Help with starting issue 69 Charger 383

[ac_knight]

Ok I have had my Charger for a while. Everything ran and worked well. I parked it for a few years with moving and having kids it made it hard to drive it. I moved it from its parking and brought it to my new house. I started it, drove it onto the trailer, off the trailer, into the garage, parked it, and began swapping out the master cylinder for disc brake upgrade. I moved again, and needed to get the car started, and it would not start. It turns over, but will not fire up. It has been upgraded to electric ignition, but was still running the ballist resistor setup. I lost spark to the plugs. I swapped out the resistor, volt regulator, spark plugs and control box and still no spark. I did some research, and thought a HEI system might do the trick and solve my problem. I bought a new coil, hei module, and then attempted the swap, and still no spark to plugs. Ibleft everything loose until I knew if it would work or not. I have 12v power from switch to coil, power from coil to distributor, but still no spark. I was thinking it was the distributor, but I don't want to spend money on a distributor if it isn't the problem. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[pnora]

Do you have power to the coil when cranking?

 

[Don Frelier]

Check for power in both run and start positions on the ignition.
Then check the reluctor to pickup coil gap.
Check resistance on the pickup coil (if you've tested/changed everything else that's the only other thing that I don't see on the list)

 

[Sixpactogo]

Plate coil in distributor would be my guess also.

 

[ac_knight]

New cap and rotor as well. When I get home today, I will check the reluctor and the resistance. I do have power at crank to the coil. I checked the output from the coil to the distributor when cranking and had 12v, so I presume I have power to the coil. I will verify just to make sure. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[wvmarv]

Ok I have had my Charger for a while. Everything ran and worked well. I parked it for a few years with moving and having kids it made it hard to drive it. I moved it from its parking and brought it to my new house. I started it, drove it onto the trailer, off the trailer, into the garage, parked it, and began swapping out the master cylinder for disc brake upgrade. I moved again, and needed to get the car started, and it would not start. It turns over, but will not fire up. It has been upgraded to electric ignition, but was still running the ballist resistor setup. I lost spark to the plugs. I swapped out the resistor, volt regulator, spark plugs and control box and still no spark. I did some research, and thought a HEI system might do the trick and solve my problem. I bought a new coil, hei module, and then attempted the swap, and still no spark to plugs. Ibleft everything loose until I knew if it would work or not. I have 12v power from switch to coil, power from coil to distributor, but still no spark. I was thinking it was the distributor, but I don't want to spend money on a distributor if it isn't the problem. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

View attachment 1283770 View attachment 1283771

You've already spent enough money to have a shop that deals with electrical problems tell you what's wrong with it.

 

[RJRENTON]

New cap and rotor as well. When I get home today, I will check the reluctor and the resistance. I do have power at crank to the coil. I checked the output from the coil to the distributor when cranking and had 12v, so I presume I have power to the coil. I will verify just to make sure. Thanks for the suggestions.

IMO....since, you have what appears to be an ORANGE CONTROL BOX to the right of the heater hoses AND a brand X ignition coil on the fender, I'll guess that the control box has failed, likely fue to a coil / control box mismatch. If the reluctor in the distributor and the reluctor gap had not changed.....my money is on the control box........
BOB RENTON

 

[Don Frelier]

Yes but he did state that he swapped the box out.
How much are we betting here?

 

[Don Frelier]

You stated you have power from the coil to the distributor?
You mean you have a strong spark at the coil wire?
Can you post a picture of inside the cap and the rotor?

 

[RJRENTON]

Yes but he did state that he swapped the box out.
How much are we betting here?

With an old NOS box or a new Chinese variety? Just noticed, back by the Orange Box, an ignition coil and a bunch of RED and YELLOW wires running in different directions sort of randomly.....is the system correctly wired? It looks as if there are two (2) coils in the system, with the origional coil used as a splice point but without the high voltage wire connected. Just thinking out loud....
BOB RENTON

 

[ChargerChad]

If that’s the 440 Source E-coil, I have the same one. I also bought their ready-to-run two wire street distributor to replace the original points distributor on my 383 charger. It was only $70 and allowed be to eliminate the ballast resistor and not have any sort of ignition box. So far it works awesome.

 

[Shorthorse]

Check two grounds. That ignition box needs to be grounded via it's mounting to the firewall. New ones usually have a thick coat of paint on them. Also, make sure your engine is well grounded to the frame/body.