No Spark, but have power to the coil?

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4mulaSvaliant

4mulaSvaliant

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Hey guys.
Well Im at it again. My Valiant says NO WAY when I try to start it. I have barely started to dig into this But I have to be honest Im not to knowledgeable with the system and how it works in detail.
So here is what I have found.
I have no spark out of the coil to the cap, and subsiquently none to the plugs!
So I checked the coil in the run position and I have around 12 volts to BOTH sides of the coil.
I thought it was the Ballast Resister and replaced that, to no avail.
Should I have 12v on both sides?
Help guys! I need to get my baby back in the garage and kick the 46' out into the driveway!
 
Ok, I am looking at Mopar Muscles write up on a conversion, and realizing that the 74' Ignition I used has much more crap than I need!
Icurrently have the "dual" ballast resister, and realize that there are too many htings going on in the first place. Because I have "extra" stuff that didnt apply to my car, way back when I did this, I just found where I thought they were supposed to go. The car has ran for years and I even raced it like that, but I really hate the mess that has been the result. I am definately open to any info you guys have to offer, but I am ordering the new wire harness and the correct single ballast resister.
On that note. I have a 2 FLD alternator, will that matter, or can I just use one of them as normal?
 
Have you checked to make sure you don't have a bad coil?? And also the ignition box?? If ya have any spare stuff laying around try swapping them out one at a time to eliminate bad parts before you dig into the wiring. That's where I would start before I spent any time or money on it
 
You don't have a two field alternator, you have an alternator with one field and 2 connections to it; one goes to the regulated ground side and the other goes to the positive supply. The earlier alternators also had one field winding of which one side was internally grounded and the other came out to connect to the regulator.

In any case the charging system has nothing to do with the ignition unless of course the voltage is way low.
 
Make sure the case of the ignition box had a good ground. Probably the #1 cause of not spark.
 
Picking this back up again. I have been gaining a bit of inspiration and I think Im going to tell the piss poor weather we are having to F-off!!! I want my car running!!!!!!!! I need to get it in the garage!

SO.........
Here is what has been done to try to remedy this.
1.I have checked the ecu to make sure it is grounded well. It is well grounded.

2.I said the heck with it, and replaced the Ballast Resister after finding that it must have gotten warm because the "filler" they use to seal the bottom had been dried out and was cracked enough to start crumbling. (that one wasnt but a year old)

3. I have eliminated the ignition switch itself, because I have power to the coil when in the "run" position.

Questions....

Should I have power to both sides of the coil?
If not, which side should have power and in what positions should the ignition be in, to get that power.

I have yet to change the ECU, just cause I dont wanna start throwing cash at this. If I do that, I will just buy the mOPAR conversion and redo all of it.



Thoughts, help, suggestions?????????
Thx guys and gals!


Please help me get my baby runnin again. It has been wayyyyyyy too long since I have gotten to enjoy it!!! I want to drive it so badly this year. I need it in the garage bad!!!](*,)disgust
 
I'd do some checks for you, but, the 340 is out of the car for the 4th time and the car is 100 miles away from me. Hopefully someone chimes in, Free Bump. Good Luck!

P.S. I do know that the ecu can overheat and not work, so if you have a buddy with a known good one, swap them and check, that's how I found my issue.
 
I am seriously considering buying a kit. I swapped this in from a 74 dart and it has the "dual" ballast resister, and the 5 pin ECU. This means there is several un-needed items in the system.
Im not sure if its ok to use the 5 pin ECU and not use the number 3 pin (green/red wire), and then just go buy the single Ballast resister.
Not only that, which regulator do I use if do that? At the moment I have the 74' regulator.

Its quite irritating at the moment!!!!! LOL I guess at least the weather is making me do my home work prior to getting out there!
 
Im wondering if this is whats up? This was taken from that page!

"Dan Stern also pointed out that you will need a standalone, late-model, spool-type coil, either GM or Mopar, or an MSD Blaster, which fits the stock can-type coil bracket. Otherwise the coil will have a short life."

I am not sure yet, but I think I have the correct type of coil, I have been running an Accel Chrome can and then all the others were late 60's to mid 70's coils. Im assuming that is what is being referenced as a "spool type" coil.
 
Donnie,

I have a book and the actuall 4166-A electronic ignition tester, your welcome to it, along with an ECU.

The 77 Truck is a Dual ballest but my 65 is a single ballest electronic ignition if you want to copy that.

I am kinda busy today laying down laminate flooring but I might be free Monday.
 
4mulaSvaliant said:
Hey guys.
Well Im at it again. My Valiant says NO WAY when I try to start it. I have barely started to dig into this But I have to be honest Im not to knowledgeable with the system and how it works in detail.
So here is what I have found.
I have no spark out of the coil to the cap, and subsiquently none to the plugs!
So I checked the coil in the run position and I have around 12 volts to BOTH sides of the coil.
I thought it was the Ballast Resister and replaced that, to no avail.
Should I have 12v on both sides?
Help guys! I need to get my baby back in the garage and kick the 46' out into the driveway!
Click to expand...

Is this the stock ignition system?.....connect a voltmeter to the negative side of the coil and have someone crank it. See if the voltage goes up and down. It should, if the ECU is doing it's thing.
 
Just ordered a new ignition switch from Rockauto.com
Thx Rick.
The tester showed an intermittent signal from the ignition switch.

When in the "run" position I can wiggle the key slightly and make the indicator light flicker on the tester.
That was only noticed after it didnt even come on the first time I turned the key to the run position and then checked the connections on the tester. I then tryed again and noticed the "flickering".
Ill be replacing the switch and tryin again. Im pretty sure this is the issue.
If you figure it pretty much needs to be manipulated to sit in the correct place to get a signal, then it probably isnt making a good connection once it "springs" back to the run position from the start.

However as I type this I realize that, it wont run in the "start" position either. Hmmmmmmmmm
 
Ok its confirmed!!! Just went back out and ran it through the rest of the tests. Actually, its so simple with the Chrysler tester that you really don't do anything. If the 2 green lights are lit and there are no red lights, your good! The only other test is the high output test on the coil. (that was impressive actually).
So after the system checked out, I decided to try to start it since the ignition switch seemed to be working. Sure enough it fired. Didn't start but did fire off. It hasn't been started in quite a while and she usually takes a few attempts after sitting. Well I kept trying and it seems the Switch decided that was enough excitement for one day cause it didn't even try again.


Rick! Thanks again!! You cant get any easier than that tester!!!!
 
Glad it worked out for you, yeah the tester is neat, I guess the guys at Chrysler figured none of us are rocket scientists or spelling Bee masters....

I use the rockauto.com guys alot for the cars they have alot of stuff at a good price.
 
power on both sides of the coil indicates you have power to the ignition. good ballast and coil. problem on the ignition modgual side
 
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