empi accufire

[Buggin_74]

hi all,
just ordered a empi accufire electronic ignition kit for my bug and according tothe sticker on it, it needs a coil with a ballast resistor
anyone else install one of these?
vws never came out with ballast resistor style coils
a mate put one in with out it and it died after 3 months but his didnt have the sticker when he bought it
or does this just mean if u have a ballast resistor to leave it on

thanks
Joel

[Kelley]

The Empi accufire is crap,,, Pertronix or Compufire would have been a better choice for points replacement IMO.

Some of your Bosch "blue" coils have the resister, some dont. These folks carry the correct one. http://www.aircooled.net/

[Bugfuel]

The Accufire is just a re-packaged Compufire. Exact same unit.

I prefer the Pertronix for various reasons, never had one fail and I
have used several, in street and race engines. The collar design is better, the wires are of better quality, the wire grommet is watertight rubber, and they are adjustable (not sure if they went solid at some point, there used to be a model that wasn't adjustable but I'm not sure which one it was)

I had one Compufire die on me after a cuple of years of use, when the disc with the magnets shattered at red lights during acceleration. I was stranded at 3am too with my sister riding shotgun.
(ALWAYS carry a set of points and a condenser in the glovebox, for emergencies)
The Compufire (and Accufire) collar/disk has the magnets placed way out on the outer rim of the disc, far away from the center. This makes them see a lot more g-forces than the slim design Pertronix collar, and therefore the compu unit is more prone to crack and shatter, like mine did.

Jan

[500LbGorilla]

Then they're getting seconds.. Smoked TWO of them, then put in a compufire and never looked back. EMPI is pure garbage on many products, I say.

[oldtimer]

Empi used to be a top brand back when. Some of their stuff is still decent, but ya gotta check it out....As for ignition Go Pertronix one of the best I have ever used.

[rrb6699]

my Pertonix seems to be failing. I have to say it started having heating issues causing a no start (till it cooled for an hour) so since then I plan long trips so I give it time to cool. last couple of weeks, though, I've had a couple nose starts for no reason. It could be the ignition switch. But, I think I'm going to order another pertronix since this one has been in the car for 10 years. That's 10 driving years it's probably been in the vehicle itself 13 years

I'm hoping the new unit will stand up to heat better. after looking at the compuFire installation procedures, I decided it was way more prone to having issues. i'll just swap Pertonix for Pertonix thank you.

any cautions when I do this? I have a new cap and rotor already.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I've run Pertronix units in other engines for quite a long time but I did have a conversion unit in a VW 009 that might have taken a dump. Replaced it with another Pertronix and it has worked OK since and that was a long time ago. I still am not a 100% sure it if failed or not. It was a very tight fit.

Lee

[rrb6699]

sorry a newbie. would my bug have a 009? I have a pertronix in there now, so, should I even worry about that and just replace it component for component?

[SCOTTRODS]

Your Pertronix 009 ignition will fit pretty much all the VW dizzies I've seen in a bug (Fairly normal non-radical bugs mostly)... a 009 is found in a couple of configurations if I remember right... seems as though I've seen only the Centrifugal advance only versions in my personal experiences. Other than that, you'd have a different number on your Dizzy... Don't remember the numbers on any of them off hand but remember the 009's I had (in almost every bug I owned, save 2) were centrifugal only. I only recently read someone said they had knowledge of a second 009 with vacuum advance as well... but doesn't seem normal to me...

To find out what you have, use a flashlight and mirror and clean the Dizzy off and find the model number Should match one of the ones in this chart
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/ma ... _Parts.pdf

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I only remember seeing centrifugal advance 009s. They advance sooner than others maybe around 26°s and full in somewhere in the early 30s. There is the cast version and the other one is stamped and not as good (I think that is how it was formed). There is a lot of different opinions as to yeah or $%@#&^**** on the 009s.

[rrb6699]

ok I wasn't clear. I have a Pertronix in my bug now. which one should I order for a replacement? mine is a 1972 type l Beetle 1600cc. German Bug.

the points were replaced with the Pertonix 13 yrs ago. it's just now showing sings of failure. I'm afraid the heat this summer will do it in.

[SCOTTRODS]

http://vwparts.aircooled.net/Pertronix- ... /1847v.htm

[rrb6699]

does that have the complete replacement. I don't see the plug tower in that pic. why is this 89.00 and others $300?

I'm looking for the whole shebang or is the conversion the same set of parts?

[SCOTTRODS]

If it is just the conversion kit to change from Points to Hall effect set up... that would be all you need... Can you explain what you mean by "plug tower". I'm not aware of one... If your ignition is something more complex, please forgive me as I was under the impression you had a simple engine set up with a normal cap and rotor and just a points conversion set up like the one I posted Link to. That's pretty much all I've ever needed for such a system. There are some more complex systems available, but I don't know what all Pertronix offers for those things, so yeah... 89 bucks is pretty decent in my opinion... hence my jump to those when I put together an engine for a VW.

[rrb6699]

Well since I'm fairly new to this, I see this picture attached posted with some of the kits. I figure I have to replace that unit as well because I think that's what's heating up and giving me the no start. If you think it's not required to replace that unit and only what's in the conversion kit then I'll just buy the conversion kit. I didn't do this conversion so I don't know all the parts involved I just assumed that this entire billet piece should also be replaced.