HELP no spark

DarkoStoj

Founding Member

Sep 4, 2002

929

13

39

Detroit

Jul 26, 2006

#1

• Jul 26, 2006

• #1

I just dropped a new 306 in my 68 and went to fire it up for the first time today and when I checked my wire coming from the harness that goes to the + side of the coil the voltage reading was spiking between 0 and 5.7 volts. Anybody konw what the problem is? Ignition is all stock except a mallory unilite dist.

 

G

gsxrken

Member

Sep 12, 2005

206

1

18

Weschester County, NY

Jul 26, 2006

#2

• Jul 26, 2006

• #2

There is a pink wire that runs from the back of the ignition switch to the coil. It functions as a resistor, and it sounds like yours is acting up. Your Mallory should get a true 12v assuming it is not still a points-based distributor, so you should replace the pink resistor wire with a regular one. (To start the car just to hear it, run a jumper from the + side of your solenoid to the coil.)

 

DarkoStoj

Founding Member

Sep 4, 2002

929

13

39

Detroit

Jul 26, 2006

#3

• Jul 26, 2006

• #3

gsxrken said:

There is a pink wire that runs from the back of the ignition switch to the coil. It functions as a resistor, and it sounds like yours is acting up. Your Mallory should get a true 12v assuming it is not still a points-based distributor, so you should replace the pink resistor wire with a regular one. (To start the car just to hear it, run a jumper from the + side of your solenoid to the coil.)

Click to expand...

I could have sworn the mallory unilite wasn't supposed to run off 12 volts

 

DarkoStoj

Founding Member

Sep 4, 2002

929

13

39

Detroit

Jul 26, 2006

#4

• Jul 26, 2006

• #4

I think i got it figure out. I got 12v going to the coil without the car running. Will it drop down to 9v when the car is running? I don't want to take any chances and burn out the module in the distributor.

What should the voltages be to the + coil wire when

1. car is off
2. car is running
3. car is starting

 

G

gsxrken

Member

Sep 12, 2005

206

1

18

Weschester County, NY

Jul 27, 2006

#5

• Jul 27, 2006

• #5

You should have zero volts with key off, and something like 8-9V with key on, assuming your resistor wire is still providing some "resistance".

It looks like more than 8-9V can spike your mallory unilite, so I'd proceed carefully here. Check out this link;
http://www.centuryperformance.com/mallory/unitest.asp

 

Max Power

Active Member

Jul 31, 2003

1,774

1

36

St Paul

Jul 28, 2006

#6

• Jul 28, 2006

• #6

Check the Mallory website for specs. Your resistor wire may be perfect, or it may requiire a ballast. Most websites offer PDFs of their instructions.