Hey all, I have a problem with my ignition. I switched over the ignition on my 66 Wildcat to the Pertronix setup( ignitor, coil, wires, new plugs) and after I installed everything it ran like crap. I went through the troubleshooting section from the box and found that the wire from my ignition switch is a resistor wire, giving about 4.5 volts to the coil. For proper operation the pertronix setup needs a full 12 volts to the coil. I have the '66 shop manual and went through the diagrams, but am unable to figure out how to bypass the resistor wire, or replace it to provide the necessary voltage. Is there anyone out there who has done this conversion or knows where to go with the wires from here? Other things to list, the car ran fine with the points, there are no other problems with the electrical system other than the heater/ac giving me problems, but that is within the system. I checked the alternator and it is running well, I plan on replacing it after school is done and I get back to my summer job. I am thinking of running a splice in the wire that feeds the electric fuel pump that was on the car when I bought it, and if I do this will ge a thicker wire to handle the load. Thanks for the help, Bob
I don't know Jack about Wildcats, except that they're cool cars, but I would hesitate to splice into the fuel pump wire for this. Can you put your old distributor back in for a while? The pertronix box says that you have a resitor wire? Where do they say this wire comes from, the voltage regulator? Does anyone know if the '66 Wildcat has a similar voltage regulator to a '70 Wildcat?? Is the wiring through the dash to the ignition switch, regulator, and distributor similar?? Info for a '70 Wildcat, I have, a '66, I don't. I suggest putting the old distributor back in, rather than start splicing into the fuel pump wiring. I'm sorry I can't really tell you exactly what you need to know right now.
Ahhh, the smell of a flaming pertronix in the morning.... :grin: I'm taking guesses here with your wiring.. The shop/chassis manual should have diagrams for you. If it's like mine then it's pretty easy to do whatever you want. Take a look in the book for the wire.. Should be listed as a resistor wire with an Ohm symbol next to it. I'm guessing it runs from the fuse box to the coil with a second wire probably cutting into it somewhere from the starter. They're two seperate wires not connected to each other anywhere. The wire from the starter is a starter bypass wire to give the system 12v on startup, then it runs thru the resistor wire which knocks it down a good bit. Which Pertronix unit do you have? Ignitor, Ignitor LSC, or Ignitior II? The views you'll get from alot if not most of us here is that you take your chances with pertronix units, and that's putting it nicely. If I were you, unless you had the Ignitor unit (the first one), I'd either go back to points or go HEI.. Points is easy.. Leave everything the same and just swap it back in.. HEI is easy too, tho will run you about $175 for a quality distrib done by Dave. www.davessmallbodyheis.com If your deadset on ditching the resistor wire, I would NOT recommend taping it.. I did that once and when I looked at everything months later, I was surprised it didn't catch fire. Do it right and just remove the wire from the fuse box and make a new one with 18ga wire. Use the biggest wire that will physically fit in the fuse box. Napa and PepBoys sells the connectors you need. Note tho, if you do this and go back to points, you'll burn 'em up pretty quick. That's about it from me at the moment, other then this question.. "it ran like crap".. Define what or how it's running or doing poorly.
Just tap into key-on power from your fuse box and add it to your engine harness. Keep your resistor wire in the harness for future use. Put some heat shrink tubing on the end of the wire for insulation.... That's all there's to it!!!!!:Brow:
Still stuck Alright, I worked on the car today, printed out all the wiring diagrams and am one step from getting the thing fixed. The problem I have is I'm not sure how to tap into the fuse box without frying anything. I know the pink wire goes from the positive side of the ignition coil to the wire harness connector. From there it goes to the ignition switch and plugs in with another wire into the same slot. It looks factory installed, so I don't know how to remedy the situation from here. If anyone could give me a more detailed walk through of tapping into the fuse box or bypassing the resistor wire that would be great. Bob
Trace both wires back to where they go to from the fuse box. The pink wire on the coil I would think is the same as ours and it's spliced to the resistor wire with a factory clip in the harness that sits on the valve cover. If the one wire goes from the fuse box connector straight to that clip in the harness, you can eliminate that wire for a new one. The question is what's the second wire you see at the fuse box.. Are you just looking at the diagram in the book, or on the car itself? The book can be desieving compared to how it's actually done on the car.
Scott, The second wire inputs with the pink wire at the ignition switch. I wasn't able to follow it to the fuse box. The pink wire on the engine bay side goes into the harness plug with a yellow wire. From the diagram it looks like it is one of the wires from the starter solenoid connection. Is this the one I should use to overcome the voltage drop? Bob
Sounds like your looking at the diagram and tracing from the dashboard switch all the way out.. Don't.. Just trace from the engine side of the fuse box out to the coil.. Take two pages in a book, the firewall is the binding.. You only want to look at the left page (engine bay). From the fuse box, there should only be one wire, the resistor wire.. Open up the plastic harness sheath on the engine and find the resistor wire. As you trace forward, towards the coil, you'll see a metal clip wrapped in old electrical tape which ends the resistor wire and splices in a Pink and Yellow wire. The Pink wire then runs to the coil, the Yellow to the starter. So when your looking at the wiring itself, it looks totally different then the diagram in the manual, but the point of each is the same. I wish I had taken photos when I replaced mine, several have had this same question.. Trying to use the Yellow wire from the starter won't work as it only gives power while cranking. The object here is to verify there is only one wire on the fuse box (engine side) and that it's the resistor wire. If so, verify that it splices like I said above. If it does, then cut both ends of the resistor wire, removing the splice, tape up or heatshrink the bare end of the yellow wire for safety, removing the pink wire, and taping up or heatshrinking both ends of the resistor wire for safety. Then run a new 18ga wire to the coil, and put the proper connector on and plug it to the fuse box where you removed the resistor wire. There's other threads on this, one may have pictures. Maybe search around for 'resistor wire' and see what comes up.. I hope I'm not confuseing you here.. :-/
I think stock systems after you figure in the resistor wire and the coils resistance, it's around 4 volts..
Robert, Have you read the "HEI Upgrade" thread in this forum? It may answer alot of your questions. There may in fact be 2 wires connected into 1 port of the fuse block/firewall connector. The right way to remove them is to disaasemble the firewall connector from the engine side. There is one bolt in the middle and it comes apart. The wires have special clips that click into the firewall connector(the wire(s) come out from the front after the clip is compressed. Year One makes an HEI replacement wire with this clip(I posted a picture in the aforementioned thread) I removed the entire wire from firewall, starter, and coil, and replaced it with the Year One wire. IMHO, that is the best way to do it. Take a look at the thread.
Problems, Problems Okay guys, I'm done dealing with this. I tried running a 18g wire and I still have problems getting 12v to the coil. So for now I'm going back to the original points setup, so does anyone have the clips that go into the wire harness connector on the firewall? I want to redo the wires so that they will be new and correct, but aside from that I'm thinking of still upgrading my system after this return. What Setup do people suggest? I want to look into the distributor from Dave andthink it may be my best bet for now as I want to upgrade to a more performance orientated engine, but would like a mild improvement for now. Any ideas on which way to go? Also, I'm planning on making this a tire burning street cruiser that will probably have a flame thrower kit on the exhaust. If there are any reservations that I should know about I would be greatly appreciative. Thanks again for the patience, I know I'm a noveice at this but this mistake with not doing my homework has bit me in the ass and I don't to have it happen again. That is why I'm relying on the knowledge here in the group. Bob
You need to run a 14-16awg wire in place of the current resistor wire in your harness. If you have done that, you will have 12+ volts to the coil. If not, you need to check to see if you have anything connected to the ACC/Key on Power tab on your fuse block or anything running off that circut. This feed is directly in the circut with your coil wire. You cannot connect anything that draws alot of amps from that, IE: a fan, water pump, high amp accessory like a amp or aftermarket radio. This will draw voltage from the coil. If you have something connected to that circut, connect it to a new power source. You could still use key on power. Use the key on power to trip a newly installed relay, which would be connected to your new power source. This way, you are only using the key on power to turn on the relay, which has little, if any draw. Back in my BONE HEAD DAYS as a teenager, I connected a cooling fan and water pump to the ACC tab on the fuse block. The car would misfire constantly and I could never get more than 9V to my coil.... OOPS!!!!! Don't give up yet!!!!
Confused by Wire harness connector I'm having problems with the wire harness connector. I connected a 18g wire from the connector in place of the resistor wire to the coil and got less than the required 12v to the coil. now the clip that plugs intothe harness is trashed and I'm wondering if I should replace theclip and go back to the points for a while until I can figure out what the deal is with the wires. Please help with an info at all. Rob
Clip??? o No: I hope you don't mean the plug at the firewall....... :eek2: Also, 18Awg is a bit too small. Try 16Awg..
Firewall Plug/clip Mike, I'm talking about the metal connector that is crimped on the individual wire and then is fitted in the harness to plug into the firewall connection point. Also, earlier in the thread someone mentioned the resistor wire being wrapped in a white cloth. There is one of those fromthe ignition swtich but I wasn't able to trace it from the switch. could that be the wire I need to bypass? I think that I'm on the right track, but with most of the guys talking about 70 71 cars, there may be a detail or two that is unique to the '66. I'll keep searching and thanks for the info. Bob
Bob, I'm sure I read that those metal connectors for the firewall are available at NAPA stores. Sometimes there are 2 wires coming out of 1 port on the firewall, which tee into 1 wire coming from the "R" terminal of the starter solenoid, and then onto the coil. Eliminate all of those wires. Install 1- 12 or 14 gauge wire directly from the firewall to the coil. You said you weren't getting 12 volts, how many volts were you getting? A discharged battery will yield less than 12 volts.
View this thread. I answer all your questions there. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12273 Here's another: http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15323 I have not only replaced my resistor wire in the past, but I just completely rebuilt my engine wiring harness wire-by-wire. The resistor wire is usually a cloth covered wire in the engine wiring harness. it only runs from the firewall to a funny connector that is around the valve cover area in your harness. From there it runs to the starter and to the coil with regular wire. Unwrap your harness and locate the wire. Year One has the correct friction tape to wrap it back up. DON'T use electrical tape. It gets all goey and makes a mess.
