[Grunt Doc]

Three weeks ago as I was driving my '68 home from the paint shop, she went dead. No sputtering, loping or anything; purring along and just died. I memtioned it once bbefore here on the forum and was advised to run a wire directly from the battery to the dist. to determine if it was the coil (HEI type dist.) I did that and the car started. I've traced the wire from the dist to the ignition switch and don't find anything wrong. I don't see a blown fuse and I've put in a new starter solenoid. Also, not long ago I put in a new alternator, alternator wiring harness and voltage regulator. I don't know where else to look. Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[dan]

new ignition switch

I had a 78 bronco that used to cut out like that.The new ignition switch took car of that.The hardest part is changing the tumbler to use your same key.

 

[sixt9coug]

HEI distributor?? those are notorious for blowing out ignition modules. a buddy with a Chevy truck had that happen to us once on the way to Subway. it just died and wouldnt start back up again. it would crank but not fire at all. i think the Chevy didnt want us all to get a sandwich. i mean 3 hefty guys in a Blazer has to still stress the poor truck. he he

 

[Nitcat]

Wayne, do you have a tach in the car? If you do, try removing the wire to the coil and see if that fixes it.

 

[modifiedmark]

Wayne, when you wired the HEI in the first place did you use the same wire that originally went to the + side of the original coil?

And when you said you checked the wireing, did you mean just a visual check, or did you mean you put a test light or volt meter on it to verify there was no current there?

The reason I ask is I belive there is a resister wire, wired into the wire that originally went to the coil and those have been known to burn out. You may have to peel the loom back to find where its spliced in. The HEI needs a full 12V to it anyway (I think)
so thats something to check out. Someone else correct me if I'm wrong on the resister wire please, but thats what my foggy memory is telling me right now.

 

[swamper]

My manual shows resister wire to coil on cars with Tac.

 

[dark7068]

Mark could be right. The resistenace wire (fusible link) might have fried, thats why you wont get voltage to fire the car, by when you hotwire it the car will start.

Rick

 

[Grunt Doc]

Nitcat- No no tach in the car. It did have an after market tach in it when I got it, but it was too big for my taste.
MM- I ran a new 14 ga wire to the dist. from where the siring assembly comes through the firewall. I didn't use a test light, just a visual check. I guess I should do that. For the most part, I'm lost when it comes to electrical. Thanks for the help.

 

[Royce Peterson]

Wayne,
There is a resistance wire whether you have a tachometer or not. No doubt it is likely the problem here. The resistance wire looks essentially like any other wire, it is the portion of your ignition circuit from the switch to the firewall. It is a dark red wire and can fade to pink sometimes or look brown if it has been shorted out or overheated.

 

[greggieatthebat]

I had a similar problem when we first started my 302 with the new mods... If there was not enough voltage (like 13 or more) the new Accel distributor would just cut out with no warning, just like you describe. In my case it was because the other guy helping us had wired the carb's electric choke power from the coil's "+" terminal, so the engine would run for about thirty seconds and then suddenly die without any sign (no sputtering etc). Make sure you have the correct voltage at the coil with the engine running (use a voltmeter if you can).