It just gets better and better.......

[bizjetmech]

Finally got everything back together and resolved.

Rebuit engine and tranny back in. Everything hooked up. Engine cranks, no start, no spark at the coil-distributor lead. Car ran fine prior to engine/tranny R & R.

Checked voltage at the positive terminal of the coil. Only reads 5-6 volts. Started working backwards from + terminal of coil. Pulled the 8-pin plastic connector where the engine harness plugs into the engine compartment harness.......have 12 volts at the brown wire. on the engine compartment side of the connector. WTF? Brown wire between connector and + terminal shows continuity.

Have already swapped the ballast and ECU to known new/good ones. Still, nothing. So what am I missing here?????

 

[67Dart273]

You cannot check things like that with the harness disconnected. You need to check it "under load."

For example, let's "say" you have an ignition switch and the "run" contacts are starting to go bad. If you disconnect the "load" (ignition system, regulator, etc) and measure the voltage with everything disconnected, there is nothing (except the meter) to drop the voltage.


GENERALLY the path from the "ign run" (ign1, normally dark blue) is from the ballast/ regulator -- through the bulkhead -- to the connector at the ign switch -- through the switch -- back out the connector -- through the wiring to the ammeter, through the ammeter, through the wiring back OUT the bulkhead -- and through the fuse link -- to the starter relay -- to the battery.

So ANY of those places in the circuit can have a bad connection. Probably the first and second suspects are the bulkhead connector, the ignition switch connector, or the switch itself.

Brown?? Brown is normally "ignition bypass" during start, not run.

Normally, yellow, going to relay is "start"

brown going to coil is hot during "start" or "ignition bypass"

Dark blue going to other side of ballast is "ignition run."

Also, if you are checking the voltage at the coil positive with the key in 'run' AND you are running a ballast resistor, THIS WOULD BE about normal.

So you need to measure voltage at coil positive when "cranking" USING THE KEY which would check the brown wire

Check the voltage at the opposite side of the ballast (not the coil side) with engine stopped / key in "run." Voltage should be "close" to same as battery