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Hey all, I'm not getting any spark to my 318 5.2 v8 and I'm thinking it's the ICM however online I see all of them have 5 prong connectors I only have 2 prongs going to the box. Any ideas wassup?
It could be the ICM, but that's usually intermittent in early stages, a dead voltage regulator, coil, ballast resistor, relay, the dizzy itself or any of the wires connecting them.
You can replace ONE part at a time and see what happens or check for current with a multi-meter from battery on downstream.
I would do manual checks on every connection first and then start replacing parts, typically cheapest to most expensive.
Sorry, but those are usually trail and error problems and you didn't give any preceding symptoms, if any. .
It started with the carburetor going out but then I decided to just give it a edlebroc and holley demon upgrade (the plan from the jump) and an HEI distribution however I seen that with hei you bypass the ballast. (What other forums mentioned) so the ECM (connected to the air filter) is disconnected but the wires were still connected to each other so I'm thinking its that for sure. If anybody has any pictures of what they have so i can use as reference I'd appreciate it. And thanks for the help
It started with the carburetor going out but then I decided to just give it a edlebroc and holley demon upgrade (the plan from the jump) and an HEI distribution however I seen that with hei you bypass the ballast. (What other forums mentioned) so the ECM (connected to the air filter) is disconnected but the wires were still connected to each other so I'm thinking its that for sure. If anybody has any pictures of what they have so i can use as reference I'd appreciate it. And thanks for the help
OK, you didn't say you converted to HEI. Sorry, that's not something I'm familiar with.
I would have just replaced the control unit with an orange box and new wires and be done with it.
Hopefully somebody familiar with the HEI setup will jump in.
The stock ECMs (ICUs) are black or blue and top out around 4500/5000 rpm. The Orange an d Chrome boxes are more performance oriented and can handle higher rpms; the Gold box is RACE ONLY and shouldn't be used on the street (not designed for extended running. The price difference between stock and the Orange or Chrome boxes isn't all that much and the entire conversion kits (box, harness and dist) aren't that expensive either.
That would be the route I'd take, but mostly because that's what I'm familiar with.
In over 40 years, I think I've had to replace two control boxes and two VRs.
I don't have that one but it does have a positive and negative connection and thats it but it still doesn't get spark so when I switched to the old one ( as I said fairly new) it still didn't get spark but I believe I didn't connect the wires probably thinking back on it. But is the ecu required to be connected or can that be either re wired or just tucced off and not used? I'm 26 doing my best with these older cars lol
10-10-2022, 01:34 PM
