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Review on Pertronix D175520 Flame Thrower Replacement Distributor by Jimmy Hargrove

Revainrating 3 out of 5

Worked fine for a while, but.

The rotor died in less than a month of use which is ridiculous. As a result, I got stuck in the middle of a very busy street and the tow truck had to take my car away. Fortunately, the lid and rotor are not from Pertronix; They are interchangeable with stock or aftermarket Lucas parts. Other cons: bad instructions. They say to lubricate the shaft before installation, which is reasonable enough, but Pertronix should explain exactly where the lube points are. Also, connecting the wires to the amplifier module requires cutting the original wiring harness, which many people would rather not do. . To make matters worse, both terminals on the module are plugs of the same size, neither of which are marked with + or -, so you have to be very careful not to mix up the wires. Many other amplifier modules are available that use the original connector and are interchangeable with that used by Pertronix and are inexpensive even in the retail aftermarket. Couldn't Pertronix just use them instead? And it's early days, but claims that this distributor is designed to improve performance, fuel economy, etc. seem exaggerated. I noticed an improvement, but nothing significant. However, if your dealer is dead and you need to get back on the road without spending a fortune, this Pertronix unit is a better choice than a used part. Knowing what I'm doing now I would go with the D174510 or D175510 instead, which would make it easier to mount the ignition booster module elsewhere, away from the heat and vibration of the engine, and also make it a lot easier to do that Replace module if it ever fails. Atlantic British sells a standard manifold module relocation kit like the D175520 for $150! You could save that money with one of these other models and a little ingenuity.

Pros
  • Balanced rotor with cast brass contact
Cons
  • Vulgarity