Ignition

[Slickman204]

I’m tossing around the idea of ditching the points in my 165 i6. Looking for reviews on pertronix and hot spark. I like that pertronix says you don’t need a ballast resistor but that also makes me think the module won’t last long. Any owners of both kits out there?

 

[Scott Danforth]

what is the reason you want to spend lots of money to replace something as bullet proof reliable as points?

properly maintained, a set of points will last about 15-20 years in a boat. at $20 that is between a buck and buck.33 per year.

and yes, the ballast resistor is needed. you have a ballast resistor now with points. its just a resistor wire. ignition systems generally only need 9 volts to run.

 

[Slickman204]

Yes I understand the resistor wire. And I want to get away from points because of the reviews I have read of both units they idle better, start easier. And points ignition is reliable but I don’t have a dwell meter to properly adjust the points. The best I can do is timing light and feeler gauges. But still not a very smooth idle. Even after carb adjustment. So what I have done is ordered a complete carb kit and trying to decide what to do on the ignition side of things. I bought the boat for a grand and it’s my first boat and after last year of the points coming out of a djustment a few times which made me stall in front of a cove full of people hahaha. That’s the reason I am wanting to swap to electronic ignition.

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,..... I did the conversion on a Burt with twin I-6s couple years back,.... Not my boat,....

Followed the instructions, 'n used the whole "Kit",.....

Don't remember who's I used right now,....

Always got spark since,....

Still dealin' with a stubborn owner, 'n a delaminated fiberglass fuel tank's legacy,....
I cut the top of the tank out last year, to move the issue forward,....
He's still usin' portables, 'n schemin' to find a used tank somewhere,....
I wanta buy or build a drop-in aluminum replacement,.....

 

[achris]

I'm a great fan of replacing points. Apart from the fact that I'm an electronics tech, points are so unreliable. Don't use them for a month and the surfaces oxidize. Use them and they burn (even in a correctly set up system), the heel wears, upsetting the dwell and the timing, and the Kettering system just can't give as good a spark as an electronic one. The advantages of the electronic systems are that once you set them up, that's it, you usually don't need to adjust them again, ever! And because it's electronic, the dwell adjusts with the engine speed, so you always get the best possible spark. And that spark is 'bi-directional', meaning it has the same duration and amplitude positive as negative, so spark plugs last longer, and the rise time is so much quicker, meaning a hotter spark, all the better for starting and running.

As for the system running on full 12v, it will not make the module burn out, as it's designed to run on that voltage. Many years ago, when I also had a 165 in my boat, I built my own capacitor discharge ignition system. The changes in the engine was quite noticeable. Faster starts, smoother idle, and a slight improvement in fuel economy. I even had friends ask me to build the same systems for their car engines, which I did. I also had a system on my car. That system was even transferred from each car that I sold and put into the new one. It lasted until I sold my last petrol engined car (and moved to diesel)...

And sorry Scott, I haven't seen a set of points survive in a boat for any more than about 4 years. Manufacturer's recommendation is annual replacement, so the electronic upgrade will pay for itself very quickly.

So yes, I'd strongly recommend it.

Chris.........

 

[Silvertip]

The only times I've seen a points system going out of adjustment so far that it causes a running issue is if the bushings in the distributor are worn. That makes the shaft wobble and when you set the points with either a feeler gauge or dwell meter, that setting can change at varying rpm depending on the degree of bushing wear. The other issue is with cheaply made points. I had several sets over the years where the stationary contact was not properlycaptured and that contact would "bounce". Obviously it showed up on the dwell meter as would a worn distributor, but only if you rev'ed the engine while watching the meter and you would not see it at all if using a feeler gauge. And by the way -- feeler gauges are perfectly acceptable but they must be used correctly. They will get dwell within a gnats eyelash of spec vs a dwell meter. As for the conversion to electronic, I'm for carrying a set of points in a sealed bag or container. A couple of minutes after a failure you are going again. Better and cheaper than having to carry a spare module. But that's just me.

 

[Slickman204]

That’s the next point I was going to make. Napa is the only place (and it’s an hour away) where I could possibly get a set that isn’t made in China and distorts or melts the first weekend out? I want someone to tell me why they though it was a good idea putting a plastic heel on the points?

 

[Slickman204]

And also about how far off adjustment would the timing be off.

 

[Rinker85]

I’m tossing around the idea of ditching the points in my 165 i6. Looking for reviews on pertronix and hot spark. I like that pertronix says you don’t need a ballast resistor but that also makes me think the module won’t last long. Any owners of both kits out there?

I have the Hot Spark and do not like it. When the engine runs for a couple hours the module gets hot and then the engine stalls and backfires. When I installed the Hot Spark I also installed a coil with 3.1 ohms. 3 Ohms is recommended for my engine. So 3.1 is borderline and I should have installed a ballast resistor. So now I think I fried my Hot Spark Module. I'm going to put the points back in for now but I am still interested in a conversion kit. So, don't go with Hot Spark. There is a reason they cost half as much as Pertronix.