70 Duster keeps shutting off

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dancinwulf

dancinwulf

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My 1970 318 Duster keeps shutting down. It has a MSD 6A and MSD coil. It ran fine for over
3000 miles and then started shutting off. I have replaced the coil and its not fuel. Could it be the MSD box itself. I have heard that you can eliminate the balast resistor with that. It will shut down and there is no dash light then the oil pressure sensor light will come back on and it will start. Im not sure where to start looking.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.:violent1:
 
Check to make sure that your bulkhead connectors are seated properly. Also there is a possibility that the pin with the fuseable link has slid out of the plastic bulkhead connector or that it is corroded.
 
Ok so where is the fuseable link located do I have to take apart the bulkhead connectors to find it. The strange things is it will run fine for 20 miles one day before it shuts off and only run for 3 miles the next time. Or will start fine and idle for 3 or 4 min and then just shut off. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason.
 
I am pretty sure it is electrical just not sure where to start looking I replaced the coil and the starter relay already trying to eliminate the easy stuff first.
 
dancinwulf said:
Ok so where is the fuseable link located do I have to take apart the bulkhead connectors to find it. The strange things is it will run fine for 20 miles one day before it shuts off and only run for 3 miles the next time. Or will start fine and idle for 3 or 4 min and then just shut off. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason.
Click to expand...

Look at the bulkhead connector, there one tire that is heavier that the others. There should be a plastic piece that is attached to it and it will have a tab on it. That is the wire.
 
The fuse link, as pictured above, goes from the starter relay into the bulkhead connector. If you lose that connection, there will be NO evident power in the car. No headlights, nothing.

I would make certain that the MSD "big" red and black are properly terminated, as per instructions, then take the "small red" which is the "turn on" wire and "hot wire" that to see if it makes a difference.

It could be several things in the ignition.......

power to the ignition, which is why "hot wire"

bad msd box

bad distributor

Coil.......anything else hooked to the coil. With MSD the ONLY thing that should be hooked to the coil are the two wires from the MSD, that is ALL

However,..............you are talking about "no dash light." If it seems it's not getting power, I would look more for stuff like the ignition switch, switch connector, and problems with the bulkhead connector. CERTAINLY pull it apart and inspect it

Go to "MyMopar" and download yourself a free shop manual and roam around there. Lots of good info.

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=31

Also read the MAD article on the bulkhead connector and ammeter and what to do about it

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml
 
Don't know if you have a rev limiter on your MSD. If so pull the chip, seen a bad chip kill a car.
 
I had this same problem it was in the bulkhead connector a little cleaning and 3 years trouble free .
 
Had the same thing happen on my Duster, was the connector from the steering column to the harness. Would be driving along and it would be like I turned the key off. Pull over and it would start back up. Started wiggling wires, connector was the problem. found bad pins in the connector.
 
Backally said:
Had the same thing happen on my Duster, was the connector from the steering column to the harness. Would be driving along and it would be like I turned the key off. Pull over and it would start back up. Started wiggling wires, connector was the problem. found bad pins in the connector.
Click to expand...

Same here after installing an aftermarket ignition switch. One or both of the main power wires in the connector just weren't making a secure connection. The resistance generated a lot of heat in the connector too. Finally pulled the wires and gave them their own connectors. No more problems.
 
Well I have checked out the bulkhead connectors on both sides of the fire wall replaced the coil, replaced the ballast resistors and the only think else I can think of is the MSD box itself the motor will just shut off and then after a few minutes of trying to start it, it will fire up again.So I am stumped I am going to try the simple test that they have for the MSD box but it will be hard to tell if it is one of the times it will start and run for x amount of miles before it shuts off.
 
Get a voltmeter and hook it up to the power feed to the MSD box when it acts up; put the ignition in RUN and see if you get a voltage to the MSD power feed that is no more than a few tenths of a volt lower than battery voltage. If it is good, then suspect the MSD box but I will not be surprised if you find that voltage pretty low. The fact that the oil light goes off and then comes back when things are ready to start indicates a problem in the ignition switch area or its connector.... which it sounds like you have not yet addressed.
 
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