New weird issue

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jhdeval said:
No I am running a Chrysler Blue Box or economy electronic ignition. Would that dieing explain the intermitent running?
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it could be getting hot and cutting out... same with the ballast resistor...

if you have new of either they are easy to swap... depending on the ballast it will have a different ohm rating but you can test it...

as for the box i dont know what to test for on those...
 
I was thinking you should take the air cleaner off and eyeball the choke plate when it is warmed up. It should be in an open position so as not to restrict air flow through the carb. Have you been able to get it started again after it cooled off? If it is flooding like you mentioned you can physically hold the choke open(we always used a large screwdriver) and try to get it to run that way.
 
magnumdart said:
I was thinking you should take the air cleaner off and eyeball the choke plate when it is warmed up. It should be in an open position so as not to restrict air flow through the carb. Have you been able to get it started again after it cooled off? If it is flooding like you mentioned you can physically hold the choke open(we always used a large screwdriver) and try to get it to run that way.
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I did take the air cleaner off and after I got it started and idled for 15 minutes the choke plate was totally open. I don't think the carb is flooding it I think its my foot pressing the pedal lol.
 
805moparkid said:
it could be getting hot and cutting out... same with the ballast resistor...

if you have new of either they are easy to swap... depending on the ballast it will have a different ohm rating but you can test it...

as for the box i dont know what to test for on those...
Click to expand...

I don't have a new one of either kicking around but I know electronics shouldn't get to hot. So if it is really hot to touch would that be a good geusstimate diagnosis?
 
jhdeval said:
I don't have a new one of either kicking around but I know electronics shouldn't get to hot. So if it is really hot to touch would that be a good geusstimate diagnosis?
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i dont know on those... never had an electonic setup lol...
 
those ECMs do have temp related failures , Fords and everyone elses did too. It cant make a grinding noise.
The ballast resistor cannot come and go. It will get extremely hot though. Thats why its cased in ceramic.If a resistor burns in two it cant fix itself.
 
RedFish said:
those ECMs do have temp related failures , Fords and everyone elses did too. It cant make a grinding noise.
The ballast resistor cannot come and go. It will get extremely hot though. Thats why its cased in ceramic.If a resistor burns in two it cant fix itself.
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Ok so my theory is correct. If I can get it started if the ECM gets HOT to the touch I can take a guess it went bad. The grinding I am not sure is directly related I still think it may be my emergency brake line scrubbing on the driveshaft. Not totally sure though.
 
The grinding may also be a u joint going bad.
Check it by grabbing the drive shaft near the u joint and move it back and forth and up and down to see if there is excess play in it. Or pull the shaft and check them.
I had one that made a grinding noise some of the needle bearings were ground up.

Just a thought.
 
jhdeval said:
Ok so my theory is correct. If I can get it started if the ECM gets HOT to the touch I can take a guess it went bad. The grinding I am not sure is directly related I still think it may be my emergency brake line scrubbing on the driveshaft. Not totally sure though.
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It has a aluminum heatsink on the top because it does generate heat.
At some point it wil get so hot that the gel coat will run off of the back.
It must be properly chassis gronded too. If you do replace it bolt the new one down before attaching the harness connector.
 
Turns out it isn't the ECU I just replaced it and the ballast resistor. Same problem. Is it possible the distributor burnt out?
 
I believe I may have found the culprit. I used some techniques I found here and worked my way around. I checked voltage at the coil positive in both run and acc and had voltage. Checked the negative side same deal. So I checked resistance across the ignition coil positive to negative and secondary to primary. They looked good. So I proceed to check the spark from the coil secondary to ground. It looked orangish seemed a bit weak. So I then tried the spark across one of the plugs and same orangish.

This seems to lead to the coil not operating correctly. Anybody agree?
 
jhdeval said:
I believe I may have found the culprit. I used some techniques I found here and worked my way around. I checked voltage at the coil positive in both run and acc and had voltage. Checked the negative side same deal. So I checked resistance across the ignition coil positive to negative and secondary to primary. They looked good. So I proceed to check the spark from the coil secondary to ground. It looked orangish seemed a bit weak. So I then tried the spark across one of the plugs and same orangish.

This seems to lead to the coil not operating correctly. Anybody agree?
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ok first off what was your voltage with key on? how bout cranking?

second what was your ohm reading between the "+" and "-" posts? then the tower and the "+"??
 
10.45 Volts at key on
12.6 Volts as crank
1.6 Ohm from positive to negative
5.6K Ohms from tower to negative
5.6K Ohms from tower to positive
 
jhdeval said:
10.45 Volts at key on
12.6 Volts as crank
1.6 Ohm from positive to negative
5.6K Ohms from tower to negative
5.6K Ohms from tower to positive
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your coil is toast..

it shouldn't have any connection between the primary and secondary windings...

only ohms should be between the + and -

but!

if you have a spark its probably not your no start issue
 
Well I replaced the ignition coil and it did start right up but as soon as I move to drive and give it any gas it starts sputtering and gets ready to stall. In neutral and park everything is fine. So I don't think its a fuel delivery issue. This is a major PITA.

Is it possible the distributor is toast? I wouldn't think so as long as its rotating.
 
jhdeval said:
Well I replaced the ignition coil and it did start right up but as soon as I move to drive and give it any gas it starts sputtering and gets ready to stall. In neutral and park everything is fine. So I don't think its a fuel delivery issue. This is a major PITA.

Is it possible the distributor is toast? I wouldn't think so as long as its rotating.
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make sure you have an ohm reading across the to leads coming out of the dizzy. that will tell you if the pick-up is working.

then check the clearance... bump the engine over until you get the point on the little wheel lined up with the pickup. needs to be about .008". we had similar issues with a hemi duster... it would run then not, hard start then half a kick...
 
I tried everything to get my brothers Demon to start and nothing would work.all the troubleshooting showed that eveything was ok. Just for fun I took the distributor out of my Cuda, popped it in and it fired right up. Turns out the shaft was bent just a touch. How you bend one I don't know,but it drove me nuts for a while.
 
I thought I had an extra set of plug wires. I was going to give them a whirl because I read a few articles online that said this could be a symptom of bad plug wires. So before I go an spend the money I want to ask if anyone else thinks this is possible.
 
jhdeval said:
I thought I had an extra set of plug wires. I was going to give them a whirl because I read a few articles online that said this could be a symptom of bad plug wires. So before I go an spend the money I want to ask if anyone else thinks this is possible.
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ohm them... should be no more than 1500ohms per ft... some will say 2K but just less spark to the plug...
 
Well I measured 3 of the 6 and found they were running 4.6k or 4600 ohms. This is definitely outside what you said was normal. While I think these wires are probably a high resistance wire I certainly feel they could be contributing to the issue if not the whole cause.

I just found this diagnostic testing from prestolite. I think you may meant to say 1500 per inch. Which means my wires are actually in acceptable range. At least the ones I tested.
http://www.prestolitewire.com/pages/diagnostic_tips/56.php

Basically I am down to either fuel or spark delivery. I don't think it is fuel delivery because the filter is new the tank is new and at idle it will rev up no problem. I think it is more likely spark delivery because when I put it under load IE into drive it idles fine and will accelerate fine under a light load but as soon as I go to far it sputters and misses and wants to die. Either way I am replacing the wires.
 
How many wires do you have only 1 foot long ? 3 ft would be 4500 ohms ?
 
Most of my wires are 1 foot some from the rear of the engine are 2 feet but according to the prestolite website 1000 ohm per inch would mean 12000 ohms per foot. Which corresponds to what I found at pop mechanics as well between 10k and 20k.
 
Found a good source that indicates it may be a fuel delivery issue. It is also listed a few diagnostics to determine. Maybe we can create a sticky for some of these diagnostics? I know it may seem simple to some but even people doing it for decades can learn a trick they may not recall.

http://www.car-forums.com/s9/t1698.html
 
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