albarnett_99

Pink wire is long gone. Will try the multimeter on the coil while cranking.

It was running fine last season.

When I originally encountered the problem, I had spark at the plug wire (MSD distributor). Last night I retraced my steps on the second distributor (Mallory) and discovered that I did NOT have spark at the plug wire. I had just under 12v at both sides of the coil. I’m thinking I may put the MSD back in and try to further troubleshoot since I had spark at the plug wire. I’m open to other ideas from others as well.

Need some help solving a no start condition. I recently started the car and was warming it up in the garage. Suddenly it died and I was able to restart with no issues. Motor died again and then would not start after multiple attempts. Checked battery terminals, grounds, spark plug wires, coil wire, etc. Validated that I had spark, fuel in carb, a fully charged battery and was getting 12V to the coil. Shifted transmission in and out of Park (neutral safety switch). Pulled the cap and inspected it along with the rotor. All looked clean. After multiple tries to start without success, I decided to swap in another coil (known to be good) with no success. Thinking that perhaps the module in the distributor had gone bad (MSD Ready to Run), I decided to pull the distributor and replace it with a spare sitting on the shelf (worked fine prior to removal). Swapped out everything and attempted to start again. Cranks fine but will not fire. Not really sure where to go from here. Looking for additional ideas or tests with a multimeter that can be done. Appreciate any ideas you may have.

Performed a voltage drop test on all grounds today and all had the same readings of 0.19v while cranking the engine. From what I have read, anything below 0.5v is good.

Not sure what can be done to protect the ignition module from heat. Moving the coil to the inner fender panel is another option. gordonr seems to have a ton of knowledge related to electrical gremlins. I certainly don’t! Hope he checks back and can shed more light for those of us who aren’t electrical experts!

gordonr - sounds like I am missing something or don’t clearly understand what you have been trying to convey. Is there a test I have missed that will shed more light on the root cause of my loss of power and spark? Electrical is not my thing, but I am certainly willing to research and learn more.

I got some time today to test my grounds with a multimeter. I found that the reading on the chasis (block to chasis ground cable) had a reading of 0.6 ohms. I decided to relocate to another part of the block and cleanup the terminating point at the chasis. New readings are at 0.1 ohms. All others are reading 0. I decided to order some heatshield so I can wrap the coil and protect it from some heat. Not sure if this will help, but it’s worth a try. Will keep everyone posted.

gordonr - not familiar with the term dead heading. Are you referring to testing the primary and secondary sides of the coil to see if it’s within manufacturer spec? Or are you referring to your tests of ground?

Midlife - not sure if this matters, but the tach operates normally for extended periods of time (no bouncing, no wide swings in reading). It is usually during a long drive when the tach starts to get erratic. After it gets erratic the car will often die suddenly. Total loss of power and won’t start for an extended period of time. I initially thought it was caused by the coil getting hot. Not sure anymore.

Here are some additional updates: 1969_Mach1 - the tach is an aftermarket Autometer gordonr - I will take your advice and use the multimeter to test all grounds Midlife - yes the coils get very hot with a big block in a Mustang engine bay. Interestingly enough, since I installed a stroker motor with ceramic coated headers, engine temps dropped significantly. It runs in 180-190 degree range well below what it did previously. How do I isolate a wire with a potentially poor connection or splice? Would I start with the wire that was inserted to bypass the pink resistor wire? Or do you suggest another?

Midlife - I have the traditional ground strap from the head to the firewall along with the battery ground to block and block to frame. About 2 years ago, I upgraded the battery to block and block to frame grounds with 1/0 gauge cables. All paint was removed and surfaces cleaned. At that time, I upgraded the cable from the solenoid to starter with the same gauge cable. After a recent incident of a dancing tach, I decided to check all 3 original grounds and added a couple more. I added a new ground from the back of the intake manifold to the firewall as well as firewall to frame. I have noticed a recurring pattern of the dancing tach just before I lose spark. Most times, everything dies within a few minutes of the dancing tach. The car will die with or without the aftermarket tach installed. The last time it happened, I was able to get the car home before it lost power. The next day, I had no spark.

Thanks to everyone for their replies. I called MSD Tech Support today and they suggested I put a test light on the negative terminal of the coil and move my distributor ground from the intake manifold to the battery. Before I attempted any of that, I pulled the distributor cap and validated that the rotor was turning. Inspected the rotor and cap; all looked normal. I then put the test light on the coil and it illuminated. I relocated the ground to the battery and attempted to start. It fired immediately. gordonr or Midlife - what would cause excessive current draw from the coil? 1969_Mach1 - no clue what type of ignition module is used in the MSD While I am happy it is running again, I am still concerned that I have either a bigger ground issue or resistance problem. I have been through multiple coils and instances like what happened above over the past 4-5 years. I have purchased a refurbished harness from Midlife but have held off on installing it. May have to finally get it done.

Need help diagnosing why I've lost spark. I'm running a MSD 8595 distributor and Blaster 2 coil in a 390 FE. Battery has 12.49 volts and I get 11.63 volts at the + side of the coil. However, when I disconnect #1 plug wire and try to ground it, I get nothing. I also get nothing when I disconnect the coil wire from the distributor and try to ground. Not sure where to go from here. Any help you can provide is much appreciated!

Starter was wired per RobbMc instructions. I tried both wiring options he suggested and got the same results. Not sure about the battery.

Mallory S/S 42 series distributor. I removed the starter and tested, all worked fine. Ended up removing the diode per RobbMc's instructions and tried starting with same results (loud click from solenoid on fender apron). Starter would not spin when car was in park or neutral. Repeated everything with a new fender apron solenoid and with neutral safety switch bypassed. Same results. Long story short, I decided to order an under dash harness and headlight harness from Midlife. Today the car was put on a flatbed and sent to a local Mustang shop to install the harnesses and perform further tests. I will post any news I learn from the local shop for future reference. Thanks for everyone's input. A special thanks to Midlife for responding to my countless emails and questions outside this thread.

Midlife - I have validated that the brown wire is attached to the "I" terminal. The "S" terminal has the red/blue wire. Also, I tried attaching a wire between the + battery post and + post on coil again. When I turned key to start, the remote solenoid on the fender apron clicked. Prayers1 - I pulled the starter and checked all terminals on the starter for anything loose. Also scraped off the paint where the starter mates to the block. Shimmed the starter and installed again. Also made sure the remote solenoid was secured tightly to fender apron. Again I get a loud click from the remote solenoid on the fender apron. Next I bypassed the neutral safety switch and tried to start again. Same loud click noise. Also tried to jumper large left post on solenoid to "S" post while turning key to start. Got a loud click from the remote solenoid on the fender apron. Mach1 Driver - gave you incorrect information in my last post. My test of the remote solenoid involved touching the top of the solenoid with the black probe and the "S" post with the red probe. Ignition was off and trans in Park. I got 0 volts, not 12.19 volts. As previously mentioned, when I ran a wire between + battery post and + coil post and turned key to start, I heard a loud click from the solenoid on the fender apron. There was no noise when key was in Off position. I checked diode for proper installation. All is good there. Will replace it tomorrow and test again. Will probably check all crimps and wiring on the ignition switch pigtail next unless anyone else has any other ideas on what to do next.

Midline and Mach 1 Driver, Tonight I validated that my RobbMc starter was installed per the Gen II instructions. I also tested the starter. It rotated as expected and the pinion moved outwards. Here are answers to Mach 1 Driver's questions and comments in the prior post: - Ground to "S" post reading is 12.19 volts in Off position, 10.36 volts in Start/Crank position, and 0 volts in Run/On - Ground to "I" post was 0 in Off position, 12.04 volts in Start/Crank, and 0.01 volts in Run/On position - When I ran the wire from the + battery terminal to the + post on coil, the remote solenoid on the fender apron clicked; not the RobbMc solenoid - When I ran a wire from the + battery terminal to the remote solenoid on the fender apron, there was a loud click; not the RobbMc solenoid Can you share a little more detail on how to test the diode? Appreciate all your help.

Mach1driver, Thanks for your feedback. Yes, the starter will not engage and the car will not crank. I simply get a loud click from the solenoid. No. I have not run the starter outside of the car. That will be something I will do this week. There are 2 changes from stock. The first is the removal of the Pink resistance wire and the substitution of a new wire from the ignition switch pigtail to the brown wire before the firewall. The second is the substitution of points with an electronic ignition. It's my understanding that the Pink wire is no longer needed since the points have been replaced by the electronic ignition. Can you share more regarding your thoughts that the test results indicate the car is presently miswired?

Yes I can turn motor over by hand. I replaced the cable from the solenoid to starter this weekend. Will need to try the items you discussed and report back. Thanks!

Car will not turn over. Starter does nothing.

I have been chasing a no start problem for the past few months and have had no success ('69 Mach 1, A/T, RobbMc starter, Mallory distributor and coil, no tach). When I turn the key to start, the solenoid gives out a loud click. I started out by bypassing the Pink resistance wire from the ignition switch. I installed a new ignition switch, zip tied the pink wire, cut the original pink wire). I originally installed a new wire from the ignition switch (cannot recall which wire in ignition switch pigtail I tapped) and ran it straight to the coil. Car started and ran fine for a day. The next day it would not start and hasn't since. Since then, with the help of individuals on this site, I retracted my new wire to the coil and spliced it into the brown wire behind the firewall. I leveraged the factory harness to connect to the coil. Car still wont start and solenoid clicks. I suspect the issue here is the starter. I shipped it back to the manufacturer and he tested it. He installed a new solenoid. Since I installed the refurbished starter, it has not started. This weekend I scoured the various forums and wrote down all the suggested tests and results. Here is what I found: 1. Cleaned all battery posts, cables, grounds, etc. (no paint, no rust, replaced a starter cable from solenoid to starter, checked condition of all cables)(I have a ground strap from firewall to motor, battery to motor, etc) 2. Tested remote solenoid on car - Solenoid ground to "S" post (3.8 ohms) - Ground to large left post on solenoid (12.19 volts) - Ground to "S" post (10.43 volts) - Ground to "I" post (12.19 volts) - Battery to large left post and right post (both 12.19 volts) 3. Tested voltage at coil - 11.38 volts at positive terminal of coil 4. Ran a wire from + battery terminal to + on coil (loud click at solenoid, no start) 5. Removed post on "S" terminal and checked with test light (test light illuminates) 6. Jumped large post on left side of remote solenoid to "S" post (loud click, no start) 7. Ran a wire from battery + terminal to starter terminal on remote solenoid (loud click, no start) - Transmission in neutral 8. Tried moving shifter between gears and back to park (loud click, no start) 9. Bypassed NSS (loud click, no start) Not really sure where to go from here. Are there any other tests that I can perform? I would appreciate any other ideas and guidance here.

I feel your pain as I have been dealing with similar issues. Start with the coil. My experience is you can have intermittent coil problems. Follow the advice given here and consider adding some heat reflecting material on your fuel line from the pump to carb. Change all fuel filters also. This will rule out fuel related causes. I don't think percolation is your problem here (my experience with percolation is the motor dies at a stoplight when under hood temperature rises). My guess is it's coil failure. I also replaced the solenoid when I changed the coil.

You might want to post your question on the Network 54 Ford FE Forum and pick up Barry Robotnik's book on FEs. The FE Forum has a bunch of extremely knowledgeable FE gurus who regularly share advice and dyno results from various builds from low budget stock to high dollar racing stuff. Or consider reaching out to Jay Bown, Barry Robotnik, or Brett Lykins for advice. These guys have built many different FE combinations and always share their knowledge.

Hi guys, I have been reading all the posts regarding trying to bypass the pink resistance wire in a '69 (non-tach) ignition to get a full 12v to the coil and electronic ignition system. I have a couple of questions about how to proceed and would like your feedback. So far I have gathered that the 2 most common options are: 1. Remove the pink wire from the ignition switch pigtail and engine gauge harness (engine bay) so that the original engine gauge harness can be used 2. Either remove/splice into the pink wire at the ignition switch pigtail, run a new wire directly to the + side of coil At present I have mechanical gauges for oil pressure and water temperature. I am using the lead from the engine gauge harness for the + coil terminal. I am thinking about going with option #2 above so that I can avoid all the work of trying to replace a wire in the engine gauge harness. My questions: 1. How do I get the pink resistance wire out of the the plastic end of the ignition switch pigtail? (I would prefer to not splice) 2. If I decide to leave the pink resistance wire after disconnecting from the harness, can I simply wrap electrical tape to the end? Appreciate your help and advice.