Dead on side of the road ! ! ! Help !

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So I feel like an idiot--- once I unhooked the tach wire from the cool, she fired right up... This after I bought and installed a replacement coil.
Now why the hell would a tach wire kill all spark? With the new coil on, I touched the tach wire to the negative post on the coil just to see if it was the tach wire that did it, and yup, the motor dies once that tach wire is on the coil. Wasted a lot of money on this easy fix!!
 
dartman59 said:
So I feel like an idiot--- once I unhooked the tach wire from the cool, she fired right up... This after I bought and installed a replacement coil.
Now why the hell would a tach wire kill all spark? With the new coil on, I touched the tach wire to the negative post on the coil just to see if it was the tach wire that did it, and yup, the motor dies once that tach wire is on the coil. Wasted a lot of money on this easy fix!!
Click to expand...

Because the tach wire is grounded somewhere, that why. If the coil is grounded all the time it will not make sparks. Use a 12-volt test light or make one from an old bulb and socket. Connect your test light leads to battery positive and to the tach wire removed from the coil. If the test light glows the wire is grounded. Follow the wiring and when you disturb or remove the short the light will go off. Or out. Some people's lights go off, some go out. I don't know why. I don't know out where, either. That's just the way it is.
 
So if install a tach. i should not ground it because the coil is already grounded and it should not be grounded at all times?

or are you saying the wire lead is grounding somewhere Via-> plastic coating exposure causing wire to ground causing car to turn off.
 
I believe he is saying the tech signal wire (many times it is green) is grounding somewhere between the coil negative and the Tach itself. Depending on Tach design, it could also be an internal short in the Tach that is allowing it to ground the tach signal circuit.
The tach should be grounded. Typical install:
Red - Key on power
Black - ground
White - dash light dimmer circuit. (To dim the light inside the tach if it is lit internally)
Green - Tach signal from either ignition coil (-) or from your spark control device tach output port.
Like Rusted said above, check the tach signal wire from the end that connects to the coil (-) all the way to the Tach itself. My guess is the same as his, you have a pinched wire or bare wire somewhere in there that is grounding out.
If you inspect and do not find a short, time for a new Tach.
 
dartman59 said:
So I feel like an idiot--- once I unhooked the tach wire from the cool, !!
Click to expand...


Well LOL I think I told you to try that........

67Dart273 said:
..................Try disconnecting the tach if you have one connected.......................
Click to expand...


Oh!! I did!!! LMAO

Might not be the tach WIRE it might be something actually wrong internally in the tach.
 
dartman59, Thanks for being a man and telling us the resolution, not shirking off like many who cry help, don't read, then finally fix it by doing what was suggested.

Scoring on this one:

Aug 22, 5:05p Call from side of the road with ratty problem almost nobody could solve over the internet.

Aug 22, 5:18p FABO's super electrical expert, 67Dart273 replies, "try removing tach wire, if you have one".

Aug 26 (probably not on road anymore) OP tries removing tach wire and fires right up.

I know how hard it is to think methodically when you are stranded and I have made the stupidest mistakes when time-pressured or family asking, "how long". Also, trying to read web pages on those puny smart phone screens is pretty worthless. Anyway, great result all around.
 
Yes, I cannot express enough my thanks, appreciation, and gratitude for the help and expertise received here! Never mind the fact that this is FABO, and my original post/cry for help concerned A CHARGER !! :) and, in full disclosure, I made the post for my son, down in Brooklyn, who phoned me from the side of the road. I didn't have any effective advice but I told him to hold tight because I knew where I could get some great feedback and input. And sure enough, FABO and the time-honored experts and practical geniuses gave the effective response WITHIN MINUTES. Really amazing. You're right, Mr. Grissom, 67Dart273--who has provided me with lots of help over the last few years--had the answer right off the bat, but neither I nor my son were able to see it, being all to ready to blame a faulty component rather than a simple short. There are parallels here and takeaways that apply to the rest of life! :)

FABO and its members RULE ! ! !

Someone asked to post a pic of the car. I'd love to, including a pic of the car being towed away by the wrecker that night :banghead: but I cannot figure out how to do that on this iPad. Every time I try it boots me out to the login page. Believe me, I've tried several times. I'm sure my son, Sam, would love to have his Charger ogled on the FABO site. Heehee.

Thanks again, all.
 
Ditto whitepunk. You age and learn. I try to keep critical spares in all my vehicles. I carry a plastic p.s. pulley in my 2002 T&C since that stupid part delayed us a day in SoCal. I carry a cam-timing set (rubber belt & pulleys) in my 1996 Voyager since last time that failed it took a week to get the parts. If you install a mini-starter (all our engines), carry another in the trunk and you are still at the weight of the original. BTW, my 64 & 65 Mopars auto trannys allow push-starting, though I never tried. I don't fully trust the Holley EFI in my 65 Newport, so carry a 2 bbl carb in the trunk.
 
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