No Fire to plugs, 1970 dodge dart 340 car, troublshooting tips?

Question

Replaced ECM which tested bad, tried new ballast resistor, tried new coil, checked voltage regulator-tested good. Last time car ran was purring like kitten and just died would not start again. Couple times before car was idling fine and stopped for a second or two then pick back up and would idle fine again. Noticed that would (cut out)do this when I pulled on the parking brake lever which could have vibrated the firewall I suppose. I don't see anything under steering column that looks to be shorting out. My only other thoughts are the ignition switch or bulkhead connector on the firewall. Checked voltage at coil inputs and only getting 2Vdc. I don't have a wiring diagram for the thing doggonit. Car has had electronic ignition put on it and worked fine for about 10 years. Any troubleshooting suggestions?

Answer 1

2v to the coil is not enough. first, unplug the coil and recheck the voltage. if its still only 2v, trace the + coil supply from the fuse box to the coil. bulkhead connector sound like a good possibility. if you are unable to locate the source of the voltage drop, you could run a new fused wire to the resistor; only hot in crank and run position. best fix would be to locate a wiring diagram and find the prob. with a diag., it should be easy as pie.

Answer 2

1970 Dodge Dart 340

Answer 3

I'd take a long hard look at the distributer, cap and rotor. Sounds like you've already replaced the coil. Use a volt meter starting at the coil and just trace where the power stops.

Good Luck

Answer 4

sometimes enough resistance can be in the key part of the ignition switch to cause the ability to read voltage but the amperage is not enough to get hot power to the coil .your voltage leads me to believe probably key switch .A fifteen dollar item. Also check for any splices in the wire going to your coil.any break even reconnected over time if not clean and secure can cause just enough resistance .check your timing.

Answer 5

That car came with regular ignition which included points.
It has been modified. The aftermarket product may have went bad, maybe check the coil pick up on the distributor

Answer 6

Yeah, extreme fail. Your vehicle has a 275 HP small block, not a 340 HP. HP does not equate to velocity; an Abrams conflict tank could be outrun by way of an 80cc dirtbike. At any cost, it rather is apples and oranges; they are thoroughly diverse autos.

Answer 7

I don't know if the parking brake has anything to do with it, when was the last time it was tuned up? Sometimes the plugs even new plugs just crap out, that happened to me once, I put new Champions in a Toyota and all though they made them for the truck they wouldn't work. After replacing everything else I found out the new plugs were bad.

Answer 8

I had something similar happen with an aftermarket distributor. Some of them use an electronic 'eye' to see gaps in the timing of the disributor cap. The 'eye' (an intrared LED) can sometimes burn out. I had a Mallory distributor cap like this. It was crazy trying to figure it out but I finally did. They sell the 'eye' module in performance distributor shops for around $50.

Answer 9

you need to check the ballast resistor on it those things would go bad pretty often ,i own a 71 challenger and i have electronic on it also,it needs the resistor changed about every 3 years on it,good luck,hope this helps. the ballast should be mounted on the firewall on the drivers side of it.

Answer 10

I know this may sound overly simple but did you check out the secondary ignition parts,cap,rotor,wires?