Ignition gremlin STILL alive. Long post.Sorry

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Ironmike

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Posted this issue awhile back on the ignition sub-forum and got a few suggestions, but I decided I'd get more views here on the smallblock forum.

This is the situation: 1971 340 Demon. Came to me all original except for an Accel Street Billet distributor.(no ballass resistor required).
Drove the car for 2 months all over the place with no problems.

One day coming down my street it just died...like I turned it off. Tach dropped to zero and dead. Re started right away, got a block or so and died.
I kept restarting to get it home and could find nothing. At this point it was running good again. So It was now doing it intermittently so I replaced the entire ignition system trying to correct it.

Here's what I did: New magnetic pickup in the Accel distib, adjusted properly
New Accel 300+ MSD type ign box and coil
New voltage regulator
New starter/ignition relay
Checked batt voltage and alternator
Checked all my wiring connections

So fire it up ...run it for 45 minutes, all ok. Go for a nice long ride and ran GREAT.
Winter now here so me and a buddy install Doug's headers, Air Gap intake.....clean everything up and she looks beautiful. Fire it up to check for leaks...no lraks, sounds great, incredible off idle throttle response....WOW!

just HAD to take a little ride with open headers just for fun. Pull out of my driveway and...........it dies. IT AIN"T FIXED afterall.

Now I'm desperate. Only 1 wire goes to the ignition(12V wire from ign switch), so I run a 12V straight from the batt and it STILL dies.

What I found out was it will only restart if you turn the ign switch all the way back to off. If try a restart without doing this, it will just crank all day.

I am at the point of real desperation. Can it be the ign switch, even though It died with the 12v line jumped?

Can it be the batt or alt shorting or spiking?

Can something other than the pick-up go bad in the distrib? It is the only ign part not completely replaced.

Starter?

Something obviously must need "reset" due to the ign needing to be turned to the off position before a restart will happen.

I am so, so sorry for the long post, but at this point, I have nowhere else to turn.
 
Sounds like a bad ignition switch to me.
 
I'm with Redfish on this one. As soon as it dies, you need a test light to find where power stopped at. Don't even turn the key off, just be ready with a test light.
 
connection/ wiring between the coil and distributor? I have had the wire coming out of distributor be worn ie broken inside the insulation and making and breaking at odd times. And yes you need to use a test light when it happens, dont try to restart
G
 
I was hoping to hear that it might be the switch, but what about when I ran a 12V line right from the batt. to my ign box and it STILL died.
Can the switch still be the culprit?

I assumed at that point that the switch was only turning the starter, since the ignition system was already "hot" from the 12V line. Could the switch short out and kill the whole system, ot what?

I'm at the point now that I may have to take it somewhere and I hate the thought of it......AND I don't have a clue where I'd even go.
 
Checked all wires except those going to ignition switch and starter.

Somebody gotta be able to figure this out.
 
Taking it to someone doesn't always get it fixed. Case in point...
Good friend had a shop near him install a replacement engine ( autozone 350 ) in his chevy pickup. A few months later he had a electirical problem , wires melted at the fuse box and alernator dead. he took it back to that shop. They checked it for short circuits, repaired the damage they found and replaced the altenator. About 2 weeks later it happened again. Long story short, he went through this senerio 4 times before he called me. He tells me the whole history and says hes paying a tow truck to bring his pick up here ( about 50 miles ).
here's what I found, those chevys have a large gauge battery wire plugged into their distributer. Those wires were out of their original wire looms That batt wire had a spot worn through the insulation half the size of your pinky nail. It wasn't touching the cast iron intake so no short was evident. The evidence was on the cast iron though. Here's what was happening. if Don only drove the truck his short trip to work and back he didn't have a problem. Soon as he went for a longer trip like into town, the top of the engine would get hot enough for that wire to move / sag. Temperature change will move metal, plastic, most any material.
So how does this relate to your problem ?... Your ignition system needs a full 12 volts to function. IF the contacts in your ignition switch or that harness connecter are failing you may have 12 volts initially and suffer a voltage drop over time, due to heat. A simple test light wouldn't reveal a voltage drop. You would need a volt meter. Also.. Any time you replace a electrical component such as ignition module, disconnect the negitive battery cable and make sure the component is properly chassis grounded before applying power to it. We dont know if you didn't damage the new box at install if proceedures aren't followed. I hope this helps. Good luck
 
I think you may be the guy who can help. Question is, and I hate to keep saying this but......I ran a 12V from the batt to the ign box after disconnecting the 12V running from the ign switch and it still died.
Also it was doing this before I installed the new ignition stuff. That's why I replaced everything.

I did install properly, as per Accel's instructions.

I'm new to Mopars, but not hotrods. I've restored a couple cars over the years. One frame off Vette,...had a drag car that ran high 9's.......that's my background and also that's why this is KILLING me. I just can't figure it out, and I should be able to .

Never seen anything like it before, BUT... I have no experience with a bad ignition switch at all.

I did have a battery short out once, but I'm pretty sure that's a 1 and done thing.
Maybe I should replace the ignition switch and hope for the best.
If you can think of ANYTHING, please keep 'em coming.
 
My shortcomming is not knowing anything about aftermarket ignition systems. Where you put a 12 volt jumper or where the aftermarket system needs 12 volts is greek to me.
Your ignition switch sends one 12 volt supply to the ignition in the start position and a different one in the run position. I dont know which you are connected to, which one you may be loosing, etc...
Sorry
 
You need for it to happen again and start probing with a test light to find if all power sources are good or not.
 
Interesting that you thought it was gone until replacing with the headers and such. Did you check the neutral switch and wiring closely? Just a thought.
 
safety switch will prevent starter operation. Not the problem here.
 
shot in the dark, but where is your coil fed from? had a vehicle a while back that had the same issues, ended up being the hot wire going to the coil was severed except for a couple of strands, under all the tape. under normal circumstance truck would run just fun, but every now and then the harness would move ever so slightly seperating the wire...when testing it with a test light after it died the one or two strands that were still together would be enough to light the test light.
 
The ignition box runs the coil, but still a good thing to check even though it died after giving it direct 12v from battery.
 
Coil is fed from the Ignition box(Accel, MSD type.) So that wiring is all new.
Like I said, this started with the original ignition system...so I replaced it all. Wanted to go with a multi strike ignition anyhow.

So now, there's only 1 existing wire running to the whole darn set up....and I eliminated that when I ran a 12V line from the battery just for a test(it ended up dying again)

The one common item is the Accel distributor. It was there when I bought the car, but I put a brand new pick-up in that. Don't think there's anything else in the distrib that CAN go bad other than the pick-up.

I'm pretty close to replacing the ignition switch, battery and alternator. There ain't nothing left to replace......I don't think.

Maybe Mopars just don't like me :)
 
check the wire to the reluctor with an ohm meter. sounds like a cracked wire not sending a signal to the box.
 
Wow. Didn't know there was a wire to the reluctor. Thought it was an inanimate ferrous wheel hat just moved the magnetic pick up.

Will surely check it out!.......Thanks.
 
Hate to say it, but put a GM 1-wire alternator on it. The Chrysler alternators can go bad, and if the diodes go bad in them, it can send alternating current to your ignition system... another problem you'd spend 1/2 a year chasing before you find the real culprit. Fought it on my Dodge Dart Swinger a couple of times. Intermittent miss, and only under a load. Drive you crazy!
 
Funny you should bring that up. Accel told me today that alternating current will cause the box to shut down, requiring a "ignition off" before it will re-fire. Which is exactly what I have to do when it dies.

A new alt was my next move......before I read your post. Now that I HAVE read it, it's making even more sense.

How can you wire a 1 wire alt into the Chrysler system though?
 
Ironmike said:
Funny you should bring that up. Accel told me today that alternating current will cause the box to shut down, requiring a "ignition off" before it will re-fire. Which is exactly what I have to do when it dies.

A new alt was my next move......before I read your post. Now that I HAVE read it, it's making even more sense.

How can you wire a 1 wire alt into the Chrysler system though?
Click to expand...

They make chrysler 1 wire alts but you are usually 100 amp and you need to bypass the amp gauge for safety reasons.
 
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