Skip white distributor wiring

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ClarkDart70

ClarkDart70

Street Machines Limited
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Plainfield, IN
So yesterday I dropped in my new hei distributor from skip white with accel super stock canister coil. Everything started and idles fine. This morning I jump in to pull out of my garage and all I got was a click.I jump start the car and its running fine. Turn it off and it struggles to turn over.
I have my plug gaps at 40. When I wired it all up, I bypassed the ballast tesistor by just plugging in a wire with two male spades plugged into the factory ballast resistor female spade plugs. Do I have this wired wrong? The drained battery this morning has me concerned and the hard to start state it's in doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy feeling either. Without starting the cheap distributor war again is there any unbiased technical help someone can give me?
 
If you changed from points ignition you would have installed a ignition module too. If so, where did you source its power supply ?
In any case, check the system for a constant draw draining the battery.
 
With the key off, there should be no power to the HEI distributor (IGN1 in diagram). It sounds like you powered your HEI from your coil+ terminal, which is correct. That gets powered via the "wire where ballast was". That is all correct. Measure the voltage from coil+ to gnd with key off and insure 0 V. If not, your key switch is bad or a short in the wiring or bulkhead. My guess is something unrelated, like a trunk or glovebox light is on. Another possibility is the alternator leaks. There is no switch or relay that isolates the alternator output, just the diodes blocking reverse flow (have some leakage). Batteries can also develop an internal short or external flow from dirt and water on top of the case.

Two small points:
HEI works better with an E-core coil.
You didn't have to use a wire to connect the 2 ballast connectors together, there is a small male-male spade you can find in bubble packs.
 
I have to agree with Redfish, you have somehow bypassed ignition switch, and connected something directly to battery so new ignition system is hot all the time.
 
From your description it sounds like your issue is only with the engine not cranking, or cranking slow. This is probably unrelated to your distributor. Most likely a loose or dirty battery terminal, old battery, or bad starter. If you jump the start relay does it crank fast? Does it crank normally with booster cables on it?
 
Instead of guessing, actually find out!!!

Take your 12V test lamp, make sure EVERYTHING is off, including any dome, courtesy, trunk lamps, and remove the cig lighter and lay it in the ashtray.

Next, remove your battery ground cable, and put your 12V test lamp in series. Examine it in dim light. If you see ANY glow from the lamp, you have a drain.

IF you do, first check your newly installed ignition, "I don't believe in coincidences"

So find any wire(s) going to a power source, and temporarily remove them.

If this does not affect the problem, remove the fuses one at a time.

If no change, remove the alternator charging wire from the output stud and tape it off.

If you still have a light, you need to look at whatever is left that is "hot" with the key off.

Now, if you do NOT get a light at first, this is GOOD so far as wiring goes, and it just might be....................

Could you have left something on? How is your radio/ stereo wired?

Have the battery tested. Batteries DO fail sometimes, and it does not matter how old they are. They could be brand new and just fail.
 
Well, the good news is I have 0 at the coil when off.... The bad news is my battery is on its last leg. I had it tested and its barely holding a charge.I wanted to upgrade anyways so I guess it's time. Any suggestion on cold cranking amps? There's a 600 in it now because that's what was in it when I bought the car.
 
How old is it and are you sure it's "bad" or simply "down" for some reason? It also occurs to me that when you hooked up the ignition, you may have disabled the alternator. Do you know that it's charging OK? What is the "running" battery voltage.

Also, did you simply check coil voltage, or actually put a lamp in series with the battery cable? You may have some other drain that cropped up
 
If your car starts immediately, you don't need a big battery. I ran with a real small battery in my 65 Newport for a year, just because I had it left over.
 
I don't know how I would have disabled the alternator. I tested the coil feed with a meter on the positive side with ign off; it was zero. After I jump the car and its running it holds between 12 and 13 running. The battery is probably 5 years or older.
 
12--13 is not charging. If the battery is near up, running the engine RPM up a little should show near 14V

Your regulator and alternator field hooks into the original ballast wiring. If you cut any of that OR the wiring was in poor shape, it could have broken connection. It all junctions at the ballast connector(s)

The regulator connector may be nearby and you may have moved/ jogged it, not making connection. Remove the regulator connector and push it in/ out several times to scrub the terminals.
 
Thanks ill give it a shot. Might be on hold till the weekend. Will the current coil be ok, or do I need to be running an e core?
 
Ran a test light in series between the negative battery cable and negative terminal; the light did not come on.
 
Start it and pop the battery cable off if it stays running your charging fine.. I would almost bet money on a bad battery borrow one from a friend or another car and try it out batteries these days hardly last 3 years let alone five and now that its getting cold it will finish off a dieing battery quick.
 
64drtGt said:
Start it and pop the battery cable off if it stays running your charging fine.. .
Click to expand...

DO NOT ever do this!!!! I wish I could bury this wives tale forever.

1---The more modern your car, the better the chances that you will fail something electronic from the huge electrical spike this generates

2--It does NOT prove the charging system works, or if it is working properly.

Situations:

A---If the system is damaged, IE the alternator has a bad diode or other damage, and may have "been" a 60A alternator, now effectively a 20? A unit, the engine will still run when you remove the cable, because all it's doing is running the ignition. This does NOT prove that it's charging correctly or that the regulator is at the right voltage, or that it's even putting out enough to run the car when other loads, heater, etc are on

B--Some alternators don't output well at low engine speeds. If the vehicle is idling slow enough, and you pull the cable, it might die because the alternator is not turning fast enough, and you might incorrectly conclude that it's not charging. In fact, it might be working quite normally.
 
ClarkDart70 said:
Will the current coil be ok, or do I need to be running an e core?
Click to expand...
Yes, your current coil is "OK".
Yes, you should be running an E-core coil since "great". Skip White's are only $20 or use one from a Magnum engine or GM TBI engine or Ford TFI.
 
This could be the source of that old wives tale***

***I am not advocating it...
 

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I don't advocate disconnecting BATT+ while the engine is running either, but I used to do that on my 69 Dart long ago and never had a failure. I had electronic ignition and probably an electronic Vreg. On newer cars, you risk the engine controller, and most have >100 A alternators that can give more kick.
 
I always like a larger battery in case I need accessories while the engine is off or an off chance issue makes me have to crank alot in a remote location.

Napa makes a great DP battery. Dual Purpose.

It is like a deep cycle / start battery in one. I got one and it will sit for a couple months in the field and still super crank the heck out of my truck. It will run the radio and head lights for several hours while hanging out also and still crank the truck just fine. About 100 bucks.

Autozone used to test your alternator for free while it was still on your car. Maybe you should get the charging system tested and proven before thinking about a new battery.

One common issue: Seems a few folks are having issues with their voltage regulator not being grounded properly. Need to be sure of clean metal on the back of the tabs and the place where it touches the mounting area around the screw hole, on the car..
 
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