Have 2 electronic distributors , Mopar and Petrinix

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jerry6

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since putting in the mopar distributor have had problems with car stalling when I turn on the lights at idle , could this have something to do with the wrong ballast resistor or ECU? Or is it just a fluke that it happened when I changed distributors ?
If I am driving car seems to run fine as soon as I pull up to a stop sign car starts to stutter and stall , but only when the lights are on , lights off everything runs fine .
Another question , which ignition system is most reliable , Mopar electronic or Petronix ? At least in your opinion .
 
not yet , only have tools at shop on tuesday . Does the Mopar electronic with ECU use more power than the petronix distributor with no ECU ? This only started after changing to mopar ingnition .
 
Time to add a little info.

What year vehicle? I presume you are converting a points type vehicle that was previously converted to Pertronix? If so, a little info about the mods you have made to add the electronic ignition will help us help you.

As to reliability, the Mopar ignition is my preference, but the Pertronix is a good unit. Many are in use and work well. Downside to the Pertronix is reduced availability and limited options for performance upgrades.
 
Year vehicle is important. Did you convert to an electronic voltage regulator when you converted to the electronic ignition? There is an electronic regulator available that looks like the original mechanical one & is a bolt in replacement for it. On eBay for $27 I believe. Lots of the big parts houses have it too but you might have to take it out of the box & look at it to make sure it's electronic & not mechanical.
 
I believe it's recomended that if you have a pre electronic regulator vehicle, when you upgrade to the electronic ignition you need to update to a better regulator.
 
It is a 1970 that was converted to petronix electronic , don't know what was changed as just bought the car 1 month ago , will change the voltage reg just to be sure , is there a way to tell if the regulator in now is electronic or mechanical , does the petronix work with mechanical voltage regulator ? If it does could that be the problem now as Mopar electronic ignition needs new electronic regulator ?
 
Don't know about the Pertronix but I know the Mopar electronic is supposed to have an electronic voltage regulator. If the car has an older black box style regulator I think you can just disconnect it & take it loose from the firewall & look at the bottom. If it has what looks like a couple of strips of metal with coils of wire wound around them it's mechanical. I think there might be visible electronic circuitry on bottom of the electronic ones but I'm not sure.

I ran a Pertronix unit in an air cooled VW & all I had to do was install the parts in the distributor. The car had a generator & a mechanical voltage regulator. This was in the mid 1990's. They might have updated their electronics since then.
 
Don't know about the Pertronix but I know the Mopar electronic is supposed to have an electronic voltage regulator. If the car has an older black box style regulator I think you can just disconnect it & take it loose from the firewall & look at the bottom. If it has what looks like a couple of strips of metal with coils of wire wound around them it's mechanical. I think there might be visible electronic circuitry on bottom of the electronic ones but I'm not sure.

I ran a Pertronix unit in an air cooled VW & all I had to do was install the parts in the distributor. The car had a generator & a mechanical voltage regulator. This was in the mid 1990's. They might have updated their electronics since then.

Since I don't know the history does it sound possible that if it has a mech voltage regulator it would cause the car to stall if I turn on the lights with low revs in drive ? Fine as long as I'm moving , or in neutral above 1,200 rpm .
So petronix will work with old style mach voltage reg , Mopar will need elec voltage reg , are the symptoms of wrong type voltage reg similar to what is happening to my car , stall at low revs when lights or any high drain electrics are turned on ?
 
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