Smoking hot!

[clausoe]

Has anyone ever had their ballast resistor get   smoking hot? If so, why?
Mine started smoking suddenly and I don't know why. Could it be the electronic ignition box??
It still runs perfectly and is charging just under 15 volts.
The car is a 68 with electronic ignition and an upgraded charging system, 69 and up, I think.

[joecharger66]

Sounds like a defective ignition switch.  With the engine running, measure the voltage at the ballast resistor. The only way it can become that hot is if current is flowing through the resistor.

[clausoe]

Isn't the current supposed to be running through the resistor from ign 1 when the engine is running?

[beenaround]

clausoe the resistor will become very hot when the ignition is on.if it is a brand new part it will smoke for awhile when you start the car.or if somehow any type of fluid gets on it,it will also smoke.ie engine degreaser.

[Chryco Psycho]

If the load on the resistor is increased due to load from the coil  the resistor will heat up , possibly the coil is bad or has been changed to a high output coil 

[andy74]

make sure tyo carry an extra when you go anywhere!

[Ghoste]

And there are a couple of different resistances offered depending on your other ignition system components.