My 1971 Dodge Van w/360 has been converted to electronic ignition by the previous owner. My Electronic module has 5 pins on it, but whoever did the conversion, connected it as if it were a 4 pin unit and left one wire not connected to anything, and is only using a single ballast.

I have been trying to research what the purpose of the "extra" pin is and why there was a dual ballast. From what I have found on the net, this electronic ignition module required 5 volts or so, so one side of the ballast was to lower the voltage for the electronic ignition module, the other side of the ballast was to lower the voltage for the coil.

My unit seems to work OK, but I am afraid it might burn out at any time if it is not connected properly.

My question is, why does my electronic ignition module have 5 pins vs. 4 pins on others? If it needs 5 volts instead of 12 volts, wouldn't the 5 volt just go in the same pin as it would on the 12 volt version? Or do the 5 pin electronic ignition modules need 5 volts AND 12 volts?

I hope someone knows the answer to this.