Should the ballest resistor get hot when I turn the ingition in the on position?

[169dart4y]

I'm trying to figure out why my 69 dart won't start after I did a slant six 318 swap? The ballast resistor gets hot when I turn the ignition to the on position like I'm going to start it.

There is nothing at the ignition when I try to start it, it will bump the starter if I cross the starter relay. Any suggestions

The only thought I have is one yellow wire that went to the starter relay and the electronic ignition were different on the harness when I converted the slant six harness to the 318 harness.I used the 69 slant six harness , the 318 was a 74 dart swinger harness. Everything works on the car except the ignition won't even bump the starter? All the lights work .
I tried to by pass the neutral safety switch and ran a wire from the middle post to the starter relay,nothing !
When you put the car in reverse the tail light come on .
Any thoughts I'm up for suggestions . Thanks

 

[C130 Chief]

A ballast resistor will get warm but not smoking hot.

It sounds like you have wiring issues. Time to break out a diagram and the multimeter...

 

[fishy68]

I bet the wiring is different between the 69 and 74 harnesses. Most likely if you compare schematics from both you could figure out what to move where. Here's some links to wiring schematics you can look through and trace your wiring by.

69 Dart schematic A: http://www.mymopar.com/downloads/1969/69DartA.jpg

69 Dart schematic B:http://www.mymopar.com/downloads/1969/69DartB.jpg

74 Dart schematic A:http://www.mymopar.com/downloads/1974/74DartA.jpg

74 Dart schematic B:http://www.mymopar.com/downloads/1974/74DartB.jpg

After reviewing the schematics it looks like there is alot of differences between them. I traced several wires on the plugs and it looks like everything is all mixed up. i.e. their not compatible. No wonder it doesn't work. It's a wonder the horn doesn't sound off when you try to start it by what I'm seeing. Sorry to say but I think your either going to have to revamp the 74 harness or find a harness off a 69 Dart V8 car.

 

[169dart4y]

So we figured out that a relay off the ballast resistor was bad, I had it wired correct all the time . It fired right up once I by passed the relay. Thanks again:cheers: