Starts, then doesn't start, then starts again.

[_Sam]

So my dad and I rebuilt my 73 dart about 3 years ago. Shortly after that I joined the military and left it in California. Over the past two years I've gone home several times and never had a problem with my car. About a month ago I got a friend of mine to trailer it to North Dakota where I'm stationed at. Had no problem getting it off the trailer and driving it into the garage. The next day it started up just fine and I drove it to get gas and then to a friends house. After Spending about an hour at his house I went to start it up and it just tuned over but wouldn't fire. Come to find out the ignition module was bad. I replaced that and didn't have a problem with it for about 2 weeks. I let it sit for about a week and then decided to take it out but when I went to start it the battery was dead. I figured it was just an old battery and that was my cue that I should be looking into getting a new one but didn't pay much mind to it. I got a jump from my roommate but it took a little bit to fire but eventually did after 10-15 seconds. Again, I thought nothing of it. Drove it to my friends house and parked it and it sat for the majority of the day. Then I went to leave and it turned over a couple of times but in a matter of seconds the battery was dead so again I figured I would just drive it home and wait for payday to come around so I can pick a new battery up. But then I had my friend hook up some jumper cables and would not fire. I didn't have a lot of time to look more into it because it was late and I had work in the morning so I put the car cover on it and left it at my friends house. I didn't touch it for a whole week and finally got the time to go take a look at it on Friday. I was going to use a multi-meter to check and see if all my connections were good and what not but again my battery was dead. I had my friend hook up some jumper cables and I turned it over and to my amazement it started right up so I took it home. I figured maybe it was flooded before or something of that nature. My roommate was working on his car so i decided to pull it out of the garage and park it in the driveway s he had more room to work and so I did just that. But when my roommate was done and I went to start it to pull it into the garage for the night again it didn't start. So that's where I'm at right now. To be honest when my dad and I rebuilt it he was pretty much the one doing all the work and I just handed him tools but I knew getting my car to me was going to run into problems sooner rather or later and this is one of those situations. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[cudascott]

What engine?

 

[_Sam]

318

 

[EL5DEMON340]

I had the same problem, mine was the reluctor to pickup gap in the distributor. It should be right about .008 checked with a brass feeler gauge. Mine was at .022 .

 

[mguner]

^^^^ Brass or plastic. Some of the plastic packaging stuff is bubbled in is the right stuff for a gauge.

 

[67Dart273]

Check starting (cranking) and running voltage at the coil +

Wiggle the 'ell out of the ignition connectors------the main one on the ECU which you must unscrew, the ballast, and ESPECIALLY the one for the distributor pickup. Inspect them visually with a light for corrosion, and "feel" for tightness.

As above, check the dist. connection.

"Next time" it does this be prepared.

"What you need" for troubleshooting...........

A multimeter, a 12V test lamp, a spark gap spark checker, and some clip leads. And a factory shop manual. You can download several years free at MyMopar

Next time it won't start, turn key to "run" and check both coil terminals.

Coil + should be anywhere from 5-9V or so If it's way lower, or way higher, problem

Coil - should be very low, perhaps 1/2 or 1 volt. Very high means the ECU is not conducting

The ECU MUST be grounded. MUST Scrape it and firewall clean, use star washers. Same for voltage regulator!!!

Again with key on, "rig" your spark test gap, and disconnect the distributor connector. Take the end NOT going to the distributor and touch the bare prong to ground. You should get 1 spark each time you do this.

Hook the two distributor terminals to your multimeter. Set it for low AC yes AC volts, and crank the engine. You should get about 1V AC "generated" by the pickup.

Inspect the pickup area for rust, debri, strike damage, shaft wobble. Set the gap for .008" (inches not metric) as mentioned above. Inspect the cap and rotor for spark damage, grease, dirt, moisture, etc.

 

[krazykuda]

I had the same problem, mine was the reluctor to pickup gap in the distributor. It should be right about .008 checked with a brass feeler gauge. Mine was at .022 .

I had one at .030" do the same thing...

I think somewhere over .030" it won't work anymore... Let's find the limits... LOL!

Mine would only start cold, not hot.

 

[_Sam]

So I started with the ECU just because that's what I'm most familiar with. Scraped the firewall and cleaned it to get the best connection I could. Went and got a little bit longer bolts and got the star lock washers and out a nut on the back side. Started right up. Hopefully that fixes it but if it acts up again I'll make sure I run through some more trouble shooting and let you guys know what's going on but so far so good. Thanks for all the help.