Major Ignition Problem!

[bordin34]

I just took the car out to get tires and within two miles it died and when it restarted, it was very rough. Then the battery died, so the cops came and my brother jumped my car. The car backfires with the ballast connected so I had it disconnected. Pictures below, it still ran. I connected an old ballast, it ran OK, good enough to get home.

[ntstlgl1970]

wow, that is weird

[FJ5_440]

Looks like you jump started it with an arc welder!!

[MEK-Dangerfield]

I have NEVER seen such a sight.   


First off, you said the battery died. Did you not see it charging on your ampmeter as you drove it, or do you have after market gauges?

I would love to put an ohm meter to your old ballast resistor to see what it reads. Unless it shorted out, I don't get it. But even if it did short out, I would think your ignition coil would take the hit, not your distributor cap rotor.   


  Mike

[bordin34]

The battery died while trying to restart. This happened with a by-passed ballast. I am still confused as to what would cause the car to run better without a ballast than with. I am thinking of getting the $130 Summit MSD type box. Right now I have some old nasty looking 4-prong cracked ballast on it and it runs, but rough. I tried a new MSD 0.8ohm 2-prong on it and it backfired and I tried two old decent looking, but cracked, 4-prongs and it wouldn't even start.

[6packCuda]

Wow! Never seen that happen. I'm gonna have to think about this one for a while.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

OK, My first guess is either your ignition coil or ignition box has crapped out. If you bypassed the ballast, then the coil should have jumped to life BIG time. Do you have an ohm meter to measure the resistance between the primary side and the secondary side of the ignition coil? That would be between where the opening to the spark wire for your distributor is, and either the "+", or "-" side of the coil.



  Mike

[bb71challenger]

Where is the missing piece of the rotor? There should be a thin piece of metal taking the spark from the coil and transfering it to the tip of the rotor and the corresponding plug wire. It looks like it broke off, does not seem to be melted off or anything. 

[bordin34]

It did break off, but i do not know exactly how, I found it inside the dist and removed it. My guess is that it somehow caught on something and broke off, then the carbon trail allowed it to run, but barely.

[Super Blue 72]

   Wowsa!  I wonder if the coil was going right to the distributor shaft!  If it did, then it wouldn't run though.  Crazy looking rotor! 

[bb71challenger]

Have you tried another rotor? Looks like the top of the old rotor is arc flashed by the coil discharge.

[bordin34]

I tried another rotor, luckily I had one in the trunk. That is how I got it home. So the coil could have been putting out too much power. Right now it is wired to a stock ballast.

[bb71challenger]

what does the cap look like? That might be your problem if it is all carbon tracked and possibly damaged from the rotor breaking.

[Chryco Psycho]

if you are not careful installing the cap the tab can be bent sideways & eventually break off , then it will either arc to the tip or through the rotor to ground on the center shaft using different ballasts could increase power to the coil making a stronger spark that could either arc to the tip or the center shaft changing the way it runs

[bordin34]

The cap has been on and off a couple times and the last time I made sure i put it straight down and clamped it evenly. What would cause it to run better without a ballast than with. It has new wires and relatively new plugs.