Carmine
Old Man with a Hat
Just bought another C. (To be revealed at a later date.) Prior owner paid someone to install a typical Chrysler electronic ignition kit to replace a LB system. On my way to look at it (it was about 50 miles away) the owner called and said it suddenly wouldn't start.
As I suspected, the install is terrible. Putting aside the sloppy zip ties and randomly colored wires, the biggest fault I found was the black/yellow - coil wire connected to +. (This wire comes directly out of the control module harness and turns the coil on/off to induce the high voltage.) Experience tells me a coil will work backwards, but with reduced efficiency.
I corrected this and verified the + side was connected to the ballast resistor.
That only leaves the wires that receive the on/off signal from the distributor pick up. These were correct, and a verified the wiring was good by doing the ohmmeter test at both the module connector and the pick-up. It read about 250 ohms, which is well within spec. (190-900 ohms)
So I swapped the ignition module from my RMB. Still no spark. For the hellavit, I put the "suspect" module in my RMB... No spark. Hmmm.
Now I checked the coil by substitution. No spark.
At this point, I've verified the wiring (including the ballast) and substituted both the module and ignition coil. I have correct voltages at terminal ends. I have a reasonable resistance across the pick-up coil. There is not much left... beyond a substitution check of the pick-up coil.
As a last gasp before the rain and wind drove me inside, I just connected the coil straight to battery positive (basically hot wiring the car). I still had the coil wire positioned to check spark, and I got a nice hot one every time I connected and disconnected said hot wire.
Who wants to take a stab at this? I'll be back at it tomorrow.
As I suspected, the install is terrible. Putting aside the sloppy zip ties and randomly colored wires, the biggest fault I found was the black/yellow - coil wire connected to +. (This wire comes directly out of the control module harness and turns the coil on/off to induce the high voltage.) Experience tells me a coil will work backwards, but with reduced efficiency.
I corrected this and verified the + side was connected to the ballast resistor.
That only leaves the wires that receive the on/off signal from the distributor pick up. These were correct, and a verified the wiring was good by doing the ohmmeter test at both the module connector and the pick-up. It read about 250 ohms, which is well within spec. (190-900 ohms)
So I swapped the ignition module from my RMB. Still no spark. For the hellavit, I put the "suspect" module in my RMB... No spark. Hmmm.
Now I checked the coil by substitution. No spark.
At this point, I've verified the wiring (including the ballast) and substituted both the module and ignition coil. I have correct voltages at terminal ends. I have a reasonable resistance across the pick-up coil. There is not much left... beyond a substitution check of the pick-up coil.
As a last gasp before the rain and wind drove me inside, I just connected the coil straight to battery positive (basically hot wiring the car). I still had the coil wire positioned to check spark, and I got a nice hot one every time I connected and disconnected said hot wire.
Who wants to take a stab at this? I'll be back at it tomorrow.