Ceramic Voltage resistors

[Mopardude]

I took my car to work today and on the way home about 1 block away from my house it dided on me. After about 30 minutes of dicking around I figured out my voltage resistor puked out on me. I know years ago when I first got into mopars an old timer I know told me I should allways carry an extra because they blow all the time. I don't buy this and in the few years I been into mopars I have only witness them blowing when other wiring issues are present! This resistor that blew on me was also brand new back in the fall and maybe only has 200 miles on it. I installed it when I put my new FBO system in. So what should I look for for possible problems so this does not become a recurring issue or was the old timer know right and sometimes they just go bad? Is there a way to get around not using one? I know if I upgraded to a MSD box I can do it but my FBO box is brand new and I am very happy with it.

 

[Mopar471]

I always just carry extras in glove box along with a small socket set in the car all the time. The last time one blew on me was in my first RoadRunner back in the eighties. Have not needed another since then,but still carry them all the time.

 

[dgc333]

Ther's a guy called Murphy that must be factored in here. He says if you keep a spare in the glove box the one under the hood will never fail. For the $3-$5 bucks for the spare it's cheap insurance.

And, yes the ballast resistor was the most common part to fail in the ignition system. I believe the bad rap came from the real early ones that the coil of wire was exposed on the bacside to the elements. New ones are potted and do not fail any where near as often.