[MADMACMAN86]

How's it goin mopar fans I have a half ton 83 ram that originally had a slant six with a 4 speed stick and I am swapping in a 1977 360 out of a motor home and I have everything hooked up to run but I can't get any spark for some reason. I am not getting any power to the distributor but I'm getting power to the coil but the ground terminal is staying hot, I've tried to run a separate wire from the battery to the coil and the ground still stays hot ???? I'm lost

 

[dana44]

Sounds like the wiring for the distributor itself, or more specifically, the Hall Effect unit in the distributor isn't functioning. did you use your original wiring diagram to set up all the wiring, would recommend the 77 wiring diagram, unless you are using the alternator off the 83, the 83 alternator may have two field wires, one of them goes to the positive side of the coil, but shouldn't keep it from starting, just charging.

 

[MADMACMAN86]

My alternator from the 83 is the same as the 77 the old six has two plugins for the distributor one 3 prong and one 2 prong and I'm using the one two prong. The six also had a large ignition module on the air filter

 

[dana44]

OK, so you have the Lean Burn system still intact, so in order to get the ignition to work, all the plug-ins need to be used and wired in the distributor, or, go get an older distributor to get rid of all the Lean Burn stuff, works a lot better, distributor will have some adjustment instead of the LB system adjusting it, along with a different carb, that carb is also LB and internally/electronically controlled and will get poor mileage if it isn't connected. LB was ahead of its time, but it doesn't last forever, when it goes bad, it is a replace system, not a repairable system.

Hopefully this makes sense, wire everything up, or get an older electronic ignition distributor to get it running, just wiring half the distributor is not the answer, which is your problem. The second set of wires goes to the computer (LB) to control extra timing advance/retard, this distributor has no mechanical advance.

Additionally, if the alternator has two field wire male terminals, if you follow the wiring diagram, it powers all the sensors on the intake manifold and then goes up to the positive side of the coil. If they are there, it charges, if they are not there, that extra field wire still needs to be connected to the positive on the coil or it won't charge. If you remove all the sensors, or don't power them or the Lean Burn, still have to run that wire to the positive on the coil. Follow the wiring diagram, took me an hour to trace it out (bad wiring diagram).

 

[MADMACMAN86]

Well I never had the lean burn setup hooked into this motor it has the old distributor and I have the original old two barrel on the 360 so ur saying I have to run wires from where the old lean burn module is to get power to the distributor ? I already have ign power to the coil the neg terminal of the coil is just ending up hot

 

[dana44]

If the distributor has two plugs going to it and only one of them is hooked up, she isn't going to start, period. Both those wiring hookups are there for a reason. if you don't have the LB hooked up to begin with, not only is mileage going to suck because it will constantly run rich (LB then runs it up to 18:1 air/fuel ratio when functioning and during certain cruise parameters), so if it used to run this way, rewire it the way it was, swap the distributor from the other engine to this engine if that one functioned properly.

 

[MADMACMAN86]

The 360 distributor only has 1 two prong plug in

 

[MADMACMAN86]

The distributor out of the slant six works in a 360?

 

[dana44]

No, slant six distributor won't work, reluctor (star shaped thing) doesn't have enough points on it. Went back and re-read what you wrote, if the distributor you have in the truck right now has two prongs, with the distributor cap off, can you grab the rotor and twist it to check for mechanical advance inside it? If it doesn't twist (springs underneath will allow about a quarter inch twist), you need the correct distributor (single plug, two wres), and a mechanical advance inside, possibly even a vacuum advance. It is prior to all the LB system. If the module itself, the Hall Effect, is bad in your distributor, you may be able to use the one out of the slant six, the modules are the same, the whole distributor isn't. Need to check that wiring to make sure you have spark from the coil still.

 

[MADMACMAN86]

It does have mechanical advance

I don't have any spark and the negative side of the coil stays hot

 

[MADMACMAN86]

I ran a separate power and ground to both the coil and distributor and I still have nothin

 

[dana44]

You need to select a wiring diagram and wire the truck accordingly. Since you have a good distributor, start tracing wires through the electronic ignition module (the silver or black box with the rubber plug with the bolt going through it), to the ballast resistor, voltage regulator in there, the whole shebang. You either have a broken wire, bad connection, or something is crossed.

What wiring diagram are you using? The years are very far apart and all that, so you have to select one and trace things properly, suggest the 77 wiring, electronic ignition according to the wiring for a Direct Connection or early 1972-1974 Dodge (any of them) electronic ignition wiring setup.

 

[kzooman83]

It sounds like the negative lead from your coil is remaining grounded, permitting current to flow to ground rather than generate a spark. With electronic ignitions, the coil ground goes back to the ignition control module, which opens and closes this circuit intermittently to create spark from the coil. It is the same principle as points/condenser, only it is controlled electronically rather than mechanically. I am not particularly familiar with how lean burn is set up, but I would guess that the lean burn spark controller does the same thing. If you are hooking a non-lean burn distributor and carb up to a lean burn control module, it is likely that the control module is not recieving the info from the distributor (you said there was one plug that was not hooked up) that it needs to properly ground and un-ground your coil. I think that dana44 is right; you should either swap to a lean burn compatable distributor or swap in a mopar performance electronic control module. And whether you make everything lean burn compatable or ditch the lean burn spark controller alltogether in favor of the early electronic control module, make sure you have the proper wiring diagram.

 

[Bearhawke]

It sounds like the negative lead from your coil is remaining grounded, permitting current to flow to ground rather than generate a spark. With electronic ignitions, the coil ground goes back to the ignition control module, which opens and closes this circuit intermittently to create spark from the coil. It is the same principle as points/condenser, only it is controlled electronically rather than mechanically. I am not particularly familiar with how lean burn is set up, but I would guess that the lean burn spark controller does the same thing. If you are hooking a non-lean burn distributor and carb up to a lean burn control module, it is likely that the control module is not recieving the info from the distributor (you said there was one plug that was not hooked up) that it needs to properly ground and un-ground your coil. I think that dana44 is right; you should either swap to a lean burn compatable distributor or swap in a mopar performance electronic control module. And whether you make everything lean burn compatable or ditch the lean burn spark controller alltogether in favor of the early electronic control module, make sure you have the proper wiring diagram.

I'd pitch all of that ELB 'stuff' and go with a vacuum advance electronic ignition conversion. Word has it even the EPA turns a blind eye towards 'tampering' re: deleting the ELB system since when it goes on the fritz, it's a gross polluter.