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HEI Probs

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by daveyboy56, Jul 28, 2010.

  1. daveyboy56
    Joined: Feb 20, 2006
    Posts: 511

    daveyboy56
    Member

    Ok i have a HEI (new with the crate eng) dizzy but in 6000 miles i have gone through 5 ing mods.
    What is going on in there?
     
  2. Da Tinman
    Joined: Dec 29, 2005
    Posts: 4,222

    Da Tinman
    Member

    did you remove the ballast resistor?
     
  3. Joes50
    Joined: Feb 13, 2003
    Posts: 181

    Joes50
    Member

    Hmmm...maybe no dielectric grease between the bottom of the module and the case?
     
  4. Couple of thoughts. If I remember correctly, the ignition module is mounted on a layer of grease (?..maybe dielectric compound) to protect it from heat. Also wondering about the quality of your modules (Chinese?). I run HEI distributors that I get out of cars at the wrecking yard ... never had a problem (running three cars withem). One other thought (not sure this would cause any problems though) the HEI requires a full twelve volts (if yours is in an old car, did you remove the resistor wire). As I stated earlier, never had a problem withem, but I do carry a complete spare in the trunk of all our cars. Good luck.


    Hit the local wrecker and get a complete GM HEI unit.
     

  5. GMC BUBBA
    Joined: Jun 15, 2006
    Posts: 3,420

    GMC BUBBA
    Member Emeritus

    Good responses above .....


    NEED SOME MORE INFORMATION??

    Is this a GM factory ( delco) unit or off shore unit???
    Repeated module failure is usually due to a heat problem caused by incorrect resistance in the igntion coil. A low resistance coil works the module pretty hard and they over heat and fail.
    I would suggest replacment with a new delco control unit as they have current limiting circuits the aftermarket units usually dont have .
    Assumin this is a chevrolet engine (?) the ignition coil ( yellow and red primary wiring) , the pickup coil ( yellow connector or wire tie) and the module need to be polarity matched for long life....
    Be glad to test the entire unit if needed......
     
  6. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,945

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I wish I had read that ten years ago when I was fighting a module issue on a Cadillac I owned Bubba. It would have saved me a lot of headaches and replaced modules.
     
  7. It's not dielectric grease, it's heat transfer, or heatsink grease.
     
  8. Yepper - it turns a whole bunch of the distributor body into a heat sink for the module. Buy some "Arctic Silver" at a PC parts place and use a thin, even coat.

    One of the things I just did in troubleshooting an ignition problem was to replace a failed module...which originally had dielectric between it and the disti housing.
     
  9. Low voltage to the mod ?? Wire too small feeding the mod?? Grounds ????? Guy at the electric shop says use at least a 12 ga. wire to feed the HEI. Two cents worth.
     
  10. IMHO that's a bit of overkill.

    http://cyberdave.org/HEICoilInfo.html
     
  11. I had a few HEI failures over the years, even tho I did everything by the book.
    I got tired of digging them out and putting them back in the distributor while under the hood in somebody's parking lot.

    I moved my control module to the car passenger compartment under the dash so I could replace it easily.

    MAGIC! In the cooler location I haven't had a single failure in over 12 years!

    Here is a picture of my HEI rig in my Studebaker truck- with Radio Shack switch so in the event of a module failure, I could simply flip a switch and keep on driving.
    The great thing is that I haven't had a single failure in over a dozen years, and do not need the spare module.


    HEI2mods.jpg
     
  12. Now that is "dare-to-be-different"

    You don't have any noise problems?
    Off Topic, but I'm running a megasquirt tbi setup on my jeepster with a buick 340. I had quite a bit of noise problems with the 7 pin wiring stuff.
     
  13. daveyboy56
    Joined: Feb 20, 2006
    Posts: 511

    daveyboy56
    Member

    Ok it is a new disy from Gm with the crate eng new vortex 330 hp 350cid.
    I have put in 2 stock mod form Gm and 3 or 4 from speedway
    This last time i loaded up the heatsink grease under it . ouesed out
     

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