Starting issue

Fireguyfire

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So I finally got everything ready today to do an initial run on my 440 in my 70 300 after I had pulled it this winter, and went through the engine and repainted it and my engine bay.
I’ve mentioned in previous threads that the previous owner had installed a generic painless wiring harness in the car, and although it ran the wiring was completely screwed up.
I tested and reinstalled the factory wiring harnesses this winter, as well as the factory steering column and wheel; the previous owner had installed a tilt column out of a later C body.

Anyways, upon start up today, the engine is firing immediately, but then quitting right away. I thought perhaps it might be timing so I played with that, and couldn’t get it to run. After starting it many times I came to realize that what I think is going on is that when I turn the key to start, the car fires right up, but as soon as the car fires and I turn the key to the run position it dies. I experimented with it and left the key in the start position a bit longer and the car will run nicely, until I turn it back to the “run” position which seems to kill it.

I’m going to start troubleshooting the problem, but I thought I would ask if anyone can suggest 1) a way to confirm that turning the key from start to the run position is killing the engine, and 2) suggest a logical way to go about finding what the issue is.
I’m assuming that with the key in the “run” position I should be able to confirm power, I’m just not 100% sure where the best place would be to check for power tge the key in “run”.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!
 
So I finally got everything ready today to do an initial run on my 440 in my 70 300 after I had pulled it this winter, and went through the engine and repainted it and my engine bay.
I’ve mentioned in previous threads that the previous owner had installed a generic painless wiring harness in the car, and although it ran the wiring was completely screwed up.
I tested and reinstalled the factory wiring harnesses this winter, as well as the factory steering column and wheel; the previous owner had installed a tilt column out of a later C body.

Anyways, upon start up today, the engine is firing immediately, but then quitting right away. I thought perhaps it might be timing so I played with that, and couldn’t get it to run. After starting it many times I came to realize that what I think is going on is that when I turn the key to start, the car fires right up, but as soon as the car fires and I turn the key to the run position it dies. I experimented with it and left the key in the start position a bit longer and the car will run nicely, until I turn it back to the “run” position which seems to kill it.

I’m going to start troubleshooting the problem, but I thought I would ask if anyone can suggest 1) a way to confirm that turning the key from start to the run position is killing the engine, and 2) suggest a logical way to go about finding what the issue is.
I’m assuming that with the key in the “run” position I should be able to confirm power, I’m just not 100% sure where the best place would be to check for power tge the key in “run”.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Check for power at the ballast resistor while the key is in the ‘run’ position.
 
So I did some checking and it turns out I had a bad ballast resistor. I replaced it with an extra one I had on hand and she fired up and settled into a nice idle!
 
Congrats on the fix! Ballast resistor was the first thing I thought too. Common problem with Chrysler cars. A lot of people keep a spare in the glove compartment.
 
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