I made a wiring diagram for my 1982 Dodge Ram D-150's dual-pickup ignition system. Can y'all tell me if anything looks off before I wire in the rest?

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hyacinth

hyacinth

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I recently purchased a 1982 Dodge Ram D-150 with the slant six and 833OD transmission. The distributor I have is dual-pickup (edit: WITH vacuum advance,) which I am attempting to make work instead of buying a single pick-up version. Previous owner had ripped out 90% of the ignition system and wiring so I've had to cobble it together from pictures and the FSM. I have a 4-pin mopar ignition control computer. I know enough about electrical to be dangerous, but not enough to be able to point out glaringly obvious faults in my home-made diagrams. I'd be very appreciative if someone with more expertise on this matter could chime in and let me know if this setup will work or if it will need alteration.

Thanks in advance!

1691607022084.png
 
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EDIT: READ PAST THIS FIRST SECTION

Sorry, no You went to a lot of work for nothing. The dual pickup dist (so far as I know) has no advance mechanism, and was designed to work with lean burn.


You need to find a "regular" single pickup dist with vacuum and mechanical advance, and substitute that and then wire it direct to the ignition module.

AND I MAY BE INCORRECT

You also need to pay attention to pickup polarity, because if reversed, it changes what is called "rotor phasing." (search that.) Rotor phasing changes the time/ timing / degree relationship of the spark firing point with where the rotor is or should be relative to the cap tower contacts

THESE threads. Evidently some did have vacuum advance. But I do not believe they had mechanical

YOU CAN TELL by springing the rotor while holding the shaft. If you can move the rotor in the same direction as the dist rotates, and it then "springs back" it has mechanical advance. Whether, however, it curve is decent is doubtful

www.forabodiesonly.com

What's this all about? Dual pickup electronic distributor?

I'm far from an expert on this stuff, but I never saw or heard of a dual pickup electronic distributor before. No vacuum advance. Anybody know what this is about? I bought a box full of ignition parts from a guy and this was in it. Cley
www.forabodiesonly.com www.forabodiesonly.com

Or maybe not. This guy claims some slant sixes did indeed, read:


"What Russ said applies to V8's only. In the early eighties some six cylinder cars had the dual pickup distributors but were not lean-burn equipped. The distributor had a normal vacuum advance mounted on it and used the familiar old Chrysler Electronic ignition. I had an 81 Diplomat with this setup. The dual pickup distributor, V8 or /6, was not a performance item, the car started on one pickup and ran on the other, controlled by a relay. The engine never runs using both pickups at the same time."

If that last is true, I'd be temped to try connecting the "run" pickup and check the timing and advance and see where you stand
 
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67Dart273 said:
EDIT: READ PAST THIS FIRST SECTION

Sorry, no You went to a lot of work for nothing. The dual pickup dist (so far as I know) has no advance mechanism, and was designed to work with lean burn.


You need to find a "regular" single pickup dist with vacuum and mechanical advance, and substitute that and then wire it direct to the ignition module.

AND I MAY BE INCORRECT

You also need to pay attention to pickup polarity, because if reversed, it changes what is called "rotor phasing." (search that.) Rotor phasing changes the time/ timing / degree relationship of the spark firing point with where the rotor is or should be relative to the cap tower contacts

THESE threads. Evidently some did have vacuum advance. But I do not believe they had mechanical

YOU CAN TELL by springing the rotor while holding the shaft. If you can move the rotor in the same direction as the dist rotates, and it then "springs back" it has mechanical advance. Whether, however, it curve is decent is doubtful

www.forabodiesonly.com

What's this all about? Dual pickup electronic distributor?

I'm far from an expert on this stuff, but I never saw or heard of a dual pickup electronic distributor before. No vacuum advance. Anybody know what this is about? I bought a box full of ignition parts from a guy and this was in it. Cley
www.forabodiesonly.com www.forabodiesonly.com

Or maybe not. This guy claims some slant sixes did indeed, read:


"What Russ said applies to V8's only. In the early eighties some six cylinder cars had the dual pickup distributors but were not lean-burn equipped. The distributor had a normal vacuum advance mounted on it and used the familiar old Chrysler Electronic ignition. I had an 81 Diplomat with this setup. The dual pickup distributor, V8 or /6, was not a performance item, the car started on one pickup and ran on the other, controlled by a relay. The engine never runs using both pickups at the same time."

If that last is true, I'd be temped to try connecting the "run" pickup and check the timing and advance and see where you stand
Click to expand...
My distributor has a vacuum pot, so I'm hoping it'll work for this application.

The wiring diagram is based on the following pages from the FSM, I assumed the dual pick-up non lean-burn ignition would be the same if wired up for a slant 6.



1691609468486.jpeg
1691609953557.png


1691609816712.png


Thank you for the links to the forum posts, those are helpful!
 
hyacinth said:
View attachment 1716125379
I recently purchased a 1982 Dodge Ram D-150 with the slant six and 833OD transmission. The distributor I have is dual-pickup (edit: WITH vacuum advance,) which I am attempting to make work instead of buying a single pick-up version. Previous owner had ripped out 90% of the ignition system and wiring so I've had to cobble it together from pictures and the FSM. I have a 4-pin mopar ignition control computer. I know enough about electrical to be dangerous, but not enough to be able to point out glaringly obvious faults in my home-made diagrams. I'd be very appreciative if someone with more expertise on this matter could chime in and let me know if this setup will work or if it will need alteration.

Thanks in advance!

View attachment 1716125382
Click to expand...
Just curious - what program did you use to make that wiring diagram?
 
I would first try to determine the mechanical advance curve. It might just be you can simplify the heck out of that. Bear in mind this stuff is ALWAYS for emissions, and NEVER for driveability or performance
 
67Dart273 said:
I would first try to determine the mechanical advance curve. It might just be you can simplify the heck out of that. Bear in mind this stuff is ALWAYS for emissions, and NEVER for driveability or performance
Click to expand...
That's what I will likely end up doing if my brainpower proves too weak to figure out the dual pickup system. Lol
 
hyacinth said:
That is the BAL terminal on the starter relay:

View attachment 1716126163
Click to expand...
Looking at the third shop manual diagram posted, its hard to be sure as the image is small but this is what I think I see.
the Bal terminal on the starter relay is to power ignition during start. While it makes a junction at the ballast, it goes on through an engine connector to the coil positive.
 
Thanks. Now that you've posted that, I see the voltage regulator is wire incorrectly

1691941037952.png


@hyacinth Regulator's ignition terminal is the voltage sensing point.
One brush on the alternator needs to be connectored to the run circuit (J10)
The other brush to the regulator's field terminal.
www.forabodiesonly.com

Identifying Chrysler Alternators (1960-1976)

Roundback and Squareback refer to the style of housing. Roundback through model year 1969. Roundback for model years 1970-71 usually has a slightly different rear housing Squareback Revised Squareback Is most easily differentiated by the thin middle between the housings. Overall these...
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I was looking at how that starter relay interfaces on the v-8 single pickup diagram.
1691941495988.png


My only explanation is wire J9-14 pink gets power during start through the relay.
During normal engine running, power comes from the J10 circuit (red) and goes to the coil through the ballast resistor.
 
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