Ballast resistor ?????

[Highbanked Hauler]

 
   Do ballast resistors give up and if so what happens and how do you test for it??     69 Charger 440 with MP electronic ignition about 10 years old.

[A383Wing]

yes..resistors do give up...you can test them with an OHM meter or put power to one side and see if less power comes out the other side.

Heat kills them

[Ghoste]

A common symptom of a bad one is for the car to try and fire when the key is the start position but die as soon as you let the key go to the run position.

[Highbanked Hauler]

  The car won't start but it did fire a few times. I haven't gone on an expedition  yet to find out why but either won't fire it so I think it is probably electrical.

[ODZKing]

Yeah, on the 4 prong ballast resistors ... car wouldn't start at all.

[TylerCharger69]

Ballast resistor for a MP electronic  is different than the old points style resistor....did you change it out?...And   I dont believe the 4-prong resistor is proper for a '69 model

[flyinlow]

They get hot when running , If they get wet when hot they can crack and break  or just break durring cooling after shutdown.   

Carry a spare.

[Highbanked Hauler]

I finally got a chance to screw with it and i have intermittent on -off power to the coil  with the key in the run position.   Possible ignition switch??  or broken wire?  Next I have got to pull the firewall block apart to check on corrosion.

[Troy]

I'm having a similar problem with my Challenger. I don't believe it's the switch either. I think mine is in the harness or one of the connectors since I can usually get it to work by jiggling wires. That's one of my winter projects.

Troy

[Highbanked Hauler]

With 41 year old wiring I wondered about a broken wire in the harness.  The other odd thing  was the amp meter quit working earlier this year