I have heard the stories.....

[dkn1997]

But thought it was one of those things that "they" say.  You know, the crap that usually isn't true....I'm talking about the old "keep an extra ballast resistor in the glovebox"  I never had one fail on me till yesterday.  My 7 year old and I were driving along and it just quit. Like I shut the key kind of quit.  pulled over, looked around, cranked it and it would run for a second, then shut down when I let off the key.  I pulled the resistor off the firewall and sure as you know what, i could see that something was not right. I nice break in that spiral wound piece of wire.  I, not truly ever believing in keeping a spare around, of course did not have one.....so I found an old blade type fuse kicking around inside my center console and stabbed the bitch in there and limped it home.

so guys, carry an extra ballast already, sheesh!!!!

and the crack staff at the local autoparts store didn't even know what a ballast resistor is, so I was SOL in that turdhole.  Looks like I will be getting one from summit and the like.  I have been running an FBO ignition for a few years now. I had heard about ballast trouble with the early kits and that he included a different ballast with the newer kits.  Mine is a very early one, so maybe I was on borrowed time...

[1969chargerrtse]

Thanks for the info and what a great 'save' you did to get it home.

[hemihead nc]

...go to your local Advance Auto and have them order you a AC DELCO # C1101. If they ask what it's for, ignore them or ask for a manager. It's not store stock, so it will a overnite delivery to the store. It's a dead ringer for the original Mopar part. Good Luck !!!!

[Dave22443]

When I was still a kid, we had a Duster as a family car.  One night after going to the movies, we were on the way home and the car just shut off like you describe.  Only in our case, it was not going to restart.

Dad called for a tow truck and when the driver got there, he instantly knew what the problem was.  Better yet, he even had one in his truck!    We were back under way in minutes.

To this day I keep a spare in the glove box and another in the tool box at home.  Never had one fail yet, but I know they can.  I get mine from Carquest and the only problem they have is figuring out which one I need.  They carry like 3 dozen different kinds! 

P.S.  Did you know your wiper moter might also have a ballist resister on it?  My '68 does.

[BigBlackDodge]

I carry an entire spare car in the trunk for these kinds of troubles.............


BBD

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

The one in the new FBO setup is a MSD unit that is HD.  I have it on my Charger....look it the MSD unit from Summit.....

Or give FBO a call & see if they will compensate you for it....they have a 2 year warranty on their stuff.

[dkn1997]

I actually found my old stock one I took out when I switched to the FBO. that one's back in for now, but will order a new one this week....unless I forget....

[Drache]

...go to your local Advance Auto and have them order you a AC DELCO # C1101. If they ask what it's for, ignore them or ask for a manager. It's not store stock, so it will a overnite delivery to the store. It's a dead ringer for the original Mopar part. Good Luck !!!!

I really hate it when parts places do that! If I ask for a ceratin part by name or part number who cares what its for?! Its obvious I know what I want....

[dkn1997]

...go to your local Advance Auto and have them order you a AC DELCO # C1101. If they ask what it's for, ignore them or ask for a manager. It's not store stock, so it will a overnite delivery to the store. It's a dead ringer for the original Mopar part. Good Luck !!!!

I really hate it when parts places do that! If I ask for a ceratin part by name or part number who cares what its for?! Its obvious I know what I want....

NO, they know what you want.  The computer tells them....

[GreenMachine]

   Can't you just jumper the 2 wires together to get you home? I remember reading somewhere that it takes some time to burn up a coil due to not using a ballast resistor.

[Dave22443]

You could probably fashion a small jumper wire to bypass the resister just long enough to get you home, but resisters are cheap, take up little space in the tool kit or glove box and you can install it with a pocket knife.  No real reason to be without one.

But isn't it the points that burn up, not the coil? 

[bmoparmofo]

My 68 barracuda blew one once and back then they had a dual ballast resistor available,not sure if they still do?I put that on figuring that if it ever did it again,I would just plug into the other part of the dual resistor.It never did blow again though...

[Old Moparz]

Having owned & driven a bunch of old Mopars since I first started driving, it only takes one "being stranded, late at night, when stores are closed, far from home, in the rain, when you have to get somewhere important" to know what extra parts you keep in your car.   

Here's another small part you should never be without, a voltage regulator.

On the way to a spring Carlisle show once in the early 80's, (in my '69 Satellite ragtop) I saw the ampmeter in my dash get pinned in the highest position while on the interstate at 10 pm on a Friday night. I managed to creep along to the next exit that had a service station, & asked if they had a regulator in stock. (yeah, right) Of course they didn't, & before leaving, the battery promptly expoded forcing me to buy a fresh one that they did have in stock.

So now I have a small box I keep in the car that has an extra resistor & an extra regulator.

[69chargeryeehaa]

I'll tell you a secret....if you want your car to run perfect, carry a spare tire, coil, ballast resistor, voltage regulator, pick-up, ecu.  ever since i put those items in my trunk, I've had no issues...besides the cost of the spare parts are cheaper than a tow.  Last year i barley made it home with a bum ecu, the car would shut off every 10mins in the worst spot and i HATE walking...i've had ballast resistors, coils, and ecu's all fail on my on the road.  All of these parts can be swaped in 5 mins and it sure beats walking or getting a tow....

[dodgecharger-fan]

I'll tell you a secret....if you want your car to run perfect, carry a spare tire, coil, ballast resistor, voltage regulator, pick-up, ecu.

The Anti-Murphy kit! Good stuff.

[69_500]

Hmmm, well after the trip to Carlisle, I might have to check into carrrying some spare parts. Not that anything went wrong, but I typically just hop in the car and go. I don't worry about stuff, and so far so good. Long trips, without much hassle.

[paironines]

I just came back from a 500 mile round trip to an Illinois car show in my 68 Charger with no problems. My friends coil went out in his 68 Super Bee at the show-----good thing I packed an extra one. 

[chargerrt]

I had the same thing happen to me once.  Luckily I was only backing out of the driveway and luckily the local auto parts store had a new one in stock