. This ensures that the Ignitor gets a FULL 14 volts, rather than the measly 9 or 10 volts the coil gets through the resistor wire. But ONLY to the ignitor red wire; leave the coil +'ve terminal connected to the resistor wire, or it will overheat. Unless it has been replaced by an internally resistored coil; hard to tell unless it is a Bosch coil. Otto, which one is stock (non-resistored)? Is it the tan Bosch coil? If so, then the blue Bosch coil is internally resistored. Otherwise, the opposite. Many coils are simply black, but some are marked; otherwise you can just measure the resistance across the terminals. A resistored coil should measure about 3 ohms, and you DON'T use the resistor wire.

If that doesn't work, I would still try a set of points in place of the Ignitor. Many folks who have a Pertronix carry a spare set of points and condenser with them, in case of such a problem. It takes about five minutes to switch. If you still don't have spark, look for one of the problems I mentioned above. If you now have spark, and want a Pertronix Ignitor again, you have to buy the full kit. Which is mostly the Ignitor anyway.

HTH

YES. YES. ALL "stock" Opel coils are "non-resistor" types. Bosch red coil is "non-resistor" type and must use external "ballast". Bosch blue coil IS "internal resistor" type and should be run WITHOUT external resistance wire or "ballast". With ANY internal resistance coil, you lose that "more spark during start" feature.

 

[Mr.MikeDMan]

its all good

whew, that was close...
i went ahead and got the pertronix kit to replace the old one and just for the hell of it, i got myself the flamethrower coil. well i put it together and turned over the motor and bam, it started with no problem...
next step, tuning and timing. (hehe, it started with ease but sputtered and died after about a minute)
well i guess i take it one step at a time.
thanks for the help
mike

 

[Marcus]

So then all I need is a wire that measures 3OHMs right? Can I create my own with a regular resistor soldered into a wire? I broke my ceramic resistor, and I enjoy learning more than just going out and buying a replacement.

 

[bear]

Marcus, you have to have a cerramic ballast resistor. A normal "RadShak" type resistor will not have the amp carrying capacity needed and will burn out as soon as you tried to start and run the engine. Those resistors are normally rated in fractions of an amp. HTH.

Ron

 

[SoCalOpelGT]

Black to the Alternator ???

Hi Mr.MikeDMan:

Congratualtions on your new Opel GT!

While reading this thread, you certainly got the necessary guidance to get your GT fired up.

However, based on your first intial comment ... I didn't see that anyone double-checked you on the following:

and the black wire from the distributor is hooked up to the alternator.

Did you really have the black wire going to the alternator?