Tell me about your ballast resistor failure.

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The car wouldn't start. Had an old timer tell me to replace the ballast, I did and it ran.

Bought an MSD and never ran a ballast again. Never had the MSD fail me either.
 
j par said:
I built a 76 power wagon and drove it to Colorado and gave it to my son... I told him for months to put a ballast resistor in the glove box.. he didn't... I flew out to visit him and my grandchildren... I brought a ballast resistor and told him I put it in the glove box...
Six months or so later I get a call from my son on his way to work in his Honda...
He said he was going to take the truck to work but when he went to start it it turned over fine and wanted to start but wouldn't.. I said did you try the ballast resistor I put in the glove box?.. NO..
Later that afternoon the text came in.. "damnit dad..." It fired right up...
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Mine and your son went to the same moron school I see.
 
halifaxhops said:
Usually the wire that is wrapped around the ceramic rod burns through. This is a points style. I know I will get a ton of remarks on this but it is usally the wrong value for the system. Best bet is look in the FSM in section 8 for the value. Here are some for the ECU box for example.View attachment 1715655555 View attachment 1715655555 View attachment 1715655556 View attachment 1715655557 View attachment 1715655555 View attachment 1715655556 View attachment 1715655557
View attachment 1715655559
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Lookin in the FSM is always the best thing, but it's like pullin frakkin teeth to get people to do it. How's that remark? lol
 
roccodart440 said:
The car wouldn't start. Had an old timer tell me to replace the ballast, I did and it ran.

Bought an MSD and never ran a ballast again. Never had the MSD fail me either.
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There are plenty of MSD and other aftermarket systems that fail. Yeh. REALLY!!! Considering the millions of Mopars built "with ballast resistors" and the "not so" hundreds of MSD, it just might be that percentages, Mopar is ahead!!
 
j par said:
These kids were born long after carburetors stop being used and they don't own timing lights either LOL or even know how to use one..
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Mine will be 31 in May. He still cannot read analog clock.
 
I carry a spare with me, but never had to use it. Owned many a mopars throughout my years and I cannot remember one ever failing. If so, I can't remember it happening.
 
I never had one fail. Then I bought a 77 W150 and if I ran it and then opened the hood in rain or snow it dumped right on the resistor which would cause an immediate failure. I carried a couple spare resistors in the glove box because of the poor design. I eventually pop riveted an aluminum shield over the resistor so I could open the hood in snowy weather.
 
Back in the 80s next door neighbor was out trying to start her dodge one morning. Was dying right after starting. I went to my car, pulled a ballast resistor & screwdriver out of my glove box. Asked her to open the hood. I swapped it out closed the hood & told her it was fixed. She didn’t believe me me until it started right up. One of the very few times in my life where I looked like a genius.....
 
Car will not start will crank and crank. You will also have no spark. if you put an MSD box in you can eliminate the Ballast.

You will get a similar symptom when the fusible link goes bad.- crank but no spark. I have found more fusible links fail than ballasts, but the ballast does fail from time to time.
 
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Haven’t had many in my life fail. Most memorable was I had. 76 Ramcharger factory big block. Ugly green bare bones no ac or even carpet. My now ex decided she wanted to take it to town along with my first daughter as a baby. It was winter. Anyway I get a phone call the truck quit. So I drive in to town and reach in glove box pull the spare ballast out install it and it fires right up. She thought I knew it was going bad and let her drive it. Not sure she ever understood.
 
Early a body said:
Car will not start will crank and crank. You will also have no spark. if you put an MSD box in you can eliminate the Ballast.

You will get a similar symptom when the fusible link goes bad.- crank but no spark. I have found more fusible links fail than ballasts, but the ballast does fail from time to time.
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The main fuse link kills ALL power. No dome lights, no park or head or tail lights, no nothing. Only way it would crank on many years is if you jumper across the starter solenoid
 
When you add up the buillions of these vehicles built, remember, every single 12V car made by Chrysler used them up until EFI there are damn few failures.
 
I had a couple go bad back in the 70's on worn out, rusty daily drivers. I do carry a spare in the glove box though.
 
Reviving an old thread because once again this forum has saved my ***. I have been working on my old dodge for several months. Went to start it, engine cranks and dies when the key is released. If I crank it and barely release the key enough to release the starter it runs. Of course tons of crap in my glove box but no ballast resistor.
 
Sounds like the classic ballast resistor symptom. Can you jumper across it temporarily and see if the car runs?
 
Ohm meter can be used to quickly determine if its a failing switch or somehting with the ballast resistor.
 
Turns out the situation was strange. I changed the ballast resistor with the same results. I ohmed out my resistor and it was the same as the new one. I checked voltage at the resistor with the key on and had nothing. Checked my choke wire and alternator and had battery voltage. I went back to the resistor and it suddenly had battery voltage. The truck started normally several times. Sticky contact in the ignition switch?? I'm grateful that it runs but not sure what happened. This was on my 75 D100.
 
Did you touch the ignition switch when checking for voltage at those three locations?
If not, then you probably pushed on a loose connection.
No guarentees of course. I don't know exactly where you measured or exactly how your truck was wired up.
 
cruiser said:
Guys: I'm interested in learning how many of you have had a ballast resistor failure in your ride. What happened when it failed? Did everything die, or just the ignition system? How long did your ballast last before it failed. How did you know it failed? Any and all inputs welcomed. Thanks!
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How about this one?

BR 1.jpg


BR 2.jpg
 
That is why the fully enclosed/sealed BRs are better. A good thump or bump can break the brittle former the wire is wound on. The Nichrome wire also becomes brittle over time from so many heating/cooling cycles.
 
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