96 Problems :(

[Travis Hufstetler]

Hey, I have a 96 that started as a V6. My mom's husband thought he was cool and put a 5.0 from a 1991 Fox and carbed it. He isn't that smart and now that my mother passed, I now have the car, and a huge headache to tag along. Ok, so it has a 91 5.0, a C4 tranny, and a 96 Cobra rear end. It does not run and I have went through 4 ignition modulestrying to fix it. I have no idea on how he wired it. Whenever I put the wire that leads from the module, to the coil, the wire starts smoking. I am just dumbfounded on what to do any help?

 

[jrichker]

Is your ignition system still using the EFI TFI module ? Or is it using the DuraSpark distributor and the DuraSpark box and coil?

The old style ignition systems used a resistance wire between the ignition switch and the ignition coil. Its purpose was to drop the voltage down from 12 volts to 6 volts and limit the current drawn by the ignition coil. No resistance and the coil draws too much current causing smoke and parts failure. Depending on how the ignition is wired, it may need a ballast resistor or resistance wire to drop the voltage down.

 

[Travis Hufstetler]

It's the duraspark setup.

 

[jrichker]

As you can see, the DuraSpark system uses a ballast resistor. No ballast resistor and things draw too much current and start smoking...

Start looking for the ballast resistor. it will either be a special resistance wire, or a ceramic block with screw terminals or tabs for the wire connections.

Check the voltage at the coil: using the wire that does not go the the DuraSpark box, it should drop from 12 volts in start mode to 6-8 volts in run mode. Use the engine block or battery negative post for a ground. If you get a constant 12 volts cranking or running, the ballast resistor is missing.

See http://webpages.charter.net/1bad6t/duraspark.html for more help.

Or if you are totally bored out of your mind, see http://www.google.com/search?q=dura...-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

 

[Travis Hufstetler]

Thanks, this will help a lot.