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Challenger ignition issues

Benjamin Nelson

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Hey everybody. Having some spark issues on my 72 challenger. It has a 440 and a 727. It has Chrysler electronic ignition with the ecu box on the firewall etc. I’ve followed a wiring diagram to put it together but the spark is super weak. Sometimes it fires up but only for a second or two. I’m 15 so I can’t just go out to summit racing and buy a new msd ready to run distributor. Any help appreciated

thanks
 

Chryco Psycho

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MSD is often a downgrade , I have seen them only last a week or two !
First - make sure the gap between the reluctor & pick up inside the dist is at .008& parallel .
Second - make sure the ECU hs a good ground on the firewall & you have a ground strap from the battery to the radiator wall , a second ground strap from the rear of the engine to the firewall area is not a bad addition either
Third - you may have a weak coil Firecore or Pertronics have stock looking high output coils .
 

moparleo

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Congrats on working on your Challenger so young. Great to hear.
Download yourself a copy of the Factory Service Manual for your year of car.
Most common issue on weak spark is a poor ground on the ECM. Grounds are critical on all electrical connections on your car.
Get the factory ignition setup. It is bullet proof and cheap. The ECM's are available at any auto parts store.
Like Chryco said check the reluctor gap and get your self some brass feeler gauges when you can. They are non-magnetic and you need them sometimes to be that way. Here are some downloads for you that you may find to be helpful :
http://www.mymopar.com/downloads/Ignition_System_4pin.jpg
MyMopar - Mopar Forums & Information - Service Manuals
Chrysler Electronic Ignition
 

fasjac

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Ditto on Chryco and Leo. Also, did you get you end up getting a factory engine harness, ballast resistor? I know there were some on the site for sale. Share with these guys that this is a race car, if you haven't already. They are very knowledgeable and can help. They just need to know exactly what you have. Pictures are always good.
Keep at it Ben!
 

moparleo

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A race car ?? You need to give complete info if you have a question on something. We don't know what you know. Give us some pictures and "the rest of the story". Probably too young to know who used to say that. A great guy from a while back named Paul Harvey. Look him up sometime. A real American.
 

moparlee

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A race car ?? You need to give complete info if you have a question on something. We don't know what you know. Give us some pictures and "the rest of the story". Probably too young to know who used to say that. A great guy from a while back named Paul Harvey. Look him up sometime. A real American.
Listened to Paul Harvey almost everyday at lunch time.
 

Benjamin Nelson

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Yes it’s a race car, it has a narrowed Dana 60 with 456 gears a 4 link and a strange spool. 440 out of a 67 Chrysler 300 and a 727 from the same car. It turns out that when I set the gap between the reluctor and the little module thing I set it too tight because the vacuum advance plate moved and I shredded both the reluctor and the module. Fail. If anyone has any of those parts for sale close to British Columbia Canada, let me know.

thanks
 

Benjamin Nelson

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Those are all the photos I have of the car.
 

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Chryco Psycho

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Rock auto has the pick up under $20, or you might find a used dist at a wreckers , the reluctor is the same for small block & big block
 
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fasjac

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Thanks. I don’t know if they have rock auto in Canada but I’ll see.
How far away from Laval, Quebec are you? I bet Nick Panaritis (Indy Auto, Nicks Garage) could help you out real easy. He's probably has 50+ laying around. Mopar guy.
 

Chryco Psycho

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FYI the reluctor has an arrow in the top it uses a different keyway for the roll pin depending on the direction of rotation
 

NoCar340

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The distributor pickup is the same between small and big-block electronic distributors. The difference is in the vacuum advance canister.

In fact, if you don't mind drilling out and replacing a rivet, the physical pickup coil itself will swap in from a later Lean Burn application (which did not have mechanical advance). However, pickup trucks larger than half-ton used mechanical/vacuum advance well into the mid-'80s so they're still relatively easy to find in junkyards.

RockAuto ships to Canada, but the shipping can be murder. You should be able to find it, or its equivalent, at your local non-NAPA parts store (Echlin ignition is gaaaar-bosh!), though it's not likely they'll have it on the shelf. Ask the man for Standard Ignition LX102 or equivalent, and tell him you don't want the cheap one! Spend the extra for better quality, particularly on ignition stuff.

Remember, us local-parts-store guys are the people that patronize your place of employment too. Plus, if you have an issue there's a lot of value in being able to deal person-to-person. RockAuto might refund or replace the part, but they won't cover any of the shipping costs and you won't get credit until the original manufacturer decides the part was defective.

If your local parts guys are total hammers, try Amazon dot ca with the same information. They're usually on par with, if not cheaper than RockAuto and they have a Canadian distribution system. Not only will their shipping be faster, if you have Prime or order enough to cover the minimum, it'll also be free... but please, try the local guys first. Keeping your money in your community is more important than you might now think it is.
 

Benjamin Nelson

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I’m an advocate for keeping as much money in my community as I can. Not a big fan of cheap Chinese stuff. I’ll check my local parts site before anything else.
 

DetMatt1

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I’m an advocate for keeping as much money in my community as I can. Not a big fan of cheap Chinese stuff. I’ll check my local parts site before anything else.
I see now what happened to the dashboard in your vin question thread.
 
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