Should I have 12volts at the 2 connectors on the ballast resistor? SOLVED!

[Chargeraddict]

In my on going troubles to start my car I am trying to eliminate some components.. I have 12 volts at my coil, which I understand is to much voltage there. And I am not getting spark. When I unplug both terminals off of the ballast resistor I have 12 volts at both feeds (run and start) ..If i plug just one  side in (run or start) I have 12 volts on the other post of the resistor.. Does this sound like the wrong resistor? It is brand new and came with the mopar electronic ignition. Thanks for any help as always..

[mikepmcs]

All those voltage readings look to be correct to me.  12 across the coil, 12 across the ballast.  Need more input,what have you done so far, what have you done to know you don't have spark.. Sorry to make you rehash but we need to know where to start.

[Chargeraddict]

Basically I just finished building the car and have never run it.. I was reading on another post that the coil usually is supplied with around 9 volts?  So I wondered if I had a bad ballast or wired somthing wrong. The whole ignition system is new and Im pretty certain I wired it right. I cranked the engine over and held the coil wire close to ground and got no spark.. I have those orange mopar wires, the electrode looks like black silk so I am not sure how it is suppose to conduct a spark?

[mauve66]

that black silk is part of the inside of the wire, its not the electrode itself, you have to have a metal end on each end of the wire for it to conduct anything

[mikepmcs]

I cranked the engine over and held the coil wire close to ground and got no spark..

Did you crank the motor using the key(ignition switch) or by arching the relay on the bulkhead?  How did you do the coil wire thing while cranking the engine.  Reason I'm asking is...if you used the bulkhead screwdriver crank method and you didn't have the key on, you will get no spark.  You have 12 volts at the coil and assuming that and the plug wire is new, there is no reason you shouldn't get a spark.

Do you have another resistor, coil and coil wire, you can throw at it in the meantime?

[Chargeraddict]

I had my girlfriend crank it. Do you think its possible I got a dud set of ignition wires? I tried ohming them out before with no luck so I took the crimped ends of and the center of the wire is just a plastic coated nylon type of deal, there is nothing that looks like wire inside..I tried the same on one of the plug wires. I will have to buy new wires, but i think i do have the old resistor somwhere in the shop..

[TylerCharger69]

That "orange" box that comes with those electronic upgrade kits may be faulty.   I've changed two of those before buying another brand.  My first orange box lasted two weeks to give you an idea.....just something you may want to check out

[Chargeraddict]

How did you end up figuring out it was the box? Is the black wire that goes to the neg side of the coil not the ground? because I have 12 volts on that wire even disconnected from the coil terminal.. Unless the box is suppose to be feeding power on that wire

[Chargeraddict]

Turns out it was totally a grounding issue, even tho i had a jumper wire grounding the module to the battery, I had to actually take the module off the firewall and remove some paint...and voila I now have spark!