She shut off on me today at a stop light :0(

[Someotherguy]

Hey guys this is a 73 RR 318, factory ignition system...

Well, i was tooling along in town today, pulled up to a stop light and about 20 seconds later she just shut off :sad5: It would not re-start at the light..

Luckily the road was on a downhill slope, so i let it roll down to a parking lot up the road, popped the hood and found no spark at the coil wire going to the distributor...I had no diagnostic tools with me, so i just let it sit a few minutes..Well it fire up a minute or two later, then shut back off when i pulled it down into gear...(the neutral start wires are not hooked up on this car, it will start in gear)...So i decided to price the usual parts(ignition module/ballast/coil) on my phone while it cooled off a bit...Well a few minutes later it fired back up, and has ran fine the rest of the day...:glasses10:

Any thoughts on which one of the ignition parts would have caused this..?

 

[samedaze]

Might be the ign module I had one everytime it got hot no spark, changed it problem went away.

 

[69Bee]

Make sure the bulkhead connectors going to the ammeter and gauge cluster are making contact. The ammeter wire usually burns the connector, and can make contact intermittent. I had a Charger do this whenever it felt like, and when it would die, I hit the emergency flashers then fiddled with the connector until they worked.

 

[Someotherguy]

I'll prolly pick up the "big 3" this payday-n-swap them all out, then throw the current parts in the glove box for spares...

ignition module/ballast/coil...about $50

i love how cheap mechanical parts are for these old cars

- - - Updated - - -

Make sure the bulkhead connectors going to the ammeter and gauge cluster are making contact. The ammeter wire usually burns the connector, and can make contact intermittent. I had a Charger do this whenever it felt like, and when it would die, I hit the emergency flashers then fiddled with the connector until they worked.

I still had electrical power when it died, the emergency flashers were working lol

I will give them both a good wiggling around though....cant hurt

 

[Cranky]

Seems like the E-flashers are the last thing to die lol. Man, I've have plenty of problems with electronic ignition systems. Some were great and a lot were not....

 

[bm02tj]

I have had that in the past once it was the module and the next time the pickup in the dist
so if you are changing parts add that one to the list

 

[marlabuck]

My '73 RR did the same thing last year at the DMV...started / died...started/ died...I jiggled the wires from the battery to the firewall and voila...when I got home I secured the wiring with a wire tie and now it is raised about 3" from original position...been starting perfect for over a year now...Marla

 

[Someotherguy]

Update, i remembered this morning that i replaced the starter relay a few days before this happened...So i decided to put the old relay back on this morning...Drove it about 50 miles so far today with no problems...So i returned the new relay just now

I guess I'll just leave the old one on there-n-keep my push button starter :grin:

 

[rsd859]

But would the relay cause it to die/stall?

 

[Someotherguy]

But would the relay cause it to die/stall?

Well, i know i can pull one of the wire plugs off the bottom of the relay and the car will not have any spark..so i assume that it can cause it to die...

 

[rsd859]

There you have it, I havent messed with mine, so im not sure where all the wiring goes. Im guessing the wire that you remove that kills the engine goes to the Ign box?

 

[Someotherguy]

Welp...it done it again earlier

So, I replaced the cheap one first lol

ballast resistor is marked off the list...So far so good, it has not done it since...Ironically, i went into advance to buy the resistor, come back out, stuffed it in the center console(i was gonna put it on when i got home), and then it wouldn't start :laughing6:

So i put the new ballast on and it fired right up, but i don't know if it fixed it yet, because it started back up a few minutes later when it died on me the times previously...

 

[Hemi31]

Sounds unreliable. You should give it to me till you figure it out ;)

My first car was a 73 RR......they are my favorites. The fact that it fired back up after it cooled down sounds like the resistor. I wouldn't rule out the ignition module but I always kept a spare ballast in the glove box.

 

[Someotherguy]

Well i just tried to get it to stall out, it would not

same conditions as the past times it done it, good-n-heat soaked, stopped in gear with foot on brake...it just sat there-n-bubbled it's little tune out lol...:grin:

I still am gonna buy a new module and coil to keep with me though...cheap insurance

 

[Someotherguy]

Bumping this up..I still am experiencing the same problem..:sad5: It has died on me a few more times since the last post..once it was sitting at a stop light, AGAIN! lol...and a few times after i have drove it somewhere and shut it off for a few minutes...It is getting worse though..It will ALWAYS restart after it has nearly completely cooled back down(like after a hour or two)....So far, it has NEVER died on me while going down the road/in motion...It's always while stopped or after letting it sit a few minutes after a drive...

I have since hooked the neutral start switch up, so i could start it with the key and get the full 12v during cranking...

Parts replaced...ECU(it tested bad at the parts store), but the new box didn't fix the issue, it restarted and drove home without problem within about an hour after the new ecu was hooked up...The car has failed to restart after a drive with this new ecu box a couple times..

The ignition coil has also been replaced, and the ballast resistor...

When it fails to start, i have full battery power at the + side of the coil during cranking...yet no spark at the coil wire to the distributor...

I have cleaned and di-electric greased all the bulkhead harness connections....The only note worthy/in question bulkhead connection was the large black ammeter wire...I looked like it has gotten a little hot at one time....I payed special attention to this connection, and made sure it was good..I get a good constant reading from the ammeter at all times, and always have..

Other possibly note worthy things...

After a drive and subsequent failure to restart, I've noticed the ignition coil is very hot to the touch, and the ecu is quite warm also, but no where near hot like the coil is...

Question, would a problem with the distributor cause no spark at the coil wire before it??

I am running out of ideas guys

 

[Someotherguy]

Another note worthy item..... I measured the volts at the coil while it was running earlier, it was running in the high 11's...I believe that should be lower...like 9 volts?

 

[coloradodave]

Yes, the distributor triggers the coil to fire voltage to the plugs. Under a no start condition have you pulled the coil wire from the distributor cap, held it near a ground and cranked the motor? If you have 12 volts at the positive coil terminal in the 'run' position, but no spark from the coil wire in the test above, the problem is in the distributor; the cap, rotor, reluctor wheel, reluctor to module gap or the module itself. Also check the wires between the distributor and coil for breaks in the insulation.

 

[Someotherguy]

yep, did all that crap you said, no spark from the coil, it had plenty of voltage going to it....

so i replaced the distributor and the coil today(replaced the coil just in case the heat may have damaged it), and that seems to have fixed it:grin:...I ran the piss out of it today a couple times today, then brought it back home-n-let it sit about 10-15 minutes(It was consistently not starting after sitting in this time frame)...and she fires right up without problem every time now

 

[Jonnyuma]

I was gonna say what ColoradoDave said about the wires to the coil. I used to have one (POS side) that was extra crispy and would cause all kinds of strange behavior. Usually just took a jiggle and a curse to get everything back in order. I still jiggle and curse, but I fixed the wire years ago.

 

[Someotherguy]

Well, the ignition wiring looked to be ok, no visible breaks, so i was leaning toward a bad part, not a wiring issue...I think i hit on the magic part today