The madness of Mopar

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Dcudaboy

Dcudaboy

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Here we go again. Third time for this issue. If I let my cuda set for more than 3 weeks, it won't start. No spark. Then over a period of time it will magically fix it self and zoom. As long as you start it every week, it will, but if you let it sit for 3 or more weeks, no spark. And then over a couple days to a week or so, magically, it will fix itself. This is solid state ignition with an Accel power booster coil. There are TWO ballast resistors in the system and I suspect that is the problem, even though Accel recommends using both of them. We have been thru the entire system many times with a meter and cannot find what the heck is going on? So, ANYBODY KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON???
 
Sounds like you have a battery drain when the key is off, unless you have a battery disconnect and don't use it. Battery drains can be a bear to find. Maybe check out your install of the electronic ign system, making sure you are tapped into the right wires. Another sinarrio could be, you have a bad battery Batterys do funny things when they go bad. Disconnrct your batt, let it sit for an hour or so, then check the volts, let it sit a day or two, disconnected, then recheck the volts again and compare, it should be fairley close.

barracudadave67 aka Dave C.
 
barracudadave67 said:
Sounds like you have a battery drain when the key is off, unless you have a battery disconnect and don't use it. Battery drains can be a bear to find. Maybe check out your install of the electronic ign system, making sure you are tapped into the right wires. Another sinarrio could be, you have a bad battery Batterys do funny things when they go bad. Disconnrct your batt, let it sit for an hour or so, then check the volts, let it sit a day or two, disconnected, then recheck the volts again and compare, it should be fairley close.

barracudadave67 aka Dave C.
Click to expand...

I think he means it cranks but has no spark.
 
Yes it cranks fine but has no spark and yes, I do have a manual battery disconnect on the neg side. When it sits I do have it disconnected
 
Just a thought. You said you dont have spark, but do you have a weak spark? Where are you checking for spark at? At the coil? I have had bad luck with anything branded accel. I personally would put a factory coil on the car, or even an msd coil. I would put money on that accel coil being the culprit. Good luck!
 
Dcudaboy said:
It's a Summit with all Chrysler brains and ECU. The distributor checks out.
Click to expand...
If it has a 5 wire ignition module, replace it with a 4 wire and see if that doesn't do it. Borrow one if you can but you should keep a spare anyway.
 
Mine used to do that and it drove me nuts trying to figure it out, but I found it.
It was the connector in the wires from the distributor to the coil.
I cut the connector out, and soldered the wires and heat shrink tubing the solder joints.
Never had that problem again.
My issues were closer together than your though, as it would start and run fine all day long and no spark the next morning.
You can crimp that connector down a little to test this before you do anything to the wires.
 
Replacing the ECU won't do a thing

Trailbeast has a good idea.

A couple of things:

I'm finding more and more guys who have poor voltage through the bulkhead, so try this:

Key in run, engine OFF, check the voltage from the "dark blue" to the ballast compared to battery voltage

In other words put one probe on the battery plus post, the other probe on your dark blue. This will measure voltage drop between the two. 1/2 a volt is GENEROUS and it should be less

Also check your "ignition bypass" (ign2) circuit. Pull the coil wire and ground it. Put your meter on the coil plus and the battery plus. Crank the engine USING THE KEY You are checking for drop between the battery, harness, and coil during cranking. Here again, over 1/2 V is too much

Remove and push/pull the connectors on the ECU, the ballast, and dist. connector numerous times. This will "scrub" any corrosion off the contacts. Pay attention to how "tight or loose" the connections seem to be. If the above voltage tests are low, pull off the bulkhead connections, and inspect, clean, replace as necessary.



If all this gives up nothing, replace the pickup in the distributor and gap it carefully. Check the output of the pickup, put your meter into the two terminals of the dist. connector on low AC volts. When cranking the dist. should generate 1V AC
 
67Dart273 said:
Replacing the ECU won't do a thing

Trailbeast has a good idea.

A couple of things:

I'm finding more and more guys who have poor voltage through the bulkhead, so try this:

Key in run, engine OFF, check the voltage from the "dark blue" to the ballast compared to battery voltage

In other words put one probe on the battery plus post, the other probe on your dark blue. This will measure voltage drop between the two. 1/2 a volt is GENEROUS and it should be less

Also check your "ignition bypass" (ign2) circuit. Pull the coil wire and ground it. Put your meter on the coil plus and the battery plus. Crank the engine USING THE KEY You are checking for drop between the battery, harness, and coil during cranking. Here again, over 1/2 V is too much

Remove and push/pull the connectors on the ECU, the ballast, and dist. connector numerous times. This will "scrub" any corrosion off the contacts. Pay attention to how "tight or loose" the connections seem to be. If the above voltage tests are low, pull off the bulkhead connections, and inspect, clean, replace as necessary.



If all this gives up nothing, replace the pickup in the distributor and gap it carefully. Check the output of the pickup, put your meter into the two terminals of the dist. connector on low AC volts. When cranking the dist. should generate 1V AC
Click to expand...
On mine it made a difference. Was getting an occasional no start in the morning. The longer the time between starts the worse it was. Tested voltages, changed dist, wires, cap, Etc. Even put several different 5 pin modules on it with absolutely no change. Put a 4 wire module in and have had no starting problems in 3 years now. Just for yuks, "I put one of the 5 pin units back on and the problem returned so I know it was just the module.
 
You may have had a problem, but the 5 to 4 pin didn't cure it. What I'm saying is a PROPERLY operating 5 pin system is not automatically inferior to a 4 pin. Millions of Mopars went millions of highway miles with 5 pin ECUs
 
Great Guys, thanks for all the info. I'm off to the mountains this weekend but will hit it and give you feedback when I return.
 
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