318 cuts out when revving

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74 dart sport

Kameron
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Hi. We use a pertronix 3 system on 67 318 in a 74 dart sport. Timing is ok at idle checked via timing light. When revving the engine , the rev light goes out , and the engine suddenly stops . After a half second or so, the engine sparks again, with a healthy timing idle. We know it has to be spark plugs losing power, since the timing light goes off when revving. Also , we by passed all wires and connected the ignition coil directly to the battery. Healthy idle but same problem as above when revving. We cleaned all the points on the distributor, so it should be grounded. We think it is the distributor that has the problem. Any thoughts. My dad thinks it might fix the problem is we pull out the spring on the inside of the distributor higher. Please help. I get (hopefully) my permit in less than two weeks so we need it to be ready to go
 
If you hot wired the system direct to battery and you are sure it's getting power there's only three things I can think of..........

Somehow the Pertronix system has a problem

The distributor is worn out and stopping the Pertronix from triggering........shaft play, etc

Or a bad coil

The only other factor is "what all" as in "what else" do you have hooked to the coil..........a tach? UNHOOK it. Radio noise capacitor / condenser? UNHOOK it. Get it down to only the distributor, Pertronix, and coil.

By the way check your "hot wire" I've had trouble before with bad alligator clip leads, AKA radio shack
 
Have you followed the installation instructions for removing the balast resistor? Have you checked for near battery voltage at coil (+), when reving? Has the Rev limiter been set per instructions, using 9V battery?

I really doubt it is advance spring related. That changes advance, not Rev limit.
 
KitCarlson said:
Have you followed the installation instructions for removing the balast resistor? Have you checked for near batter voltage at coil (+), when reving? Has the Rev limiter been set per instructions, using 9V battery?

I really doubt it is advance spring related. That changes advance, not Rev limit.
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This is my thought too.... the cutout for 1/2 seconds sounds like some of the cruder rev limiter actions. If the trigger was erratic (like a worn distributor) then I would expect the ignition to become ragged, not to fully cutout.

Yes, don't mess with the springs. That is not it.
 
Like Dell said I suspect a bad coil or low voltage to it. Could be bad connections in the bulkhead connector even. Hot wire the Bat side of the coil direct and see if the problem goes away.
 
I would get a new coil and give it a run...esp if you hot wired it and got same results...
. I have had quite a few coils crap out, sounds like yours is on its way out and can only keep up with low rpms
Maybe you can even borrow a coil off a buddys car for a free test
 
Does the pertronix ignitor 3 not have a built in rev limiter? At what rpm is it cutting out? Same rpm every time at cutout, or different rpms?
 
I burned thru a few coils with a bad voltage regulator (supposed to be high end) years ago, but the car wouldn't start once the coil gave out.

mguner said:
Like Dell said I suspect a bad coil or low voltage to it. Could be bad connections in the bulkhead connector even. Hot wire the Bat side of the coil direct and see if the problem goes away.
Click to expand...
 
67Dart273 said:
If you hot wired the system direct to battery and you are sure it's getting power there's only three things I can think of..........

Somehow the Pertronix system has a problem

The distributor is worn out and stopping the Pertronix from triggering........shaft play, etc

Or a bad coil

The only other factor is "what all" as in "what else" do you have hooked to the coil..........a tach? UNHOOK it. Radio noise capacitor / condenser? UNHOOK it. Get it down to only the distributor, Pertronix, and coil.

By the way check your "hot wire" I've had trouble before with bad alligator clip leads, AKA radio shack[/QUOTE

Ok thanks . We have no radio or tach.
Click to expand...
 
The whole pertronix system is new. It was driving fine, until this suddenly started happening. And it cuts out at the same rpm too. We called pertronix about the coil and they said coils either work or don't work. We did not set up the rev limiter on the pertronix, but the engine was working/driving fine before this started happening. Ever since the engine was put in and running , about 2 1/2 of run time so far.
 
The car also backfires quite a bit . My dad had to go like 20 mph on city streets instead of the freeway because of the backfires . It still backfired like 10 times in 30 mins
 
Have you checked the timing, it might have slipped. If the clamp bolt is loose, the distributor will loose ground connection. It will fire a plug when ground is released, hence possible backfire.
 
check the pick up coil wiring for rubbing through the insulation and shorting out
 
try installing your points again and see how it runs. At least you will know if it's the Pertronix 3
that is causes your problem or not.
 
74 dart sport said:
The whole pertronix system is new. It was driving fine, until this suddenly started happening. And it cuts out at the same rpm too. We called pertronix about the coil and they said coils either work or don't work. We did not set up the rev limiter on the pertronix, but the engine was working/driving fine before this started happening. Ever since the engine was put in and running , about 2 1/2 of run time so far.
Click to expand...

I guess there is some truth to that. I have had more than one coil in the past cut out and misfire and/or just kill the engine all together when it got hot. Let it sit and cool, it would fire right back up until it got hot again, and then it would repeat the process.
 
74 dart sport said:
We called pertronix about the coil and they said coils either work or don't work..
Click to expand...

This is ABSOLUTELY not true

In FACT "classic" coil failure from "the old days" used to be that as a coil warmed up, it would miss, or fail, cool off, and "work better."

I've had at least two coils fail in this manner.
 
Problem solved. There was no negative grounding wore on the ECU. I guess it did not come with the kit for some reason, and we just didn't know about it
 
74 dart sport said:
......... no negative grounding wore on the ECU. ..
Click to expand...

Uh. "whut?"

If the module was intended to be grounded through the distributor advance plate, "it might be" that it's poorly grounded. What this means is, that if you were to point breaker points back in, they would not work well, either.
 
Glad you got it. I just went & checked my new P III on the kitchen table & it does have a mini braided wire screwed to the top plate & the other end dangling free
 
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