Ignition box dead?

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MopaR&D

MopaR&D

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I attempted to drive my Duster today in 3*F (yes three degrees) weather, I actually got it started with no troubles and drove it for a while. Then I went to make a turn, accelerated onto a main road and it just died when I let off the throttle. Thought the battery was bad (which it was) but that didn't fix it; just cranks with no spark.

I have a Mallory HyFire 6A ignition box hooked up to a newer factory electronic distributor. I installed it about seven years ago under the hood just on top of the pass. side inner fender and I'm guessing the extreme temps got to it after all that time. Is there a good way to check the box itself and then the coil maybe as well?
 
You can send it back to Mallory and they will check it. I doubt the under hood temps in that spot are high enough to kill the box. I'd look for a loose ground or something while you're at it.
 
madscientist said:
You can send it back to Mallory and they will check it. I doubt the under hood temps in that spot are high enough to kill the box. I'd look for a loose ground or something while you're at it.
Click to expand...

Cool I forgot about that I will send it in and see what they say. In the meantime I'll try isolating the wiring and check for shorts or bad connections. I added a kill switch inline with the "ignition-ON" circuit and I have a feeling the problem is with that.

412 Stroker with this box to test spark usually I just pop the signal connection to the distributor and listen for a spark in the distributor cap when I repeatedly touch the connectors together. Didn't hear anything so I popped the coil plug wire and watched for spark going to an engine ground... nothing. I doubt this is a fuel issue as it didn't sputter or act like it was running out of gas the engine just quit instantly with no warning and I already verified there is no spark.
 
Not exactly related but I also just bought a new correct-size battery from wally world, turns out the one in there was a 58 group size (same as my '93 Jeep Cherokee) with only 550 or so CCA. Swapped it out with a proper big-boy 24 group size with 700 CCA, hopefully I never have to worry about draining the battery from extended cranking at least during the 5-year warranty period lol... only thing I don't like is the weight it's at least 50 lbs, time to look into relocating it to the trunk :burnout:
 
OK got the car back home and started checking things out, turns out the ignition is working fine but still no start!!! I pulled a plug and made sure the spark wasn't getting "lost" somewhere but it's all good, fat spark at the plug. I basically ran the new battery down cranking it so much now it's on my plug-in charger.

There is definitely fuel getting in there too I could see and smell it. In fact there was puddling under the carb so I disconnected the acc. pump and held the throttle open, cranked it for like 10 seconds and not even a sputter. WTF is going on I've gotten this car started before in super cold weather. It is still single-digit temps outside though I really hope it's just the cold screwing things up.

Good compression too I've had a timing chain jump before and that definitely didn't happen here, I have a double-roller set with a tensioner so that's pretty much impossible anyway.
 
Not sure if anyone is still watching this thread but the problem is gone... Today was warmer and sunny (20-30* range) and when I went out the start the car it just fired right up on the first crank. Must have been the extreme cold, main lesson I learned is don't let your engine flood in single-digit temps or you ain't going anywhere! lol
 
I guess the gas was not very volitile when that cold......BTW, test your spark across a 1/4" gap, not a plug; jumping a small gap in open air is not going to tell you if it will be able to jump that same small gap in a compressed fuel/air mixture.
 
ice in gas line?

dont waste time, not making fun. learn to troubleshoot right then. check spark. pump carb. look for gas
 
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