ignition control unit

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ram45red

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Wanting to replace stock ICU with a Mopar Performance orange box. My box has 5 pins and the orange has 4 pins.Is this a problem. My car is a 73 Dodge Dart Swinger small block.
 
Wont work, my 74 duster is the same way. Took forever to get the parts house to get me a box that would fit ended up looking up a trailduster to get the box.
 
A stock 5 pin unit uses a dual ballast resistor because the unit operated on less than 12 volts to prevent overheating. 4 pin box will operate in 12 volts so the dual ballast resistor is no longer needed. It will work though. In fact some of the aftermarket units have a dummy pin in that 5th position just to avoid concern.
 
buy the chrome one its better.and yes the orange box is a dirrect replacement.i have a 73 swinger also.....
 
To elaborate on what Red said:

The OLDER 5 pin box MUST have a 4 pin ballast

The NEWER 4 pin box CAN use EITHER 2 or 4 pin ballast. It's simply that with a 4 pin box, the second ballast resistor isn't hooked to anything in the box

You can NOT tell a 4 from 5 pin box by looking, because many have 5 pins. The 5th pin is not hooked up. If you don't know "what the box is," the only way to find out is to check resistance with a meter on the 5th pin to see if it "goes anywhere" inside.

There seems to be a lot of controversy over the "orange box" for street use.

Also realize that whatever the color, it applies ONLY to Mopar brand boxes. It does NOT apply to third party, or import, or Chindia, or Mexiwain
 
How do you hook all those wires off my current ballast resitor onto a 2 prong balast resitor?
 
I have been having trouble trying to get my son's 73 dart swinger small block to run without misfiring. Put a 4 prong ICU box from NAPA on it only not to get volts at coil when cranking engine.Has volts at coil when switch on and after releasing key.Changed back to old 5 prong ICU and has volts when cranking but still has a misfire at low speed. Have changed plugs , plug wires ,complete didtributor ,voltage regulator.carb.air filter gas filter ICU unit. Checked wiring bulkhead at firewall ,fuel pressure witch stays at 6lb.This old ICU was on car when we completely rebuilt engine about 50.000 miles ago. Hedrives thi car every day to tech school 50 miles each way. What are we over looking?
 
ram45red said:
I have been having trouble trying to get my son's 73 dart swinger small block to run without misfiring. Put a 4 prong ICU box from NAPA on it only not to get volts at coil when cranking engine.Has volts at coil when switch on and after releasing key.Changed back to old 5 prong ICU and has volts when cranking but still has a misfire at low speed. Have changed plugs , plug wires ,complete didtributor ,voltage regulator.carb.air filter gas filter ICU unit. Checked wiring bulkhead at firewall ,fuel pressure witch stays at 6lb.This old ICU was on car when we completely rebuilt engine about 50.000 miles ago. Hedrives thi car every day to tech school 50 miles each way. What are we over looking?
Click to expand...

Make sure the Control Box is bolted solid. Clean off any rust, paint etc on box and one side of the fender. Do not use the factory sheet metal screws. I also ran a extra ground wire from one of the bolts a body ground location just to make sure it was grounded good.
 
ram45red said:
How do you hook all those wires off my current ballast resitor onto a 2 prong balast resitor?
Click to expand...

I didnt have that issue since I picked up a new engine harness and only had to deal with the 2 connections. The local electrical guru might chime in to be able to help out.
 
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