help me find an electrical gremlin, please
thanks for the quick replies and advice,
67dart273, I m slow and dont understand. the dif between the run and start circuit. when it has died in the past, I've had my wife or son turn the key while I checked for spark coming from the coil. Sometimes its there sometimes its not. How is that anything different from what you are telling me to try...sorry just confused
Badsport, not sure I understand how it could be the pick up coil on the dizzy...if I'm having problem getting spark from the coil wire.
OK, Most all cars in these years, Ferd, GM, and Mopar use a ballast resistor and coil
When your Mopar key is in "run" you have "ignition run" through what Mopar calls IGN1 and is traditionally dark blue
BUT when you twist the key to start, this line goes cold by design of the igntition switch, so the ignition MUST get power "somewhere else"
On Ford/ GM, this is done from the I terminal of the start relay/ solenoid.
But on Mopars, you have a separate contact in the switch, which is hot ONLY in start, feeds what Mopar calls "IGN2" out on a traditional brown wire to the coil + sided of the ballast, therefore you get power "in crank."
So the thing is, if you are checking for spark quality, AND you have a problem with either the blue or brown circuit, it depends on what you do to crank the engine----
using key activates the brown bypass
jumpering relay goes through normal blue "ignition run" and the ballast resistor.
Hope that helps.
