Symptoms of a bad voltage regulator?

[moparcanuck]

Stock 440 with a Six Pack and electronic ignition. Sometimes, my GTX won't start. It came on gradually with longer turning times before starting. I'm pretty sure it's an electrical problem as I eventually smell gas after pumping it and attempting to start it. Eventually it will start but exhibits signs of a flooded engine.

I've changed the ballast resistor and coil - I had spares. I haven't changed the voltage regulator and was wondering if this could be the problem.

 

[Pops1967GTX]

Can you explain more ,is it just slow cranking & no start ....Or ?

Have you done some simple test first?....Are you charging @ 13.8 to 14.2 volts....Battery must have a full charge & be 12volts......Have you tried jumping the starter relay when the problem shows up?...Is it Auto Or 4sp trans. Neutral safety switch also.....


If you think its the VR....
Need to check the wiring in the regulator circuit.......

It can be either the regulator is bad, or you have a bad connection in the regulator connector or circuit..
IMportant..Make sure the regulator is actually grounded.

 

[Seax440Dodge]

I wouldn't think VR would cause starting issues

 

[Lowhound]

I once spent hundreds of dollars trying to resolve a similar issue. It turned out to be the cheapest part possible. The ignition relay. I not only over-thought the problem but also over-spent.

 

[moparcanuck]

If it was the ignition relay, it wouldn't turn over. It just cranks over with no spark. It's an automatic with plenty of juice in the battery.

 

[Pops1967GTX]

Try this link some helpful information......
[video]http://www.classicwinnebagos.com/forum/index.php?topic=3424.0[/video]

 

[Lowhound]

If it was the ignition relay, it wouldn't turn over. It just cranks over with no spark. It's an automatic with plenty of juice in the battery.

That is exactly the way that I was thinking. That's why I wasted so much money & time on the wrong fix. My car would spin over & over and sometimes would it would fire, but not start. It would only fire as I let off the key as the switch was moving back to the off position. I changed coil, pick up coil, tried another distributor I had laying around, voltage regulator, new ignition switch and eventually I purchased a new main engine harness from Year One because I had finally narrowed it down to wiring since I had replaced everything. But nope it was a cheap ignition relay. Replaced it & that did the trick. It just happened to be the cheapest part that I tried.

 

[nm9stheham]

The voltage regulator is out of the circuit when cranking with the stock systems; assuming you have the stock Mopar electronic ignition and wiring, the VR won't even be active during cranking. So the VR is not an issue; you can start and run the car without the VR working or even in the car......

Can you describe the symptoms more (like is it cranking slower now), and also confirm that this is the stock Mopar electrnoic ignition system that you have?

I truly WOULD start looking at the ignition switch as suggested; it has TWO contacts used for starting: 1 is for activating the starter relay which sounds like it is working fine. The other contact is for sending +battery voltage directly to the ignition system and bypassing the ballast during the starting process. This goes to the brown wire that connects to one end of the ballast (on most Mopars of this vintage). (I would need to know year model to look it up to be sure. Do you have a 2 wire or 4 wire ballast?)

You can check this easily by connecting a jumper diectly from the battery + to the coil + lead and seeing if it will fire better; don't leave this jumper in any longer than you need to run the test.

If this fixes it, then it is the ignition switch.

 

[moparcanuck]

1969 GTX. Thanks for the tip. I'll do that in the morning. By ignition switch do you mean the relay/solenoid?

It doesn't crank any slower than normal. The ballast resistor is a two wire.

The strange thing is that this is an intermittent problem. Most of the time, it starts fine and then sometimes not.

 

[nm9stheham]

Ignition switch is the key switch in the car. OK on the 2 wire ballast; the procedure described should work. The intermittent nature of the problem is another pointer to the ignition siwtch being the problem.

 

[moparcanuck]

AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Now it won't fail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bm02tj]

Wire in a couple of test indicator lights to both sides of the ballast in run one will be dimmer in crank mode both should be same
so when it does not start you can tell if power is the problem

 

[nm9stheham]

Of course it won't fail now .... it knows we are all watching! LOL