It's all luck of the draw. My bet is with electronic ignition (and fuel injection) for longevity. For those of you with newer rides, how many of you have had problems with ignition or fuel delivery?
My '99 Cherokee has distributorless ignition and it hasn't skipped a beat in 8 years.
As a designer of electronic ignition systems for the after market back in the 90's, I can tell you that the components and assembly methods of today add a lot more reliability to electornic devices as opposed to 30 and 40 years ago. Surface mounted components have greatly reduced the long term problems of intermittent connections and bad or latently bad solder joints. If it works after 24 hours of burn in time (at the factory), it will have a 95% probability of working for life. That's the beauty of SMT; it either works, or it doesn't.
That after
market Chrysler ignition module is a lot more reliable than the first and second generation ones. Mainly because of the circuit boards and surface mounted components. The original ones had through hole components on a fiberglass clad circuit board. Today, the boards are an aluminum oxide substrate which is itself a heatsink, with conductive ink traces silkscreened and baked on to it (an automotive industry standard since the 80's). That transistor case that makes the Chrysler ignition modules so distinctive, is just a dummy blank. The real board is about an inch square and it is placed in the middle of the housing with a lot of potting material to keep it dry. The only two things to keep in mind with any of these systems is that they need good grounding and thermal conductivity. The rest is pretty much maintenance free.
My 62 has a Pertronix module that the company I worked for helped design for them back in the mid 90's. As a purist, I can't bear the thought
of changing the distributor, and finding a panel to bolt on an ignition box. So the Pertronix setup is gold as far as I'm concerned. Provided that the ground wire is not connected to some crusty looking screw on a greasy surface, and the input current is in spec (no more than 7 amps) , that part will last a lifetime.
Chris Middlebrook
1962 Custom Southampton
--- On Mon 10/08, < DickB@xxxxxxxxx > wrote:
From: [mailto: DickB@xxxxxxxxx]
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2007 09:57:35 -0700
Subject: RE: IML: Electronic distributor
I?ve said thisbefore, and I?ll probably stir of a hornet?s nest by repeating it:
Yes,electronic ignition is an improvement over the old system; the improvement is inreduced need for maintenance and perhaps slightly in performance (immeasurableunless your old system was in really bad shape).
HOWEVER!: You dolose something that I feel is very important: These cannot be fixed bythe side of the road with a hairpin and some chewing gum ? if it quits,its tow truck time! The older system can be made to work with all sortsof jury-rigged kludges using roadside trash items if necessary to get you homeif something breaks on it. (Been there, done that!) Further,when it is getting toward the end of life, the deterioration is gradual. With the electronic system, when something goes bad, it is all over immediately? no limping along to the next freeway exit! It?s coast tothe side of the road and whip out the cell phone to call the man with thehook! (I hope you?re where you have cell phone coverage, and yourbattery isn?t dead.)
Old CharlieKettering was not so dumb, after all.
Dick Benjamin
From:mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx[mailto:mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] OnBehalf Of sosmi@xxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, October 08, 20079:23 AM
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: IML: Electronicdistributor
Steve made the point, about the change-over. Worn housingbushings, shaft, and cam on old distributors can be problem areas. Ifelectronic wasn't better we wouldn't have it. I'm looking to buy a buggy wipfactory, any thoughts. Dave.
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Steve B."
> >My fellow members,
> >So people say convert my 1966 Chrysler Imperial from points to havinga an
> >electronic distributor. We'll it >run better with the conversion. Iknow
> >it will have better fire power.
> >Your opinions!!! Rich,
>
> My humble opinion... The points have worked fine for 41 years and there is
> no reason they won't continue to do so for another 41 years. Points don't
> usually just quit. They give you warning that it is time to replace them
> well in advance. On my non-Imp mopar I always kept a spare set of pointsin
> the glove box along with a ballast resistor just in case.
>
> With that said I did change my '59 to the Chrysler electronic ignition.The
> ; '59
had the dual point setup and I hated it. Seemed that every othertime I
> took the car out of the garage one set or the other needed attention. I
> found the electronic very easy to put in and so far it has been reliable.
> The electronic made no difference at all in the way the car performs. You
> still use the same coil. Advance is still handled by the vacuum advance in
> the distributor. The only thing you really gain is steady dwell and not
> having to replace the points every I thousand miles.
>
> Steve B.
>
>
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