I f*in hate this car.

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This is the old school tried and true way to do it.




memike said:
I pull the #1 plug out and put my finger on the plug hole until you feel the compression stroke starting, then I use a straw not a screw driver and turn the engine by hand till you see the straw stop rising, This is top dead center in your power stroke, remember there is an exhaust stroke that comes to the top, that is not the stroke you want on these 4 stroke engines..

I agree with 805moparkid 100%, But he said he has 0 cash 805moparkid.
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TrailBeast said:
Patience and enjoying it is the point, a chance to slow down and get old school.
My car messed with me at every chance.
I chalked it up to the car wanting to know if I am worthy of being the new owner.
Some cars are like an unbroken horse, just gotta ride em out to reap the rewards.
I can totally trust my dart, anytime anywhere now.
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I loved your post. That is exactly how I felt with my Jaguar. Now THAT car fought me tooth and nail with all of its nut and bolts...But I trusted that car anywhere. I've had the car for 14 months though, it's not like I've had it for 2 months or something..

madmax/6 said:
Or buy a Toyota Tercel and bee a real nerd.Back wont hurt but pride will.
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Yeah hell no. Over my dead body.
 
Very good advice here from MeMike the straw will be the safest way so as to not damage the engine...teach a man the basics so he can troubleshoot rather than throwing money at the problem, I will agree that the pertronix system is a good way to go if he is running a points type distributor, but whatever system he is running now can be diagnosed and repaired properly for a fraction of the cost...Way to go MeMike :cheers:
memike said:
I pull the #1 plug out and put my finger on the plug hole until you feel the compression stroke starting, then I use a straw not a screw driver and turn the engine by hand till you see the straw stop rising, This is top dead center in your power stroke, remember there is an exhaust stroke that comes to the top, that is not the stroke you want on these 4 stroke engines..

I agree with 805moparkid 100%, But he said he has 0 cash 805moparkid.
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put your finger down in the #1 spark plug hole and you can use a screwdriver to bump the engine over or a remote starter switch by jumping acros the starter relay or the solonoid wires that are bolted to the starter when it comes up on compression it will push airpast your finger then simply stop the engine on the timing marker at 0* then pull the rotor off and look inside for the locator tab and then install it back on to the distributor by lining up the tab with the notch...then the rotor will go all the way down and then the cap will go down properly. check to see where the rotor is pointing, it should be pointing to the #1 spark plug wire,if so....good, if not then we have to diagnose for that....if it is not pointing to #1 most likely the plastic gear on the distributor
ValiantBandit said:
Oh gosh how the hell am I gonna feel the difference between the power and exhaust stroke with my finger ? Is there a certain noticeable difference?

Yeah that would help a crapton....If I had money.
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what everyone has failed to mention here is the library,
since they are free all you need is a pad and pen and you can
go pull a repair manual and write down the testing procedures
and even see photos of the procedure itself in some of them.

another thing you will learn to with old mopar products
especially cars with electronic igntions is to carry an extra ballast
and ECU.
personally i make trips to my local U-Pull it auto yard and look for
everything older that is a chrysler product, i have grabbed ECUs
and ballast's for as little as $5 for a pair and ignition coils for $2
so that is another possible for someone on a tight budget.

and one other thing i see no one has mentioned yet is the body plug,
i dont know if the 76 has it but the earler models had a fusible link
off of the starter relay and where that entered the body plug it would
become corroded causing an intermintant no power problem to the ignition
switch. It took me about a week of testing to find that one on one of my
old mopigs and i ended up replacing it with a new style fusible link with
replacable fuse and also cleaned all of the corrosion out of the body plug
and put it back together with dilectric grease and never had another
problem.
 
Does your car have this connector between the distributor and coil?
I have seen these cars act just like you described because of an intermittant loss of connection at this plug.
Squeeze it down a little tighter and see if it does the trick.
When you said you heard a little "Tick" and it fired right up, that was why I mention this.
Mine went in the trash and is soldered and heat shrinked now, and never had that problem again.
 

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Check to see if there is anything oozing from behind the ECU controll box. These controllers are notorious for overheating and burning out. A good indication that this might have happened is the epoxy that seals the ECU melting and oozing out from behind. Good Luck!!!!
 
TrailBeast said:
Does your car have this connector between the distributor and coil?
I have seen these cars act just like you described because of an intermittant loss of connection at this plug.
Squeeze it down a little tighter and see if it does the trick.
When you said you heard a little "Tick" and it fired right up, that was why I mention this.
Mine went in the trash and is soldered and heat shrinked now, and never had that problem again.
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I'm under my car's hood right now for the next hour before I go into work. Boy smoking did wonders...Yes the rotor wasn't pushed all the way in as it wasn't even on the clip. (There were a lot of "UH DUHHH!!s" going on." And wouldn't you know the cap just popped right back on. It's pretty embarrassing when you were once a freakin Jaguar mechanic and you can't even work on a simple car...I think it's because I have that mindframe to make things overly complex. (Which is why I was good at working on Jaguars.)

Anyways, that connection that you have a picture of is going to have to be un-connected and checked as there's oil blow-by all over the outside so God knows what's wrong on the inside. I noticed my ballast resistor is cracked above the top left terminal. Although I consider that to be a big problem, I highly doubt it's just the resistor.

Motopsycho said:
sell it and buy a chevy
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I would rather ride a bicycle than drive a Chevy. You should be lynched lol.

superchargeddrt said:
Check to see if there is anything oozing from behind the ECU controll box. These controllers are notorious for overheating and burning out. A good indication that this might have happened is the epoxy that seals the ECU melting and oozing out from behind. Good Luck!!!!
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I didn't see any oozing. The box is black which I would guess is either the original or OEM part. The contacts look fine, but I think I should take the box off and check the resistance.

racerhog said:
Take a few pictures and post them up here....Give us a look under the hood....
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I honestly don't have the time right now to do that as it's already 1PM and I have 30 minutes left to work on my car. I will definitely do that tomorrow. I have a feeling I didn't spin the distributor at any point as I tried starting the car and it sounds normal and doesn't sound out of time. I've pulled 1 spark plug so far and it was covered with gas and the tip is the colour of poop. So I'm definitely going to sand it and re-gap it because it still has a perfect ignitor point.

The other thing I noticed is there's a problem with the spark plug wire running to the ignition coil. There's no plastic grommet around the wire connecting to the coil and the circular metal piece that surrounds the wire is now stuck in the coil and I can't get it out. I would say that there's definitely a weak connection there as well.
 
This is like watching Karen Black trying to land the 747 over the radio in Airport! Man, I would personally ditch the Electronic dizzy and go back to points. With your understanding of these cars, it is way less likely to keep you from getting to work than a malfunctioning ECU. You didnt turn the distributor, the rotor only goes on one way, the gap should be .008 between the reluctor and the pickup. #1 front cylinder will blow past your finger on compression stroke, when it blows, look at damper and yoll see timing mark. Get it to 8 BTDC and rotor should be pointing to #1 or very close. Make sure ECU is gettig power, tap into pin 1 (top pin, the one on the point of the connector) You should have voltage on both sides of the ballast resistor, coil side may be less, that OK. But yo MUST have power on both sides as one side feeds ECU and the other feeds coil. If you have a dual ballast, you can swap sides if you think one is cracked and open. open ballast resistor will crank and start when key is on start, but will die when in run. You can bypass ballast in a pinch, just bridge 2 connectors with a piece of metal. The ECU needs a good ground, make sure its solid on the bulkhead. If the 2 pin connector between the dizzy and the harness is loose, pull and dick up the metal bullet contacts in the connector ends a bit so they really have to be forced together. Points distributor is a 1 wire deal and that one goes to the Negtative side of the coil. The + side of the coil can go to the battery in an emergency, but its best to go through the ballast to keep your points from arcing and eventually failing (burning up) but itll get you home/to work. I keep a points dizzy in my car first aid box in the trunk (MSD failure lesson). These slant six motor are 1/2 of a jaguar and about 5% of the hoses and wiring. HEI module should cost you about 5 bucks at the pick-a-part, all you need is the module (get about 2 feet of the harness if you can, if they charge you for it, just unplug it and tell them no thanks. Im sure you can scrape up wire and spade connectors. Mount it on the fender because it needs a hard ground too and it acts as the heatsink too. They get hot and will fry if left hanging.
 
wow such frustration over a distributor cap and yes it has to electronic ignition unless someone replaced the whole set up with points and seriously doubt that... if it is really giving you that much hassle get rid of it, get a honda , a carolla ,something that will start and run without the hassle..oh wait what am i saying....electronic ignition is 98% hassle free..
 
pishta said:
This is like watching Karen Black trying to land the 747 over the radio in Airport! Man, I would personally ditch the Electronic dizzy and go back to points. With your understanding of these cars, it is way less likely to keep you from getting to work than a malfunctioning ECU. You didnt turn the distributor, the rotor only goes on one way, the gap should be .008 between the reluctor and the pickup. #1 front cylinder will blow past your finger on compression stroke, when it blows, look at damper and yoll see timing mark. Get it to 8 BTDC and rotor should be pointing to #1 or very close. Make sure ECU is gettig power, tap into pin 1 (top pin, the one on the point of the connector) You should have voltage on both sides of the ballast resistor, coil side may be less, that OK. But yo MUST have power on both sides as one side feeds ECU and the other feeds coil. If you have a dual ballast, you can swap sides if you think one is cracked and open. open ballast resistor will crank and start when key is on start, but will die when in run. You can bypass ballast in a pinch, just bridge 2 connectors with a piece of metal. The ECU needs a good ground, make sure its solid on the bulkhead. If the 2 pin connector between the dizzy and the harness is loose, pull and dick up the metal bullet contacts in the connector ends a bit so they really have to be forced together. Points distributor is a 1 wire deal and that one goes to the Negtative side of the coil. The + side of the coil can go to the battery in an emergency, but its best to go through the ballast to keep your points from arcing and eventually failing (burning up) but itll get you home/to work. I keep a points dizzy in my car first aid box in the trunk (MSD failure lesson). These slant six motor are 1/2 of a jaguar and about 5% of the hoses and wiring. HEI module should cost you about 5 bucks at the pick-a-part, all you need is the module (get about 2 feet of the harness if you can, if they charge you for it, just unplug it and tell them no thanks. Im sure you can scrape up wire and spade connectors. Mount it on the fender because it needs a hard ground too and it acts as the heatsink too. They get hot and will fry if left hanging.
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Maybe I can get a blow up doll dressed as an airline pilot to fix my car lol.
Is the power for the ECU and ballast resistor hot at all times or only when you turn the car over?
Also how long can I keep those wires from the resistor jumped like that for? I would imagine not a long time..?
ECU has a good ground, that I know of for sure as I checked it before I went into work.
I just have to limp this car around for another month and then I'll be able to afford to replace the spark plug wires, the plugs, ecu and ballast resistor.

Btw a Valiant has about 1 1/10th of a % of the amount of wiring and hoses than a Jaguar lol. But yeah it has .7 litres less than a Jaguar XK engine but is 1000% more durable and dependable.
 
and just an FYI - if it does have a dual ballast , the connectors that plug into it have a little prong sticking out and have to plug in the ballast specifically the way they are supposed to otherwise you will be getting hardly any spark at all and will cause a misfire under load with less than adequate or old plugs/wires/cap/rotor.sometimes these tabs get broken off and people assume that it doesnt matter which way they plug in when it really makes all the difference.experience coming from chasing misfire demons. i bought all brand new ignition parts (not that,thats a bad thing) chasing a slight misfire and weak spark when come to find out the ballast had one of the connectors upside down and tab was broken off from the previous owner, and the spark was so weak it would hardly run. just something to check while you are at it. it doesnt hurt to take a piece of 320 grit and lightly clean your spark plug electrodes and re-gap your plugs along with the terminals on the inside of your cap and rotor. and if you are real ambitious, fire up your car in the pitch black of the night,pop the hood,and if you have a bad wire or two,chances are good that it will be grounding out somewhere in the engine compartment and you will be able to see it. wires dont usually go bad unless they are burned or real old, or the boot is not fully seated over the cap or plug. just trying to help----
 
This one would be a blast to fix with someone elses money.
805MoparKid and I live in AZ, and well,,,how much money you got?:D
 
73AbodEE said:
and just an FYI - if it does have a dual ballast , the connectors that plug into it have a little prong sticking out and have to plug in the ballast specifically the way they are supposed to otherwise you will be getting hardly any spark at all and will cause a misfire under load with less than adequate or old plugs/wires/cap/rotor.sometimes these tabs get broken off and people assume that it doesnt matter which way they plug in when it really makes all the difference.experience coming from chasing misfire demons. i bought all brand new ignition parts (not that,thats a bad thing) chasing a slight misfire and weak spark when come to find out the ballast had one of the connectors upside down and tab was broken off from the previous owner, and the spark was so weak it would hardly run. just something to check while you are at it. it doesnt hurt to take a piece of 320 grit and lightly clean your spark plug electrodes and re-gap your plugs along with the terminals on the inside of your cap and rotor. and if you are real ambitious, fire up your car in the pitch black of the night,pop the hood,and if you have a bad wire or two,chances are good that it will be grounding out somewhere in the engine compartment and you will be able to see it. wires dont usually go bad unless they are burned or real old, or the boot is not fully seated over the cap or plug. just trying to help----
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YES I FORGOT ABOUT CHECKING THE WIRES LIKE THAT! DUH!!!! That's a great idea too!!!!

You're talking about the cylindrical plastic tab that seems to hold the connectors to the ballast in place?
 
ValiantBandit said:
YES I FORGOT ABOUT CHECKING THE WIRES LIKE THAT! DUH!!!! That's a great idea too!!!!

You're talking about the cylindrical plastic tab that seems to hold the connectors to the ballast in place?
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yes, i believe we are talking about the same thing. the electronic box and ballast were the same for all electronically controlled mopars (the color of the boxes designates rpm limits)..hope this helps. if the 5 ohm side and the 1.2 ohm side are reversed, the engine will still fire but you will have virtually no spark . with the engine running, pull off one of the plug wires at the cap with a pair of insulated pliers ,and with the wire about 1/2 inch to 3/4 of an inch away, you should get a definate orange/blue spark, if you are getting no spark but the cylinder is still firing when you put the wire back in the cap, 98% chance they are reversed. you could use an ohm meter ,but i like see that spark jump so i know im good there. i would also first ,spend the 5 bucks and get a brand new ballast.
 

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mmmm look what I found today when I pulled the ECU off.

Image10292011145244.jpg


Image10292011145221.jpg


looks pretty burnt up to me, no? It looks like it's the damned original one too.


I also jumped the resistor wires - still didnt start.
 
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