Percolation? Heat soak? Don't drive during summer??

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Also, do "NOT" do this with the ignition on !!!!!!!
The round part in the middle of the ECU is called the Switching Transistor. Touch it with the ignition on and you will be getting a very LARGE JOLT !!!!!!!!

View attachment 1715599695

Hush up. Don't tell him that. We're gonna miss out on some good entertainment. lol
 
Oh that picture was taken with the car running... the next time I tried to touch it I felt the electric pulses but not a big jolt, I pulled my hand away pretty quick though. I guess you can say I'm faster than electricity lol jk.

The only place I've been shocked from is that damn coil, if the car is running and I get to close to it I get shocked.
If your getting shocked by the coil without touching it you got something not grounded or insulted.
 
Um. Another red flag. The coil shouldn't zap you if everything is working correctly and your wires are well connected and in good condition!

If it zaps you, there's something wrong. Could be a few things - coil wire boots not sealing, cracked coil tower, bad wires, bad ground, etc. I think you've got a few 'little' things conspiring into a larger problem when warm/hot.
Yep my thoughts exactly
 
With a fully recharged battery and a working alternator, no current flows through the ammeter.

More charging with rpm means one of two things.
1. Battery is extremely low on charge or is damaged.
2. Voltage isn't properly regulated so its going up with rpm.
Fix this because it will cause all sorts of problems, some of them potentially disasterous.

It can also mean there's something spliced into the battery side of the connection, and the 'charge' indication is current flowing to whatever that is.

In any event, @Mattax is right - it's a situation which can result in a fire. It would be wise to figure out the cause, correct it, and then do an ammeter bypass and/or a 'wire around' with a heavy gauge wire from the alternator to the main battery splice.
 
It can also mean there's something spliced into the battery side of the connection
True. So make that three possibilities.
If something must be wired to the battery, then I agree the factory strategy should be altered.
If its basically stock, no reason to alter if its wired properly and the connections are in good shape. Of course continually sending high current through the alternator output wire connection at the bulkhead will likely cause damage there. So that definately should be inspected. Figured save all that typing for if/when DentalDart addresses the issue.
 
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In common lingo, people often say that 'alternator charging' when they mean alternator is supply power.
That's NOT what you are seeing on the "alternator" gage here.
View attachment 1715599725
This is showing the alternator supplying power to the battery.
D = Battery Discharging
C = Battery Charging.

Notice where the ammeter is in the circuit?
View attachment 1715599739
Its between the battery and the main splice.
Current flows through the ammeter only when the battery is discharging or charging.
With a fully recharged battery and a working alternator, no current flows through the ammeter.

More charging with rpm means one of two things.
1. Battery is extremely low on charge or is damaged.
2. Voltage isn't properly regulated so its going up with rpm.
Fix this because it will cause all sorts of problems, some of them potentially disasterous.

Thanks for this! I'll see if I can figure some of this electrical out... electrical and me are not friends...

If your getting shocked by the coil without touching it you got something not grounded or insulted.

Ok ill check it out.

It can also mean there's something spliced into the battery side of the connection, and the 'charge' indication is current flowing to whatever that is.

In any event, @Mattax is right - it's a situation which can result in a fire. It would be wise to figure out the cause, correct it, and then do an ammeter bypass and/or a 'wire around' with a heavy gauge wire from the alternator to the main battery splice.

Make a trip to Vegas and fix my wiring for me??? I got beer and will smoke some brisket for you...
 
Make a trip to Vegas and fix my wiring for me??? I got beer and will smoke some brisket for you...

Would if I could! LOL. There's one trade show each year that sometimes takes me back there, not sure it will happen this year though. If or when I find myself in your neighborhood, I'll definitely reach-out though.

It's not too hard though, you can do it! @crackedback sells a wire-around which is an easy install. Just bolt it to the alternator charge stud, and then to your battery splice (with careful routing between). This effectively bypasses the ammeter and provides a high-current path from the alt to the battery and reduces the load on the bulkhead and the dash cluster. He also sells a headlight relay kit, which would remove the next greatest load from your dash/interior harness. Do those two things, and probably 90% of your wiring concerns will be gone. Also note that these are not impossible to make yourself, but honestly I've looked at his cost compared to buying the materials, and his cost is WAY more than fair to save you quit a bit of labor.

The tougher part is finding what's causing your amp draw between the battery and the ammeter (if anything is). It could just be that your battery is low due to not enough driving and lots of sitting. Do you have a trickle charger? If so, top up your battery and take a look at your ammeter again the next time it's running. A fully charged battery should result in a very neutral ammeter needle position, especially after ~10 mins at driving rpm. If there's still current feeding across the ammeter with the battery completely charged then it can get a little more complicated. Using a multi-meter, checking for voltage drop can help isolate where that current is going. Once you get the stalling issue fixed, a new thread for that will probably help you get it isolated and figured out.

For now, I think focus on why the coil runs before cranking and zaps you when you get near it. Dielectric grease is your friend, and making sure all your boots and grounds are good is very important too. Put a pea-sized dab of grease on all your high-voltage connections. This helps seal out moisture and also helps prevent voltage from 'surface charging' various materials and finding it's way to your skin. Check all your sparkplug wire connections as well to ensure they're fully seated and don't have water or some other crud in them.

I fought a misfire on a Jeep for 2 years only to eventually discover that one of the plug wires had a garbage terminal that wasn't making good contact with the cap. I had checked the wires a dozen times too! An inline spark tester can be useful in some instances (doesn't require a helper to hold the screwdriver while looking for a spark) and I think @jpar or someone else mentioned running it in the dark and looking for arcs/sparks too - which is sound advice. If your coil is leaking voltage, it can jump to ground through the mounting bracket and cause a no-start or misfire. I like to keep the mounting bracket near the center or lower end of the coil for this reason (I've seen vibration cause coils to ride the top 'cap' against the bracket and chafe a bit until the oil leaked out, and also have seen a bad coil wire "carbon-track" back to the bracket and cause a no-start).
 
Thanks for this! I'll see if I can figure some of this electrical out... electrical and me are not friends...
Well its time to change that.
There's plenty of basics about electrons and circuits including in the Chrysler Master Tech series to read and watch.

For now, you need to understand this.
Voltage is potential energy. Potential in that its there, ready and available.
Current is electrons moving.

The ammeter is showing approx 20 amps going to the battery.
upload_2020-9-23_13-47-7.png


If the battery is fully charged, current flow should look something like this.
upload_2020-9-23_13-44-2.png


The first things you need to do are:
* Check the battery condition. How you do this depends on the battery type. If you have a battery charger - try charging it on that. Again, depending on the charger this may also be a way of determining condition. Very crudely, you can check condition using a multimeter set to Volts DC on the battery. With nothing running, the battery should be at 12.8 Volts. If its higher, flip the lights on for a couple seconds to remove the surface charge. Remeasure. Another crude test is to start the car. While the starter is drawing current, the voltage should not drop below 9 or 10 Volts.
* While the car is running, measure the voltage at three places.
+ the battery. + the alternator output stud + close as possible to the voltage regulator input or sense terminal (ign).
Might have to do this twice. Once at slow idle and again at 1200 rpm or so.

If you drive at night, adding headlight relays will reduce the loads through the bulkhead connections and the relatively small headlight wiring on these cars.
Crackedback's harness is a good way to do it.
Bypassing the ammeter will leave you blind. Very rarely is there a problem in the ammeter - especially on a normal car.
IF the alternator output connection at the bulhead is damaged, then its better to install a parallel wire or copy the 'heavy duty' wiring arrangement sometimes also called 'fleet' or '60 - 65 amp' wiring. If you are using an AGM battery, its additionally important to monitor the charging rate because they do not disipate heat as rapidly as a traditional wet cell.
 
My battery is brand new... well like 6-7 months old. But the car has not been getting driven due to it dying on me the past two times I took it away from the house.

I'll try to check out the battery, I guess I'll have to go buy a voltage checker tool... i hate electronics.
 
So I got some spare parts... just from autozone, but hopefully they help rule out some problems. Duralast CR109 ECM, new ballast resistor (looks different than the one I currently have on the car but its the replacement part when I search for a new resistor at autozone). I also got a different fuel filter, these metal ones I guess are aupposed to flow better than the edelbrock one since the edelbrock one is only rated to 300hp....

I would have bought a fuel pump but they didn't have any. I forgot to get a couple feet of fuel line to redo the line that goes from my hard main line to the fuel pump. I read people have had problems in the past with old lines getting cracked and sucking in air?

On the wiring schematic for the ecm it shows only 2 wires go to the coil, i have 3 wires that attach on my ecm, the 3rd I believe is from the tach. Ill take it off and see what happens...

20200923_130903.jpg


Screenshot_20200923-131557_Samsung Internet.jpg
 
I looked for a little fuel guage to Put in the edelbrock carb line, but they didnt have one there. Maybe I'll order one from jegs, its only like 20 bucks...
 
Do yourself a favor and take the junk Spectre filter back and get a Wix filter. #33032 for 5/16" fuel line.

And why the new BR and ECU ?
Do you know the ones you have to be bad ?
Any idea what ohms the new BR is ?

33032.jpg
 
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I looked for a little fuel guage to Put in the edelbrock carb line, but they didnt have one there. Maybe I'll order one from jegs, its only like 20 bucks...
Dont bother with the Jeg or Summit gauge their china junk and dont read when they get hot.
You mentioned that you have a Vacuum/fuel gauge, that's what you want to use just need to get a barred fitting that will tee into your fuel line. That's what I have been using for decades.
 
Do yourself a favor and take the junk Spectre filter back and get a Wix filter. #33032 for 5/16" fuel line.

And why the new BR and ECU ?
Do you know the ones you have to be bad ?
Any idea what ohms the new BR is ?

View attachment 1715599927

Ok I will get this filter....

I got new BR and ECM because people stated they could be bad, plus we should have a spare in case they do go bad.

The new BR, I found people saying it's 1.5ohms? But I can't say for sure. Its .633 resistance...
 
Dont bother with the Jeg or Summit gauge their china junk and dont read when they get hot.
You mentioned that you have a Vacuum/fuel gauge, that's what you want to use just need to get a barred fitting that will tee into your fuel line. That's what I have been using for decades.

I have a fitting in my fuel line, I need the adapter or attachment that lets me screw in my guage to that fitting.
 
Dont bother with the Jeg or Summit gauge their china junk and dont read when they get hot.
You mentioned that you have a Vacuum/fuel gauge, that's what you want to use just need to get a barred fitting that will tee into your fuel line. That's what I have been using for decades.

If ur gauges aint reading right when they get hot , try letting the oil out of them if their oil filled -----------------jryi
 
Fixed the buzzing coil... it was from this green wire that runs to the tach on top of the steering wheel. It was hooked up on the negative side of the coil. It runs with the black wire to the back of the tach. Im assuming it is a ground wire? But why hooked up on the coil?

Haven't started the car yet, as its to late and the kids are going to be going to bed soon. Hopefully i get home at a reasonable time tomorrow and can mess with some stuff. Does anyone know where this ground goes? Its never been hooked up on my car, but I put the green wire under it to keep it out of the way...

20200923_192720.jpg


20200923_192652.jpg
 
This is the tach on top of the steering wheel, I dont know much about it other than it was already there when I got the car...

Per the instructions that is where the wire is supposed to connect though...

20200923_192941.jpg


Screenshot_20200923-193253_Drive.jpg
 
Fixed the buzzing coil... it was from this green wire that runs to the tach on top of the steering wheel. It was hooked up on the negative side of the coil. It runs with the black wire to the back of the tach. Im assuming it is a ground wire? But why hooked up on the coil?

Haven't started the car yet, as its to late and the kids are going to be going to bed soon. Hopefully i get home at a reasonable time tomorrow and can mess with some stuff. Does anyone know where this ground goes? Its never been hooked up on my car, but I put the green wire under it to keep it out of the way...

View attachment 1715600029

View attachment 1715600030
Internet self-explanatory? If it's a ground wire it goes to the ground LOL...
 
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