Update on Electric Gremlins

[Mike71Cuda]

Hey gang I had started a thread in mid May about firing up Hemi for first time and no spark. Had some things come up and now back onto the car and have done the following per everyone out there:
New Voltage Reg
New ECU
new ballast resistor
New magnetic P/U
Airgap reluctor at .008

As I turned key ballast resistor started smoking! I am assuming this was the start of my problems to begin with but what the hell? This car had a 440 with absolutely no problems in this area. yeah once in a while I had a bad ground that was my fault but evrything was ok before I swapped engines. Only difference is new alternator.

I have rigged a temp gauge and oil pressure out in engine bay to get this info prior to fire up and maintin this info.
But that is it.

I figure about 15 minutes on the forum and you guys/gurls with have a simple answer that will make me look like a real rookie. As long as teh car gets going I can live with that.
Thx
Smitty

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Actually it isn't unusual for a new ballast resistor to smoke the first time current moves thru it. Did you try to start the car?



  Mike

[matt63]

I've never seen one smoke.  All i can suggest is checking the voltage (should be less than 12v).  You can check the resistance of the resistor too.  It should be about 0.7 to 1.5 ohms.  The other thing to do is get the wiring schematics and retrace all of the wires from the ECU to be sure things are correct.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Mine smoked the first time. No problems with anything either.

[cudabob496]

When smoking, what is your ammeter saying? It would indicate a ground, as would the voltmeter.

[Mike71Cuda]

-CudaBob-When smoke satrted I just cut power from battery
-Checked voltage right near 12 v prior to BBQ
-Schenmatic jives back to when 440 was in there
-Did not start car-breaking in engine and did not want to worry about fire/elec fry when concentrating on break in I was solo when I did this no help at all

[Mike71Cuda]

Ok so I have a day off and I am determined to get this elec gremlin fixed!
Balllast Res. has stopped smoking -yay!
11.2 on both sides of it when key is on
replaced everything ignition wise except the rotor
No spark out of coil wire while I crank and hold it near metal.
Switching up coils right now but if that is not it what could it be?
I am leaving the computer up while I do this so I can watch any replies you guys might have. I want this thing started today! Help
Smitty

[71 DEPUTY]

Mike- make sure that the ECU is grounded good at the firewall- use a toothed washer and no paint behind the ECU and the firewall at the nut/bolt area. next make sure the ground is good to the frame from the battery. you will only get a good spark if you are trying to start the car. if all is good this way- next- is there a tach hooked up to the neg. side of the coil? if so- disconnect it and try again. Try a different ECU- they go bad- even right out the box!!!!

another test is to remove all the wires from the - side of the coil- then use another piece of wire to it and with the ign.sw. on and the coil wire where you can see it- take that wire and quickly ground it on and off several times to  see if there is a spark.

John Mac

[Mike71Cuda]

John
Using a different coil FYI
ECU is grounded (scatched paint and toothed washer already)
Engine has a copper grounding strap to body (scratched paint)
Battery is grounded to engine block
Just looking to see ANY spark but none
No tach saw how that can mess things up
ECU is brand new (had a chrome box worked fine-tried a new Orange box and now black box from Auto zone)


checked these things as well:
voltage at bal res. vol at coil (4+ with ign swtch on)
checked ecu pins with ign on:
11.5 at black withte=race coil neg wire
11.2 from Bal res.
all others were 0 on meter
Also ran incadescent test light from neg side of coil to ground and get it to flash when reluctor comes around

lastly confirm this please:
with all wires off of neg side of coil
attach seperate wire to neg side and loose on other end
pull coil wire and leave near metal
than ground off new wire, should see spark?

[Bullitt-]

couple of wiring diagrams...not sure which applies to yours   

[cudabob496]

Grounding battery to engine block doesn't sound familiar to me. I'd ground it to car body.

[duodec]

Mine had the battery ground cable connected to the front of the engine, but the aftermarket cable also had a pigtail; I ran that to a body ground point.  That and replacing the engine to body ground strap solved a lot of electrical gremlins!

[Mike71Cuda]

CudaBob,
Yes the same setup as duodec. battery ground to engine and a pigtail to body
My problem is this all worked prior to new engine install.
Elec diagrams I have in service manual all jive no different than what I have.
What am I missing?

[Mike71Cuda]

Also should their be 11+ volts on 2 pins at ig. module? Everything I read says one pin.

[cudabob496]

Assuming everything is hooked up right, maybe you'll have to closely inspect the wires that go through the old and cruddy bulkhead connector, if it's anything like mine.
What else:
distributor not missing any parts
bad coil
ballast resistor is good, so there is no open circuit
distributor pickup coil bad
wires all good and connected to spark plugs (Hemi head spark plugs hooked up to wires)