Mopar electronic ignition?

[Alf]

The ignition on the Dodge stopped working and we had to fit a new module.

The base was loose so we pulled it apart to find it was full of what appeared to be wet sand?

Is this supposed to be some sort of moisture absorbent?

If so it certainly worked. So much water it fried the ignition. ops:

 

[BillGrissom]

Should be black potting material. What year & model? Photos? History of the module? Who knows what Chinese knock-offs are using today.

 

[Alf]

Thanks for the reply.

It is on a '66 Dart GT.

The previous owner fitted it so I don't know. It could be some cheap knock off.

Sometimes the car can be hard to start and have an uneven idle.

It has the normal heavy black ceramic (?) base.

We were just trying to see if there was any visible burn mark or something inside the old unit.

The look and texture is very sand like. Looking at it you can even see the clear glass like beads scattered throughout. It was very damp so that would have been causing an electrical short.

I will have a talk to the previous owner about it next time I see him at an event.

It now has a genuine Mopar Performance unit. Very much an improvement all round. Good starting and idle. Much better when driving.

 

[BillGrissom]

Moisture absorbent is the last thing you want in there. I would think any circuit board for under-hood use would have "conformal coating", which is a clear coating to keep out moisture and corrosion. That doesn't appear to have it. I think the black potting served that purpose. That large transistor (TO220 case) should be attached to the case for heat rejection. Some have found them just pressed lightly against it. I imagine the top side has a fake TO3 transistor. That design could work fine if they didn't cheapen it so much.

I hope the new "Genuine Mopar" part isn't from the same Chinese factory. There are many fakes out there. The give-away is they all have the same printed SN. Sometimes the Chinese copy too well.