Super hot ballast resistor causes and cures?

[dragondan64]

Hey guys and girls, my cuda will hardly run its spitting and sputtering and I just happened to touch the ballast resistor and it is blistering HOT! I cooled it down and the car ran fine for few minutes then started spitting again and the ballast was blistering hot again. Have any ideas whats causing this? I have limited experience with electrical stuff, thanks!
oh new ballast, new coil new plugs, wires, distributor cap, rotor, condenser and this still happens

 

[pishta]

Check voltage regulator. These get hot by nature, as they get hot, they increase resistance to lower voltage to coil to preserve points. No clue what they are for on an ecectronic ignition. 2 or 4 post ballast?

 

[pishta]

Check voltage regulator. These get hot by nature, as they get hot, they increase resistance to lower voltage to coil to preserve points. No clue what they are for on an ecectronic ignition. 2 or 4 post ballast?

Look here, thread 10.
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=290403

 

[dragondan64]

this is stock single point dist with 2 post ballast

 

[dragondan64]

actually just finished reading that post 10 but that's for electronic ignition I am doing engine swap next week and all new MP electronic ignition going in but for now need to drive the car to garage lol it wont stay running

 

[67Dart273]

1........These DO run "blistering hot." Normally, you would not put your finger there. That is why they are ceramic

2.......If you have a high turns ratio / performance coil, that can be a factor, as they are lower resistance

3........If you have a BAD coil AKA "coil starting to go bad" that might explain both the really too hot? and the sputtering

4.......As mentioned, what pishta was getting at is a charging / over voltage problem. Get a meter run the car. Check your battery running voltage. Should not be over 14V or 14.5 at the absolute most. IS THE battery bubbling over?

 

[4spdragtop]

What do you mean by "blistering hot"??
Hold finger on it for 2 seconds then remove. If finger blisters....its blistering HOT!! Thats normal by the way...
this is meant as sarcasm by the way....

 

[dragondan64]

yes 4spdragtop exactly what I meant by blistering hot when I touched the damn thing it blistered my index finger lol!!! Didn't take long to test it! Will check the coil even though its brand new a few hundred miles ago. New voltage regulator and new ballast resistor didn't fix the trouble. So coil is next. Or will simply tow the darn car to the garage lol. Thanks for all the input and experiences!

 

[71DodgeDemon340]

Mine too hot to touch too, i had a voltage regulator go bad a year ago and when we hooked the voltmeter up to do some testing she was at 15volts and climbed up to 20 volts within a matter of seconds then shut her off lol replaced voltage regulator and all is well. But yeah mine gets too hot to touch but doesnt smoke or blister the paint so i guess its normal or so ive heard