81 chrysler question....

-
C

cooljjay

Proud Owner Of Christy
Joined
Dec 6, 2007
Messages
67
Reaction score
0
Location
vallejo, ca
ok please don't stone me for posting about an 81 :lol: I am trying to get my grandmothers 81 lebaron back on the road. The problem is it won't start. we thought for sure it was the lean burning computer(ecm/ecc) and took it in to be rebuilt got it back today stuck it back in the car and still no go. I also replaced the coil thinking after 20 some years its time for a new one. I did check and the coil it is getting 12v and the battery is giving off 12v. the strange things: when i do the coil test(remove coil wire from dist and touch to metal) there is no spark of any sort, what gives new coil and it is getting 12v. there is also a strange clicking sound coming from the drivers side of the engine, and also the ignition is extremely hard to turn to start the car and if I remember correctly the headlights are extremely dim and the voltage reg did blow a few months ago and also the battery was drained a few times and had to be recharged. I think thats it. I am open to any suggestions on what it may be or how to determine what. the electronics on this thing are driving me bonkers.
 
cooljay, you may have to check the voltage while cranking. If it drops to low the electronics won't work.
 
Ground wire from the eng to the body!!! :read2:
Or the ground from the battery to the body.:-k

Grouding strapes are very important on this year model8). There is mor then one or two i think,
I hope by the time it took me to post you already got it running :drinkers:
 
i will check the ground straps next time i get over to the car, it would be nice if it was as simple as that.
 
Could also be a poor battery. Has lots of reserve current, but volatge drops to say 8 volts, and now electronics won't run. This happened to me on an old tbi Accaim i had.
 
i should try to switch battery's, i was think that but when i had taken it to the parts store to be tested they said the battery was good. the battery seemed a little ballooned to me. but i took the word of the parts place that said it was good.
 
cooljjay said:
.....but i took the word of the parts place that said it was good.
Click to expand...

How many of us have been burned by that comment? :)
Pick up a volt/ohm meter (if you don't have one) and check for yourself. Keith has a very good point. I've had batteries that show 12.5 but as soon as you start cranking they drop to 10 or below... the clicking and the lights going really dim points to a weak battery... but if that doesn't work, you might want to look for what took out the regulator, or what else did the bad regulator take out? The volt/ohm meter will be able to help with testing all of the little electrics along the way.
 
I will go over later today an stick the battery from my dart into my grandmothers car and see what i get.
 
ok went over and changed out batteries still no go, checked the voltage at the coil, stayed at 12v while turning the engine over.
 
ballast resistor? ignition box?

Ballast is easy enough to test, but not so sure about the box.
 
I wish it was that easy but since this model Chrysler has that luvly ecm computer it takes the place of the ballast and ignition box and controls the disturb. we had it rebuilt thought that it was the problem but i guess its not. i just printed out the diagnose procedure from the service manual so i will do all there check this wire check that wire cross this wire etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top