Best electronic ignition

[pmansson]

I had a Lumention in my S2 before. The car spent some time in a Jaguar garage, and the owner then called me to say the car wouldn?t start, and that he suspected the electronic ignition, with which he had experienced problems on other cars. So I said OK to reverting to breakers.
Car is fine now (esp after changing to the BD 105 coil, but that?s another story), and I?ll leave it as is for the moment.

What system is considered the most reliable by other E-type owners?

I know of a German mechanic that did some work on one of my `70s coupes, and he said they were sick & tired of problems with electronic ignition systems. Even the regional sales rep for the maker (Lumention I think) admitted to problems.....

[1954Etype]

I had a Lumention in my S2 before. The car spent some time in a Jaguar garage, and the owner then called me to say the car wouldn?t start, and that he suspected the electronic ignition, with which he had experienced problems on other cars. So I said OK to reverting to breakers.
Car is fine now (esp after changing to the BD 105 coil, but that?s another story), and I?ll leave it as is for the moment.

What system is considered the most reliable by other E-type owners?

I know of a German mechanic that did some work on one of my `70s coupes, and he said they were sick & tired of problems with electronic ignition systems. Even the regional sales rep for the maker (Lumention I think) admitted to problems.....

I think the 123 Distributor is generally regarded as one of the best. Others say the cheapest solution is the electronic distributor from a late XJ6(?)

[JEP41]

I have fitted the XK6 series three distributor and separate amplifier to two of my jaguars with excellent results E-Type and MK2. (keep the Amplifier away from the engine heat)
For the C-Type copy I am building I am using the SimonBBC distributor complete with built in amplifier. Haven't yet started the engine but Simon was very professional. He asked for the state of tune the engine has been built to and tailored the system to the performance expected. I think I got the idea to try Simon from something David mentioned :)

[Heuer]

This one uses the 45D6 sports distributor: http://tinyurl.com/38cmdye

Very good value at ?70 compared to some of the other options. Alternatively you could just fit one of their modules in your existing dizzy at a cost of about ?27: http://www.simonbbc.com/electronic-ignitions

The system is well tried and performance will be the same as any other system.

[Larry Wade]

The 123 is very popular and works well.

The Pertronix distributor is probably the most widely used and very reliable. It can be installed as a full replacement for the Lucas distributor or as just the ignition module that replaces the points and condenser in a stock Lucas distributor.

Mallory also makes a good distributor for the E-type.

Larry

[00series]

Hello,
I have purchased the XJ6 - 45D6 electronic ignition for my s2 Etype & will be fitting it next month as in the real world i will never adjust my ignition so don't require a 123, & for ?70 the XJ6 setup appears to be a bargain.
I also heard read on the forum that a few owners have experianced pinking with the 123 which put me off.
My question is: Do i need any other parts apart from the ?70 45D6 ie: ignition amplifier etc to succesfully convert the car to electronic?

Thanks for any advice,
Bert

[on2wheels]

Hi Bert,
I'm very interested. Let me know how you get on.

Nick.

[JEP41]

Bert,

If you are planning to install the XJ6 serioes 3 Distributor then you will definstely need the amplifier which is a grey coloured aluminium box approx 4"x 3" and about 1" thick. It has a male/female connector which mates to the distributor

[Dave K]

Hello,
I have purchased the XJ6 - 45D6 electronic ignition for my s2 Etype & will be fitting it next month as in the real world i will never adjust my ignition so don't require a 123, & for ?70 the XJ6 setup appears to be a bargain.
I also heard read on the forum that a few owners have experianced pinking with the 123 which put me off.
My question is: Do i need any other parts apart from the ?70 45D6 ie: ignition amplifier etc to succesfully convert the car to electronic?

Thanks for any advice,
Bert

I have the Pertronix with a Flamethrower coil and it has worked perfectly for the past 5 years or 10,000 miles.
I have also heard that the 123 is a bit fussy and can create problems so I'll stick with what works.

Dave

[Heuer]

Talking to an E-Type owner at Stoneleigh who has fitted an electronic ignition system produced by Winspeed which has been designed to use the correct advance curves for the XK engine. Price is ?179 for the distributor/coil and the person I spoke to says it has been a huge improvement over a 45D6 dizzy plus Magnetronic particularly over 3,000 rpm. Don't know much more than that but it might be worth giving them a call to find out the full story: http://www.winspeedmotorsport.com/home.php

[Woolfi]

It is depending, what you want. A running motor, a good solution or the best solution.
I think that the new programmable 123-dsitributor is the best solution. You will have some effort, to make it properly work. The exact need of preignition of the motor you can roduce with an electronic programmed system much better than with the old "mechanical style". Check a such a "mountain" of an electronic ignition is looking. The simple curve a mechanical distributor is able to produce is okay, but not perfect.
The only problem you have, that you have to set (programm) the ignition timing for different revs und load nearby knocking, if you want best results for power und milage.
To hear the knocking also in hight speed , this "accustic knocking sensor" can help a lot: http://www.autospeed.com/cms/article.html?&A=0348
Without a knocking sensing tool this problem is not to solf.

If you use the non programmable version of the 123 you have to choose a 'ready-made' pre timimg curve, which is fitting well to the motor. Also this knocking-sensor can help a lot.
Professional tuners are using such a accustic sensor tool.
Regards Wolfgang gatza (Germany)

[john wyatt]

I have used Lumenition optical set up, Magnetronic and more recently have been using the Aldon kits, I have recently fitted the Aldon set up to my S2, in all have probably installed 20 kits over the past 5 years and yet to have a failure, however I have heard of both the Aldon and Magnetronic systems failing, not heard anything bad about optronic, would say all the cars have ran better after fitting electronic, even where points looked good and set up properly.

[jonr]

How does EDIS/Megajolt compare to Lumention and 123 (except for the part that EDIT/Megajolt is more DIY kind of setup) ?

[JagWaugh]

How does EDIS/Megajolt compare to Lumention and 123 (except for the part that EDIT/Megajolt is more DIY kind of setup) ?

EDIS is about the highest technical level you can reach, but (in my opinion) overkill if you're feeding the engine with something as approximate as a carb is.

[abowie]

EDIS is about the highest technical level you can reach, but (in my opinion) overkill if you're feeding the engine with something as approximate as a carb is.

My view? I had an EDIS on one of my cars. I've had Pertronics modules and a Powerspark dizzy on another.

I have now gone back to points on all of them. They work just fine as long as you have your distributor properly rebuilt.

[pmansson]

What is the 4”x3“x1“ grey boxthat’s needed together with the XJ S3 distributor?

[christopher storey]

It is the ignition amplifier

In reply to the original post, I am in total agreement with your German mechanic : the best electronic system is the one you don't fit !

But then, one of my favourite sayings is that of the pioneer airliner manufacturer William Douglas " What you don't fit don't give no trouble "