Engine Will Not Start

[1971SE440]

Worked all weekend and still the Charger will not start. 1971 w/440 and electronic ign. I have changed the coil, ecu and ballast. I'm getting 9v at the coil with the key on and no spark. All gauges, lights ect. are working fine. Engine just cranks and when I turn key off I get a little kickback from the motor. I made sure I had a good ground on the ecu and even ran a wire to neg on the battery. I put a new ground strap from the engine to firewall.

I'm a little confused about the wiring going to the ballast. I have a two pin ballast that measure about 1.5 ohms. I have one wire from the 4 pin ecu going to the left side tied in with another wire (not sure but may be ign wire) and on the right side of the ballast I have a double brown wire. Does it make a difference what side of the ballast they are tied too?

The only things I have not played with is the voltage reg and dist.

This has been a a problem off and on for the last year. The last time it did not start I put the grounding wire from ECU to battery and it started. But the next time it did not start.

Thanks

[nascarxx29]

Is your blue yellow wire for the electronic ignition .On the single wire side of the ballast.And black yellow wire on neg side of coil.Thats the way it should go .And have you ever checked the pick up air gap 0.08 brass feeler gauge inside distributor .And checked the pick up inside the distributor to be sure its good.If you have a 12 volt testlight and have clipped on end on ground.And pointed end on neg - of coil while cranking you should get a light flicker.To test the pick up.Another test I use to check pick up is unplug dist from harness .And on the distributor end plug with a ohmeter check for resistance.If you have none its a bad pick up.And be sure you got good ground for the ECU

[1971SE440]

Yes the blue/yellow wire is on the single wire side of the ballast and the black/yellow does go to the negative side of the coil. I'm going to test the pick-up after work Monday. As far the ECU goes I sanded the paint off, and installed a wire going to neg on battery so I think I getting a good ground, but who knows. Thanks for a quick response!

[nascarxx29]

Maybe try another ECU .Ive had problems with the mopar orange box.If thats what you have.You can check for ground with a 12 volt testlight .Cliiped end of light on + battery pos .And touch ECU mounting with pointed end of light.And it should light

[1971SE440]

Still no luck. Took test light and ECU has a good ground. The ECU is brand new and I have tried 3 different ones on and no luck. I tested the dist the way you said with ohm meter and got 352 Ohms as a reading on the dist side. I'm getting power to the coil around 9 volts. I have tried 2 different coils and I tested the coil wire and it checked out. 

I do have a what looks like a smaller ballast near the intake manifold and it has 2 pins. One goes to the electric choke and the other one is wired to the other side of the main ballast resistor. I think it is on the opposite side of the ballast from the pin with the wire from the ECU.

The car is not getting any spark but plenty of fuel.

Thanks

[nascarxx29]

If you got a good ECU module and its grounded and got power at the coil key on and cranking.The pick up is like a set of points when it passes that fixed magnet with a 008 brass feeler gauge gap setting.It triggers the coil to fire.With the dist cap off does rotor turn and is cap and rotor good condition.The ballast you need to use is a 2 prong and should be on the firewall next to voltage regulator not on the intake manifold thats probably for the electric choke. Single blue wire side gets yellow blue and coil gets Neg - gets black yellow. The other side of ballast connector is blue brown

Did you get a flash on testlight on neg - side of coil while cranking
And you had the dist unplugged and had the end coming from dist with pin and hole connector.And got a ohm reading there  And use a ballast and coil for electronic ignition.That looks like on in the link given
http://www.randakks.com/Substiture%20Ballast%20Resistor1.jpg

[1971SE440]

The ballast is on the firewall. You are right the other one is for the choke. After taking apart the connector for the dist to check resistance (which I think is good) I plugged it back together and pushed the car back into the garage. My son was in the driver seat and I said try to start it and it fired up!!!. Maybe it was just a loose connection for the dist. We will see what happens Thursday when I take it out. Thanks for all the help.

[1971SE440]

Does anyone know where this blue wire goes? The red one runs to the choke. I think the other owner had it running to one side of the ballast on the firewall. Thanks!

[Bob]

"Worked all weekend and still the Charger will not start. 1971 w/440 and electronic ign. I have changed the coil, ecu and ballast. I'm getting 9v at the coil with the key on and no spark. All gauges, lights ect. are working fine. Engine just cranks and when I turn key off I get a little kickback from the motor. I made sure I had a good ground on the ecu and even ran a wire to neg on the battery. I put a new ground strap from the engine to firewall."

Identical to my problem when I put my engine back in my 74. It was a broken wire under the tape that connects to the distributor. The 2 wire connector.
When I let off the switch I had the same kick back.
Good Luck.