how's it going, I'm getting ready to do a complete tune up on my wagon it's got the 360 in it. but from talking to a friend he was saying a lot of stuff under the hood is rigggged. I was wondering if anyone has or could point me in the direction of how my car should look under the hood. The ignition coil looks like it should be somewhere else to me for one, and it's all loose and has a ballast resistor zip tied to the top? And there is the factory spot where there is also a ballast resistor that appears to be hooked up still.. there is a lot of riggery under here in other areas dealing with other systems. So I was hoping someone could lead me towards some good pics of what things should be like. Thanks in advance!
1972 Plymouth fury suburban ignition questions
- Thread starter Jonesboy2
- Start date
65sporty
Old Man with a Hat
I can't remember for sure where the coil belongs on a small block but the ballast resistor belongs on the firewall.
traintech55
Senior Member
The coil looks like it is mounted in the correct location. Looks like he messed up the mounting bracket. As far as two ballast resistors, I need to ask does your car have electronic ignition from the factory? This is important to help you unmess the wiring.
The distributor isn't electric, so does that mean it isn't electric ignition?
traintech55
Senior Member
No. What I need to know is does your car have points in the distributor or not. More than likely this is an electrical mess. I am just trying to find out what your car is supposed to have so I can tell you how to fix it. Do you have a control box mounted to the firewall that says. "Electronic Ignition" on it?
I will take a look at it when I get home. But I'm pretty sure it's got the breaker points in the distributor
OK here's what I got, it is not electronic ignition. It's just standard breaker points. And after doing some research this setup only requires the single ballast as opposed to the double one that has four prongs. I looked in my Haynes manuel and on the Internet and i cannot find a diagram of the ignition system with breaker points. I traced wires to see where they go and I tried to get good pics. The two wires coming from the normal ballast location are brown and blue and go into the harness my finger is on.
Here is a very basic diagram of a points system. More detailed diagrams are available at Mymopar.com
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Ignition run circuit goes through the resistor
Ignition start circuit is direct to coil for max voltage for starting
You have an electronic voltage regulator circuit as shown here
Ignition start circuit is direct to coil for max voltage for starting
You have an electronic voltage regulator circuit as shown here
So is what you're saying is the thing mounted to the ignition coil holder isn't the ballast resistor I thought it was. That's supposed to be there? But mounted somewhere else not zip tied where it is
There is no reason for there to be 2 ballast resistors in this circuit. Someone has made quite a mess of it IMO. If you want to keep the points system use the diagram above and eliminate all the excess crap that has been jury rigged together. You will have to start from the ignition switch and identify the run and the start circuit. A condenser (noise suppressor) mounted on the coil bracket makes sense but not a ballast resistor. You should have 12V to the coil during starting and then the ballast knocks the voltage down to preserve the life of the coil once the engine is running. Trace the green and blue wires coming from the ballast bolted to the firewall. Green should be going to the ignition switch blue should be going to the + side of coil. The - side of the coil should be going to the distributor. There should also be a second blue wire going to the coil + side from the starter relay circuit.
traintech55
Senior Member
It does sound like something was jury rigged on your car. Following the diagram Dobalovr posted use a 12 volt test light and with the ignition in the on position check the blue wire at the resistor for voltage. Then check the brown wire at the coil positive should be hot but not as bright as the blue wire. Then have someone turn the key to start and the brown wire should get brighter. If the car does these steps, you are good and can remove the extra resistor. If not you have a break in the harness and will have to trace back to find it.
Sounds like I have quite the project for this warm weekend. ... this sucks... but thank you for all that info! Very helpful.
No problem I have done several electronic coversions but the points to electronic had me baffled last year and the boys here walked me through it. Just paying it forward. I would seriously consider switching to an electronic system as messing with points/dwell/etc makes my head explode...
My journey:
Points to Electronic Ignition Question
I will do this in the next day or two and let you know my findings, thanks for the input I appreciate it!
Here is what I have come up with, first the ballast on the firewall doesn't have a green and a blue it has a brown and a blue. The blue looks like it goes all the way back to where it plugs into the firewall. The brown wire goes all the way back to where it plugs into the firewall as well. So the brown wire comes off the plug it's attached to at the firewall, then it goes to the rigged in ballast (I honestly don't even know if it is another ballast at this point), the connecter it is attached to that with has the same color brown coming off of it and going to the factory ballast. The way it is configured now the ignition coil isn't even attached to the factory ballast. Any idea? What plug on the firewall is the one for the ignition?
Both wires coming from the firewall are from your ignition switch. One is the start circuit the other is the run circuit. Identify the start circuit and run that wire direct to positive side of the coil. Identify the run circuit and attach it to one side of the ballast and then run the otherside to the positive side of the coil. Delete the second ballast completely. Once done measure both crank voltage at positive side and run voltage at positive side of coil. Should be 12v+ on crank 8-9v on run
How would I identify which one is which?
Test light on one circuit turn key to start if it lights up bingo if it goes out when you release the key you have found the start circuit if it stays on after releasing the key it's the run circuit.
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