Trouble shooting my on going electrical problem!

[Canadian1968]

This thread is basically a continuation of a thread I started in the Engine forum. I am 99.9% sure the problem is electrical now and not mechanical.

A quick review of the problem ( as short as I can make it ! ) Had the car out for a cruise one night and it died on me out of no where. I was unable to get it started again . Back home I find that I have no spark at all coming from my coil wire.  I have another coil lying around that seemed to cut out on me when it was hot, but basically still worked. I swapped this in still no spark. Pulled the distributor out and sent to a local speed shop to see if my pick-up coil was working , I was told it is working fine.  I also took my ECU out and hooked it up in another car with the same setup, it fired the car fine.

SO ... just becuase I could I returned the Ignition coil I had on the car ( 90 day warranty) Put the new coil on , give the car a couple cranks - no luck. I begin testing voltage points threw out the circuit. My wife comes out , I take the oppertunity to check for spark at the coil wire again. Out of no where I now have spark !  Hook all my wires back up and the car starts, runs like champ.

No idea what I did or what changed !!  I quick try the other coil I had, and another ECU I also have, the car runs on each piece.  I run some of my voltage test again... and ther is the only clues I have to my problem! When the car would not start and I was doing my test I would get around 8V to my coil in start ( brown wire ignition) and around 10.8V to my Blue wire in Run (These test were taking from the wires that run the ballast , with out them hooked up) .   Now I was gettting 10.8 in start and 11.6 in Run.

I picked up a new Starter Relay while I was at MoparFest here in ONtario.  I just got done swapping it in, I cleaned up all connections, to the relay, pulled out the bottom harness on the bulkhead connectors, and removed each individual wire and cleaned each one, as well as the connector itself.  All back together the car start and run great again. 

I check my voltage readings again , they are reading approx 0.25V highter. I hooked my meter up to my Blue ballast wire , again this test is done with wires actually disconnected from the resistor. I get a reading of 11.85V in RUN.  I wigged every connection I could. in the engine bay, and inside under the dash.  The most I could get was .1V variation as I moved stuff around.

Something I noticed though. When testing my IGN1 and IGN2 circuits, I get a .66 reading on both of them when they are supposed to be in their "off" positon. Does that sound fishy, or will there be some minimal current traced threw the rest of the system??

[nascarxx29]

   Kind of hit or missing electrical problem.Next time you lose spark.Maybe try a temporary bypass like from alt battery pos+ to single wire side of ballast.You hot wired and key switch bypassed just crank over by key or from solenoid under the hood.And you cant shut car off with out removing this added wire.If this starts it were it wouldnt before .Key switch or its connection

[flyinlow]

Sounds like an intermentent open circuit in the wiring.  With the engine running, try moving the wires around and see if it cuts out.  The wires on the engine and the bulkhead connector are two problem areas I have seen. I read you have checked with a voltmeter and that is a good test, but sometimes poor connections show up better with a load on them. That is why I suggest trying it with the engine running.

Carry a set of small jumper leads , spool of wire , test light and connectors with you until you are sure it is fixed.

[Dmichels]

Ignition switch?

[Canadian1968]

Ignition switch?

That's what I am wondering .  I actually have another ignition switch but it has a ground terminal on it. Was this for a manual trany?? The harness connector inside the car has the spot for this ground spade but there is no wire to it in my harness ?? ( auto car)

[Canadian1968]

I was just out there testing my connections over and over. Everything is pretty rock solid as far as I can tell.  I decided to start the car and let it run for a bit.  Put my meter on the battery post I am charging at 13.3-13.6 V If I increse the RPM the charge does not change.  I put meter on the positive side of the coil get 9.4V at idle, I give the car a little RPM and my readings climb all the way up to 11.5 V!!! I throw the meter on the Blue wire up at the bulkhead thas giving me around 12.5 when I give a bit of RPM its around 13.1V  So basically any time I cam cruising around I feeding the coil almost 12V,  and my ECU is seeing 13V.   That doesn't seem right to me !??  I even saw my readings BLIP down to 6 volts for just as second as I brought the  RPMs up.

Why I am seeing all this change in voltage when back at my battery post its steady at 13.7 at max. ?

[fy469rtse]

Ignition switch?

That's what I am wondering .  I actually have another ignition switch but it has a ground terminal on it. Was this for a manual trany?? The harness connector inside the car has the spot for this ground spade but there is no wire to it in my harness ?? ( auto car) anti theft option , so its a later switch but will work , you just have to add the ground terminal

[fy469rtse]

check everything , I had a odd one on my 68 , bad battery lead , lost all power and all of a sudden power after wiggling things it went , drove me crazy for a little while, when you no power at the coil , check the post battery connection at starter relay, I had to check everything from source and only when it had let me down , bad chinese made lead with a solldered joint in the middle in side the covering half way up ,over heat and boom ,no power to anything
good luck hope you find the culprit 

[Canadian1968]

Ignition switch?

That's what I am wondering .  I actually have another ignition switch but it has a ground terminal on it. Was this for a manual trany?? The harness connector inside the car has the spot for this ground spade but there is no wire to it in my harness ?? ( auto car) anti theft option , so its a later switch but will work , you just have to add the ground terminal

i actually tried the switch with out the ground and started the car, and ran just fine. I got the exact same .66V reading though.

[nascarxx29]

Got any pictures bulkhead underhood,Do you have a wiring digram for your car

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=18

[Canadian1968]

I can't seem to post pics  on this site anymore

[Canadian1968]

The only way to be sure is to replace all the wiring under the dash. I think that is what I am going to do

[flyinlow]

A couple thoughts. Does your voltmeter read 0.0 when you touch the two leads?.

If your multi meter reads amperage, disconnect the battery with everything off and read the current flow between the battery terminal and the battery cable. Most meters are fused but I would put a 5 amp fuse in series with you meter to protect it.

[Canadian1968]

Wow finally got pics to work !!!

Picture of the bulkhead and New Starter Relay.

The dual fuseable links is for the piggy back wire I ran for the upgraded alt.

Just a thought after reading some other post.  - I upgraded to 65 amp alt. I piggy backed with a 12awg wire, ( factory is 12awg as well ).  Is there any way that could cause my problme? Maybe I should have gone for a bigger wire?? The car is completely stock the radio isn't even hooked up so there is no excessive load at all. After a few mins of running the ammeter sits pretty steady dead center. I thought was a good thing.