Ignition help needed.

[Jbland]

Hoping someone can help I dropped a 5.9 crate into my 68 charger. Hooked it all up and I'm getting spark and it'll fire but die immediately. I'm running a points style ignition setup w ballast resistor. Had an electronic but couldn't get spark w it. Any suggestions would be appreciated on initial setup or wiring .

 

[Xp29h]

Check ballast. Get another and try again.

Which electronic system did you have? If Msd, bypass ballast and retire and try again. Check msd website for wiring diagrams for application. They gave them all. Good luck!

 

[jimt1971rr]

I agree, If it dies as soon as you let off the key, it is most likely a bad ballast. For a quick check, you can bypass the ballast by opening up a paperclip and connecting the two ballast electrical connectors to either side. If it continues to run, it is definitely your ballast, if it make no difference, reconnect connect the ballast again. Be cautious no to let the clip touch ground and it will get hot. Again, this is only for doing a quick check. With out the ballast, you will burn up your coil.

 

[Meep-Meep]

The ballast is a likely suspect but also check your ignition harness at the bulkhead connector. If you have any severely corroded terminals you can either remove them and bypass with a solid wire or get a new harness. I'll note that harnesses are not cheap and for a quick and effective repair I have used the Packard terminals that are commonly found at swap meets. They just need a little massaging to fit the Chrysler shell but they do work.

 

[Jbland]

Well I swapped the ballast for a new one and no dice. However, upon checking schematics I only had the coil side ignition wire hooked up(ign2) and missed hooking up (ign1). It has spark and starts now but immediately starts with way high rpms. I backed off the idle screw and checked throttle linkage. Any suggestions as to what could cause this? Improper carb adjustment? Timing?

 

[miller]

Choke setting probably off.

 

[Moparsmitty]

Take a jumper wire and go from the +side of the battery to the +side of the coil and see if it runs. If it runs like that then you can go to the bulkhead connector, ignition switch, ballast resistor, etc. and look for problems. Don't run it wired like that for very long or it'll burn the points. If it doesn't run wired like this then at least you have eliminated most of the primary ignition circuit as the culprit.