1964 Valiant HEI troubles

-
Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

Active Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2012
Messages
33
Reaction score
0
Location
Santa Cruz
I deleted the ballast. There were 4 wires going into it. Do I connect all of the wires together or two and two? Ill have pics tomorrow got to go to my lil sisters birthday dinner. And its a 225 slant. Its a new to me car and as far as i can tell in the engine compartment its all stock. Except I did notice that its a 3 wire alternator and Im not sure if that works properly with the old style wiring.
 
Ive got 12.25 volts at the + side of the coil but no spark. Is this too low? the battery is at 12.48.
 

Attachments

  • 2015-02-26 11.01.28.jpg
    40.8 KB · Views: 175
  • 2015-02-26 11.01.05.jpg
    41.7 KB · Views: 234
I recall that my 65 had 3 wires to the ballast, but it is a V-8 and yours had a slant (throttle rod, not cable). Check the wiring diagram. Regardless, you should connect all the wires together that went to the ballast.

12.25 V should be fine. You could trace down the voltage drops from BATT+ to your relay and after, if you truly care. I assume the engine is not running, otherwise you should see ~14 V w/ the alternator turning.

Is you HEI module on the backside of the plate? Is that black wire hanging the ground for the HEI case? It won't work unless you ground it well (no drop to BATT-). You have exposed copper on the 12 V feed spade terminals, so cover that before you drive the car.
 
Thanks BIll sadly its still not running.
Yes the hei is on the backside. The ground was just hanging its nice and tight now. and ill be sure to cover the exposed copper.
 
Show us a picture of the HEI wiring, it is a mystery because we cannot see how you wired the 5 connections. Also it is difficult to identify what wiring is shown, we see wires but not sure where they all terminate on both ends.

There are a large number of past posts that help with wiring up a HE I module.
 
Just wondering,what was wrong with the factory ignition ? :scratch:
 
Found this on Moparchat
"It has the same function as the single ballast resistor on a points ignition, so just think of it that way. Its purpose is to drop the voltage to the coil after the engine starts so that the coil doesn't overheat. When you crank the engine over, the ballast is bypassed so that full voltage is applied to the coil for easier starting. (That's the brown wire I referred to in the other thread.) When you release the key to the run position, the coil gets its supply voltage only after the current has passed through the ballast from the dark blue wire. This dark blue wire also happens to be the same as the 12V supply that powers the ECU, so it's a convenient place to accomplish both feats.

The reason I told you to use 2 jumpers is to fully simulate what the ignition switch does. If you want to try it with one jumper only, make sure it's the one that goes to the dark blue wire. The down side is that depending on battery voltage, temperature and the general state of tune of the engine, it may be harder to start without supplying 12V to the brown wire while cranking. Hope this helps.

-Allan"
I think this may be what i need and ditch the relay.
Or maybe the battery is not giving it enough juice while cranking??
This is the wiring i followed.
 

Attachments

  • hei.jpg
    21 KB · Views: 158
That schematic does not show the module ground connection, nor the ignition switch correctly . The mopar switch has multiple contacts used for start and run. That is why you need to connect ballast the wires together so the coil and module get supply when cranking and running.
 
KitCarlson you are 100% right. Ive done all that and still no spark out of the coil wire. i swapped in the old coil and still no spark.
 
Have you measured continuity of pickup coil to be about 300 Ohms?

Is gap set to 0.008" to 0.010" using non magnetic feeler?

Check all connection locations including grounds and continuity with meter.
Are you getting 12V at coil for crank and run positions?

If you remove module connection "C" from coil negative, then ground coil (-) very briefly to ground and release do you get shocked or get spark? :)

If your base plate is aluminum, the anodize may be preventing a good ground at module.
 
Its 400 Ohms.
Im getting 12v it at run but i dont think crank. I dont have a helper to turn the key while i check.
I have a solid ground.
Its got to be low cranking volts.
 
An easy way to test an HEI module is to unplug the connector that runs to the distributor at the HEI module and moisten your index finger and touch the terminals on the module where you unplugged the distributor connector. When you do that it'll fire the coil. Don't worry about getting shocked, were only talking milliamp's here. You have to have the ign switch in the run position of course and everything else in the circuit must be good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top