Ignition Problem, Calibrated Resistance Wire Woes
 

I recently replaced my water pump and diverter plates since I had always had overheating problems and I had read so many threads on here about improved cooling. While I was waiting for the gasket to set up I was observing some of the wiring I had done several years ago. I noticed this nice job under a wad of electrical tape.
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...u/6a0f2a40.jpg

This was then plugged into a ballast resistor, which then feeds to my coil. I clipped and sliced the wires and then made a nice connection to the resistor. So after the water pump is back together I start the car and it seems to run fine, but it starts missing real bad under light throttle. It seems fine if you punch it, but definitely something is up with the ignition system. It runs like my old 97 Jetta after a rain storm. Definitely coil problems and missing. After a short drive I checked under the hood again and the ballast resistor was pretty damn hot. After reading up I realize that I spliced the calibrated resistance wire. My understanding is that it supplies 12 volts to the coil during cranking, then switches to like 6- volts? I took a look at it and it looks like one wire is copper and the other is something else (tungsten or something). I also realized that the wire I used was from West Marine since my local hardware store and radio shack were out of stock and I'm pretty sure it's stainless (def not copper). So will I need to slice the original crusty wire back together, it looked pretty tired and dry rotted? If I just replace the stupid marine grade with 14-16 awg copper wire would that help? Does anyone know where to get a new calibrated resistance wire? How should I check to voltage to the coil? My set up is:

400 ci (originally 326 all wiring for 326 2brl)
MSD blaster 2 coil
I think the MSD ballast resistor 0.8 ohms (PN 8214), but I'm not 100%
Mallory Unilite Series 47 with vacuum advance
Accel 8.8 wires
Regular spark plugs. I think R45s


Here's the resistor:
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...u/72243dfb.jpg

And the leads going to the coil and distr.
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...u/0886af0f.jpg

It's always 1 step forward two giant steps back with me. At least it seems to be running cooler, pretty soon it might not be running at all.

Two choices: replace the wire to the + side of the coil with a proper resistor wire and dump the external resistor OR

rewire with copper stranded 14 Ga wire and a resistor which matches the primary resistance of the coil you have, probably about 1.5 ohms.

george

so you are running a points ignition? if so, you need a resistance wire, but what happened to the stock one that came from your starter? so you have a resistance wire AND a ballast resistor? not sure you need both. if you are running an electronic ignition, you dont need either.

Yeah I've now confused myself. I'm running a non-points Unilite distributor. From my understanding the primary lead wire is used for starting and then the resistance wire is used once the car is started. Wouldn't you still need at least 1 wire from the ignition?

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...nsu/Wiring.jpg

So if I have the ballast resistor it's redundant, since all the current is going through the ballast as well as the calibrated wire. I don't see how splicing would make a difference since only one of the leads is active at one time. By using both the calibrated wire and ballast resistor I was probably reducing the voltage before it even got to the ballast.

I also checked and saw that the wire I used was tinned copper so it should be as good or better. Maybe I'll get another ballast resistor. I think the Mallory 700 unit is variable resistance for starting. 0.75 -1.5 Ohms

What ignition wires would you guys recommend with this set-up? I have super old 8.8mm (~1994) and I'm guessing they were over kill since I don’t have an MSD. I did mess with the wire looms a bit to make sure the #5 and #7 wires weren’t routed together. Maybe I could have inadvertently cracked a wire, but I would imagine that the missing would be constant and not just at one RPM. I guess I could mist the wires to see if they arch. I was planning on replacing the wires, so maybe now is the time. Do you have a preferred or recommended wire type or brand?

Any diagnostic tests to check that my voltage and current are sufficient at the coil, plugs, and ignition?

First thing first,that blaster II coil should'nt be mounted on it's side like that,MSD clearly states in their instructions that the blaster II coils need to be mounted in an upright position.

That's actually true for most oil filled cannister style coils...

And yeah,as has been said,you really should only need to use either the ballast resistor -or- the OE resistor wire,not both.

But the MSD blaster II coil itself typically requires it's own specific resistor (0.8Ω part #8214 IIRC),so if I were to suggest which resistor to use,I would probably recommend using that MSD ballast resistor and not the OE resistance wire.

And yeah,that ballast resistor would then be wired directly to a 12v circuit fed by the ignition switch.

As for getting a full 12v for quick starting,that mostly applies to the OE points ignitions,and the Mallory Unilite electronic module may not even need that full 12v @ cranking to fire-up correctly,either way typically that 12v cranking wire is run up from the starter solenoids S terminal,and that lead gets wired directly to the coil + side,that way it acts as a temporary bypass when the engine is cranked,and when the engine is'nt cranking the current to the coil then shifts over to the resistance circuit.

As for plug wires,I like the black MSD 8.5mm super conductors myself.

But plug wires are super easy to check,just Ω test them and compare that to the wires resistance specs to determine if there are any issues with those.

Oh,BTW,if you want a new resistor wire,those can typically be bought at most any auto parts stores,if you can find a parts guy that knows what you're talking about,and knows how to find the part no. in the catalog.

HTH

Bret P.

It should be the R terminal.

Probably just a typo, since Brett has forgot more stuff about cars than I've ever learned.;)

On "A" bodies, the coil power during starting is derived from the ignition switch IGN2 terminal, running power from the IGN1 terminal thru the resistance.

"F" bodies tend to use the "R" terminal from the starter for cranking ignition power.

george

The man is good!!

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...u/c552e93b.jpg

So I checked the voltage last night on the coil (which is still mounted incorrectly) and it was super low like 4-5 volts. I called Mallory and MSD and they gave me the scoop on what type of resistance I need and what voltage I should be seeing at the coil. So I'm 90% sure it's a voltage issue due to using the cal resistance wire, which I then made sure to splice to the starter wire. Good thing I did since I just installed a IMI high Torque starter and they told me I didn't need that wire since I didn't have points. Glad I went out of my way to splice a wire connected to nothing. At least I have a better understanding of the ignition system. So my next question is how do I go about removing the pin connector?

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...u/44602aa7.jpg

I also ordered the correct ballast resistor from Mallory, some new MSD super conductors, and some wire looms. I'm going to also investigate getting the coil mounted properly.

So I got the wiring done. For now I just wired the iginition to the ignition source in the fuse box, through the proper mallory ballast resistor. I found the Packard Delphi twin lock connectors at a marine supply store and will attempt to install the ignition wire properly intot he engine bay harness at some point. Looks like I have full 12 volts to the coil when the Ignition module is bypassed and 8 volts when everything is hooked up, which is what Mallory recommended. Bought some flat iron and "plan" to mount the coil in a proper position, once I measure for clearances. Ordered wire looms and plan on getting them on tonight.

The car started right up and did feel stronger, but I still have the stumble on partial throttle. I changed the Edelbrock accelerator pump setting to the longest shot and it helped a bit, but still not great. I have a carb rebuild kit sitting in my garage, but I was reluctant to just start replacing everything at once, but now since the ignition seems to pass muster, I guess it's time to move on. I bought a propane torch so i can check for vaccuum leaks around the intake too since I have my suspicions about the intake gasket. i went back and actually read the direction for my intake manifold and ordered the proper edelbrock replacement intake gasket, since the manifold will likely be off in the near future.

At least with the new water pump she stayed at about 170 for most of the trip and crept up to 180-185 after a few stop lights and stop and go, but not too bad.