Fried ECM
I did the amp meter(dummy light) bypass as suggested in the C body forum,(basically just removing the two wires from the meter and making them a connection) as they are said to be a weak link and a fire hazard. Easy enough to put back if needed.
I do not have any other mods. No fans, EFI or other.
OK. It's a straight bypass. There's many versions of this supposed improvement. It leaves you blind but at least there is not some weird routing and hacked wired.
The ammeter is no more fire hazzard than any of the rest of the feed/charging circuit. The current flows through a big shunt plate which the terminal studs are pressed into. If the studs are not loose (which does occassionally happen) the will be no resistance to flow internally. If either stud is loose, don't use it. That's a stiuation where bypassing makes sense.
Do check the connections of both ring terminals. If some wire strands are broken, insulation shows heating, or any other symptom of a poor connection, that needs to be fixed.
My plan for today is to finish unraveling fifty years of electrical tape and expose every wire and connection in the engine compartment. Then one by one inspect clean and check resistance and voltage for each. Once this is done I will move to the other side of the bulk head connector and do the same.
With the bulkhead connector removed, the only thing to be learned from voltage reading is that the wire is connected to the battery (or not).
No current is flowing, therefore voltage doesn't drop.
Voltage drops can only be checked when current is flowing thorugh the wire.
Safer to disconnect the battery when removing connectors. If any of the metal terminals touches ground, the battery will try to discharge through it!
Think about how many amps that battery can dump through a wire. There's a fusible link somewhere on wire from the battery to the bulkhead. There's no point in testing accidently!
If you can measure resistance in any circuit run, there's a problem in it. But the ohmeter only sends a small current to make a measurement. So its possible to have voltage drops in circuits even when the ohmeter shows good continuity.
Visual checks are good thing to do. You can see corrosion, broken strands, overheated or chafed insulation, etc. Once you have the bulkhead disconnected you will be able to see the male terminals. And if you want, you can release and push out the female terminals one at a time.
question on the main harness plug on firewall
Lost all power need help
I noticed the starter relay to starter wires are fifty years old and are not in the greatest shape, so those will be replaced but not until the problem is found.
Should be one wire from the starter relay to the starter. Agree its not related to dying while running.
Single ballast is what was existing. 68' Newport.
The ballast should .5 to .7 ohms for Chrysler ECU and a typical stock coil. You had some with 1.5 Ohms ? Could be a problem.
With points check the '68 FSM, I think its about the same.
Pertronix - need to see what Pertonix recommends, prob varies with coil. BUT Pertronix may regulate current to coil, in which case may need to jumper the ballast.
@halifaxhops may know that.
Do you have a spark tester?
Need that and a voltmeter with some aligator clips.
With those you can determine if it is, or is not, an ignition issue or ignition power issue.
The spark tester plugs into a spark plug wire and the other end on a spark plug. Then you'll know for sure if its ignition related.
Other possibilities
Timing? RPMs?
Choke not pulling off?
Choke being the most likely. Although IIRC you posted manual choke.
Maybe a bad ignition switch.............Those should all be dead, key off
Yes. I'm still not sure this is the correct switch for the model and year.
Before installing the new switch, take the ohmeter and check the output terminals in run, off, and start positions. Make sure they match the wiring for your connector.
One possibility to look out for on the ignition switch is its for a different year/model.
They shouldn't physically interchange but maybe they can????
From 68 to 69 Abodies the Ignition 2, Accessory, and Start wires connect to different switch terminals.
Why do 68 & 69 dart iginition switches have different # ground plug ins?
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