Can't get mad, I tested the 123 before sending it. It was toast. I am inclined to agree that the coil went first! But the car runs much better now, so I am happy.

TWO THINGS:

1) if you want to get mad, think that the coil went first and unknowingly you sent a good running 123 dizzy to the technician, and probably the technician didn't tell you that the dizzy wasn't broke at all, he lied to you., you paid him for nothing./ or, the warranty was used for nothing.

2) i think the coil went bad first, because the coil is the one supplying thousands of VOLTS to the dizzy.  IF the dizzy was bad and the coil was not, the coil will heat up , and at that time i remember you said that the coil was not hot, it means it was dead and not getting any current.



that's my assessment.

I wanted to give you some feedback on the repair of my 123 distributor. It did required a new board inside. The guy repaired it and sent it back. He has to take the drive dog off to repair the unit. Put it back on backward. I put it back into the car and no start. No Spark, but had 12 v at the coil. Exchanged it for my back up coil and the car started right up. So which went first? the coil or the 123?

Who knows.

Jerry

The question is how often do you drive your mni? Not how many years it's sitting inside the garage. Imofo

i put 32K miles in 2years...and counting,,,,,my points sucks so i replaced it with pertronix 2, no more dancing rpm's ... And even when ive gone out of my mind and jetwash the grill it doesnt matter. 

123 for over 7 years, no problems. rain, sleet, snow nor dead of night... wait thats the post office...

As I posted earlier, my 1-2-3 is doing fine. I live in SoCal. What is this "rain" you speak of? It hasn't rained here in years. Still, a little silicon sealant around the wire boots couldn't hurt. Thanks for the tip Alex. 

Interesting read. I have been running a 123 for a couple of years and never had a complaint. I will however seal it as Alex has suggested. To think with two really strong rains (anybody who went to MME16 will remember? the other was coming back from Mid Ohio  )  I'm surprised I didn't have an issue.

I just gloss over the posts from you know who......

No, not a chance! The stuff suggested by specialist is apparently a pcb coating product.

(I thought you'd know better than to jetwash anywhere near a Mini grille!    )

Actually Dan, the dizzy isn't sealed even with the grub screw in.

There is a tiny water track down the wires and into the body, which is where I assume moisture accumulated while washing the grille.  All you need to do it seal the wires...

Only a fool would start smearing goop all over a PCB - are you that fool ?

Like I said earlier, I've never had a problem driving in horrendous rain (there are a few videos of that floating about) or even at speed on snow/slush on an Austrian Autobahn, but 30 seconds of reflected spray while jetwashing the grille was enough to upset it.

....And not on the printed circuit board. Your 123 is pretty well designed and manufactured and is reasonably watertight, unless you omitted the grub screw on the underside where you select the curve. Putting anything on the pcb will probably make matters worse - the gunk suggested by specialist is probably intended to go on a factory-clean board, not one that has been out in the air and dust, which it would have been by the time it was assembled into the 123.  Mini engines were not designed to be washed either!.
.

I recommend that you shut up.  You know less than nothing and are just dangerous.

When you've had a 123 you are qualified to comment and advise.

DON'T seal it with epoxy, just use a bit of removeable silicone sealant.

Well since all of the faults of 123 dizzy originates from either rain or recklless washing,  i recommend ALL mini owners who uses 123 distributot or better yet, i call on the 123 manuacturers to do this as a protocol for 123 dizzy before installatiion------>    Start video at 00:58 secs ---->  https://youtu.be/1xpcHgDP2hE

Mine also took a dive after washing the engine and found the fault to be the circuit board. After learning a replacement circuit board was $180 I took a closer look and noticed some corrosion on the board. Cleaned that up and everything has been good since. Might be an idea to see if you have the same issue?   

I think I have a total of Five 123 distributers.

Love 'em.

As usual, Rob the non-Specialist should not talk EVER about technical subjects.

I have tens of thousands of miles under my belt with a 1-2-3 in every sort of weather imaginable.

I am presently on a 200 mile trip with one. In every failure instance I have heard of with 1-2-3 user error is to blame, however, not knowing the specifics of this situation, I will not pass judgement. 

Omg! 180 bucks for a replacement pc board?  Is it still under warranty? They couldve at least replace the whole thing.  I bought my pertronix II plus flamethrower dizzy for $150, and im so happy with it. The module is pretty much sealed and indestructible, it comes with heat paste that you put underneath the module to dissipate heat.  
They (123 company) knew all along that this dizzy is prone to water contamination why ddont they do something about it??  And when people complain they wont replace the whole thing and even charge the customer $180 goodness!!

ps: and i want to tell someone here that  rain and washing has one thing in common .... They are both deal with water. And i can't exhaust thinking WHY it didnt fail in the rain only after washing (???) / only in washing, there is human intervention, maybe thats wny.

It is not wet and did not get powerwashed. I have a 3.0 ohm coil which is above the 1.0 ohm min. The company emailed me back and said that a replacement board was $180. I can buy any of the other brands of distributors for that kind of money.

Jerry

What coil are you running ?

The 123s have some very specific instructions with them regarding coil selection.

Mine occasionally wouldn't fire after jetwashing the car, but a big blob of RTV sealant where the wires go in seems to have cured that.  Curiously it never failed while driving in the rain, only after washing.

Did it by chance get wet? They are not sealed from the factory. Mine died after driving in rain with no spark. After a fews days of drying it worked fine again.

I use pertronix igniter II on a 59D dizzy and 3.0 ohm coil.  Never fails me.  I almost bought 123 dizzy but then i realized with our hot weather in az and with the road vibration, these computerized distributors is not for me.  And when i read your post, ahhh glad i didnt took the plunge,, that's $550 right there!!