Chrysler Electronic Ignition No Spark

So I finally got my new 360 into my dart and have been trying to fire it up but have not been able to get spark. It had a jury rigged ignition/charging wiring job with a Chinese standalone distributor back when it had the 318 in it and I rewired it to be all factory Chrysler electronic style.

The coil, distributor and ballast resistor are all brand new. And yes it’s the proper coil for an externally resisted system. I followed the factory wiring diagrams in my shop manual and everything is going to where it’s supposed to go. I have key on power to the resistor and the plug on the ignition box where it’s jumped across the factory plug to the lower resistor terminal and power to the other side of the resistor that leads to the positive side of the coil (which has power too). I have tried 2 different boxes that both came out of running cars.

But when I get out my test light and clamp it to the negative side of the coil and hit the positive battery terminal it does not flash while cranking that I can see. It goes from fully lit to just dim with a constantly lit bulb. What am I missing here? And as always thanks big time for any help!

1...Make absolutely certain the ECU is grounded
2...Check voltage at coil + to ground with key in "run." Should be "down" around 6-10V with a fully charged battery at 12.X
3...Check above again while cranking WITH THE KEY. Should be 'same as battery' and no lower than 10V, and better, higherV.
4....With key in run, and coil wire held near engine, or connected to test gap, disconnect dist. harness, and take the engine bay side of the connector. Tap the bare terminal of the 2 wire connector to ground. Should get a nice hot "snap" spark each time

67Dart273 said:

1...Make absolutely certain the ECU is grounded
2...Check voltage at coil + to ground with key in "run." Should be "down" around 6-10V with a fully charged battery at 12.X
3...Check above again while cranking WITH THE KEY. Should be 'same as battery' and no lower than 10V, and better, higherV.
4....With key in run, and coil wire held near engine, or connected to test gap, disconnect dist. harness, and take the engine bay side of the connector. Tap the bare terminal of the 2 wire connector to ground. Should get a nice hot "snap" spark each time

Click to expand...

1: If I understand correctly the box should ground itself to the body through the mounting bolts. Both are good grounds and I checked them with my test light.

2: I don’t have a volt meter to be 100% sure but at both the resistor and the coil positive the light on my test light is noticeably dimmer

3: again can’t really check ATM but I got a buddy with a meter coming by later.

4: which end of the coil wire? Does it still need to be hooked up to the coil or dist?

LOL for testing spark you need to hook the wire to the SOURCE which is the coil Spark does not come "from" the dist to the coil, it comes out of the coil

Here is some more:


Here's a post I made about the simplest way I know to get across testing the ECU/ ignition parts

You need a coil, the ECU and the distributor

Lay it out on the bench. Follow the diagram. Find the two distributor pickup terminals on the ECU. Hook them to the distributor

Hook the ECU case to battery NEG

Coil does NOT need grounded

Distributor does NOT need grounded.

Hook coil + to the power lead terminal on the ECU. Get a clip lead hooked there and let dangle. This is your battery "hot" when you are ready

Hook something from coil "case" to a probe for testing spark.

Hook up your power clip lead. Twist the distributor shaft while holding the test probe near the coil tower. The thing should make sparks

If not, unhook distributor. Take first one, then the other pickup clip leads, and "tap tap" ground them at the battery connection. Coil should make 1 spark each time you do so.

If not, try another coil. If that does not fix it replace the ECU

IF you hook it all up and it WORKS, then there is something AFU in the car harness. SUSPECT a bad ECU connector OR a bad DISTRIBUTOR connector
=============================================
This is all you need to test the basics of the ignition. You can easily test the ballast separate. A battery, the ECU, distributor and a coil, and of course some test leads



Below, the basic diagram for a 4 pin ECU



Below, the wire for testing spark. I use my 12V test light. No, LOL the spark won't blow up the bulb



Below, the ground connection. ALL you need is one wire from batt NEG to the ECU case



Below, the two distributor connections. In the car these are polarity sensitive, but for testing does not matter



Below, the coil NEG connection



Below, battery PLUS connection, one wire to this terminal of ECU and jumpered over to + side of coil




Below, all hooked up and ready to test (except for battery ground). Should produce sparks at least 3/8" and typically 1/2" long



Below, distributor "one wire" test. I have removed the other distributor wire for simplicity. Take the bare connector end or this clip lead (the yellow) and with everything hooked up, ground it repeatedly. Each grounding should result in a spark (In this photo you need to hook up the ECU ground wire, I left it off for the photo)

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Swingin73Dart said:

So I finally got my new 360 into my dart and have been trying to fire it up but have not been able to get spark. It had a jury rigged ignition/charging wiring job with a Chinese standalone distributor back when it had the 318 in it and I rewired it to be all factory Chrysler electronic style.

The coil, distributor and ballast resistor are all brand new. And yes it’s the proper coil for an externally resisted system. I followed the factory wiring diagrams in my shop manual and everything is going to where it’s supposed to go. I have key on power to the resistor and the plug on the ignition box where it’s jumped across the factory plug to the lower resistor terminal and power to the other side of the resistor that leads to the positive side of the coil (which has power too). I have tried 2 different boxes that both came out of running cars.

But when I get out my test light and clamp it to the negative side of the coil and hit the positive battery terminal it does not flash while cranking that I can see. It goes from fully lit to just dim with a constantly lit bulb. What am I missing here? And as always thanks big time for any help!

Click to expand...

Sounds like the pick up shot craps in your Chinese distributor.

512Stroker said:

Sounds like the pick up shot craps in your Chinese distributor.

Click to expand...

The Chinese one is gone. I replaced it with a factory style one. Air gap on the pickup is right around .008 which is what my shop manual says is correct

Swingin73Dart said:

The Chinese one is gone. I replaced it with a factory style one. Air gap on the pickup is right around .008 which is what my shop manual says is correct

Click to expand...

Run a heavy ground wire from the neg battery post directly to the one ECU mounting screw. Use a star washer so it bites thru the paint.
Saved my *** once.

there are so many more dependable ignition systems than the chrysler electronic. The ignitor is a really simple,very reliable ,easy to install system . Just my thoughts.

a12 said:

there are so many more dependable ignition systems than the chrysler electronic. The ignitor is a really simple,very reliable ,easy to install system . Just my thoughts.

Click to expand...

............Why don't we troubleshoot what's there before replacing the house, the garage, and the local supermarket?

67Dart273 said:

LOL for testing spark you need to hook the wire to the SOURCE which is the coil Spark does not come "from" the dist to the coil, it comes out of the coil

Here is some more:


Here's a post I made about the simplest way I know to get across testing the ECU/ ignition parts

You need a coil, the ECU and the distributor

Lay it out on the bench. Follow the diagram. Find the two distributor pickup terminals on the ECU. Hook them to the distributor

Hook the ECU case to battery NEG

Coil does NOT need grounded

Distributor does NOT need grounded.

Hook coil + to the power lead terminal on the ECU. Get a clip lead hooked there and let dangle. This is your battery "hot" when you are ready

Hook something from coil "case" to a probe for testing spark.

Hook up your power clip lead. Twist the distributor shaft while holding the test probe near the coil tower. The thing should make sparks

If not, unhook distributor. Take first one, then the other pickup clip leads, and "tap tap" ground them at the battery connection. Coil should make 1 spark each time you do so.

If not, try another coil. If that does not fix it replace the ECU

IF you hook it all up and it WORKS, then there is something AFU in the car harness. SUSPECT a bad ECU connector OR a bad DISTRIBUTOR connector
=============================================
This is all you need to test the basics of the ignition. You can easily test the ballast separate. A battery, the ECU, distributor and a coil, and of course some test leads

View attachment 1715488599

Below, the basic diagram for a 4 pin ECU

View attachment 1715488600

Below, the wire for testing spark. I use my 12V test light. No, LOL the spark won't blow up the bulb

View attachment 1715488601

Below, the ground connection. ALL you need is one wire from batt NEG to the ECU case

View attachment 1715488602

Below, the two distributor connections. In the car these are polarity sensitive, but for testing does not matter

View attachment 1715488603

Below, the coil NEG connection

View attachment 1715488604

Below, battery PLUS connection, one wire to this terminal of ECU and jumpered over to + side of coil


View attachment 1715488605

Below, all hooked up and ready to test (except for battery ground). Should produce sparks at least 3/8" and typically 1/2" long

View attachment 1715488606

Below, distributor "one wire" test. I have removed the other distributor wire for simplicity. Take the bare connector end or this clip lead (the yellow) and with everything hooked up, ground it repeatedly. Each grounding should result in a spark (In this photo you need to hook up the ECU ground wire, I left it off for the photo)

View attachment 1715488607

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Click to expand...

Would it matter if I have the 5 pin box instead of the 4 pin?

A 5 pin box must have a 4 pin ballast

A 4 pin box can have either 2 or 4 pin resistor

A box with 5 physical pins does not make a 5 pin box. The 5th pin may be unconnected. If it is made in last few years, or aftermarket (not Mopar OEM) then it is most likely 4 pin

If you take an ohmeter and test resistance from the 5th pin to all the other 4 and ground, then reverse the probes (polarity) and do that again, if the readings are all "open" (infinity) then you can be sure you have a 4 pin box

Del has you covered and his testing will end in a running engine