EL5DEMON340
Well-Known Member
Next step is to try
A different ecu
A different ecu
It's funny you mention an NOS resistor. I noticed a while back the PO left the OE resistor installed and added the new .9 ohm just above it. I just measured the OE resistor and it's at .6 ohm cold. Perhaps I should just go back to using that one?The ICR11 resistor is a poor choice; the 1.4 ohms cold will end up being 5 ohms or more hot and will cut your spark energy. It is the wrong part for a stock based Mopar ignition system..
Go to Advance or OtterZone or similar and find a BWD RU19; that will be a bit above 0.5 ohms cold and 2.5-3 ohms hot. And, I would encourage you to find a NOS ballast on eBay; PN 2095501 is 0.5-0.6 ohms cold and around 2 ohms hot.
I would do as you plan and get another ECU; but eventually would try to find an NOS ECU. The newer ones from the stores are not noted for their reliability. (BTW, some of the coil heat is likely due to the orange box; I understand they have extra dwell to support higher RPM use.)
Clean up you wires and all contacts and connections and check your reluctor gap with a non-ferrous gapping tool. I would suspect an erratic connection or part for the latest stall.
Original coil when purchased was an MSD Blaster. I have since put in a duralast gold stock-type. One of the previous members had mentioned they run an Accel coil.That IS interesting. Perhaps the OE did not realize that any ballast resistor will increase in resistance when hot, but probably he was trying you compensate for the low coil resistance of the Accel to keep it cool. Silly, because that just reduced coil spark energy and took away any advantage of the Accel.
I have sorta lost track here; you replaced the Accel coil with a 1.5 ohm stock type coil, is that correct? (I.e., the Duralast Gold is a 1.5 ohm primary resistance coil?) If so, I would go back to the OEM resistor and use the RU19 as a back up. If the coil still gets too hot, then I would look at more cooling and the orange box.
If you are just running this car on the street, I would go back to the regular plain-Jane OEM ECU box. There is no need for any extended dwell time for lower RPM street use.
And you may want to read up on HEI conversions and see if that is for you. It may be, as it sounds like perhaps your son is happy to be an 'equipment operator' at this point in time, and it may make life simpler for you. I keep the stock stuff because I am interested all-original operation, but it has the limitations of 60-70 year old technology.
Don't throw in the towel. Worst-case, you could buy the $45 ready-to-run HEI distributor on eBay and toss the ballast. Add an e-core coil ($20) and you will be sparking strong.