Hi i have a 1970 charger with a 383. Im having some frustrating problems with my electronic ignition. My car runs fine...most of the time. Yesterday while driving i decided to open up the secondaries, but when i got up to about 4000 RPM the motor just quit. I let it sit for about half an hour then started it up again a made it home. I dont kno if maybe theres a bad ground somewhere but its come to the point were i cant trust my once trusty charger. Any advice?

 

w -

Gut reaction is more of a fuel problem than spark.

What did you check when it first happened and how hot was the engine?

Archer

 

i checked the grounds and checked the coil. i thought it was electrical cuz it didnt sputter out it just died completly.

 

w -

Knowing whether the carb venturies were wet or dry would have helped. Naturally if the car is running fine now, harder to diagnose. The nice thing about the Chrysler electronic ignition is that it's a cheap and easy replacement. (ECU and V regulator). It's been my experience that when an ECU gets "iffy", it has trouble starting, and generally doesn't die when running or under load. If you normally don't reach 4K, anything could be going on.

Archer

 

have you checked the gap between the reluctor & pick up , it should be .008 ?

 

Problems like this can be tough to run down Might be an intermittent ground, connection, or even component

I'd try driving the car around the neighborhood so you don't have so far to walk or tow it. You have a tach? Try keeping an eye on the needle. If the engine quits, and the needle drops instantly, you have loss of ignition. If it "follows" engine speed down, you have at least got primary coil voltage and trigger.

I'd try pulling all connectors off the ignition. "work" the connectors of the ballast, the ECU, and the distributor in/ out, to scrub them clean, and to "feel" for tightness. Even if you think the ECU is grounded, pull it off, scrape around the back of the ECU bolt holes and the firewall, and use star washers.

Do as suggested above, get yourself a .008" (inches, not mm) feeler and check the gap in the dist. Take your multimeter, set to low AC volts, and crank the engine, with the meter hooked to the distributor connector. It should generate about 1V AC. Carefully inspect the reluctor and pickup for rust, debri, and strike damage. While you are "in there" take a hard look at cap and rotor.

Check your ignition supply voltage. To do that you will be checking "voltage drop" in the harness. Turn the key to "run" but with engine not running. Put one probe of your meter onto the blue alternator field wire, the other directly onto battery positive. You are hoping for a very low reading, the lower the better. If you read over .3V (three tenths of one volt) you have voltage drop problems in the harness, and may have a bad connection especially if worse.

Your top suspects here is the bulkhead connector, the ignition switch connector and switch, the ammeter and connections, and in rare cases the harness splice in the ammeter circuit.

Even after you've checked all this, it is POSSIBLE that the ECU is just getting bad and starting to act up. After you've tried to eliminate "other stuff" you might try to round up a known good one.

 

Besides what has already been mentioned test the ECU, VR and ballast resistor for excessive heat next time it dies on you.

 

If you have an Orange ECU,replace it and drive worry free. I've had 3 of these put me on foot!

 

My own experience has been the PU in the distributor going bad, and the wiring.
Never had an ECU go bad. Maybe I was just lucky