Projects wrong way to ballast resist?? and fuel issues

My 4 banger wont run by itself under 3000prm. I've had two different carbs on it (holley 94, and holley 350). And have started thinking it may be electrical. I recently bought this resistor.

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/C...ition-Coil-Resistor/_/R-MPEICR37SB_0430953733

What is the black wire? It does show .1 ohm resistance.

So I deleted it and wired it like my photo... trouble is; on the resisted side of the ballast voltage is all over the map. I cant believe this would be good for anything.

 

I can't tell exactly how you have that wired. If you need a ballast resistor, then hook it in series with the wire to the coil from the ignition switch. That way the coil sees the voltage drop.

Now, to aid starting, run a wire from the switched side of the starter solenoid to the coil side of the resistor. That way, when cranking, the coil sees the full 12 volts.

Not all coils require a resistor. Some don't at all, and some others have an internal resistor.

In general, low speed problem = ignition and high speed problem = fuel. If you need a ballast resistor and don't have one, you will be burning points. Are your points (and condensor) in good shape?

 

In this case I have a Petronix lobe sensor. This coil does require a resistor, and the ballast+coil are showing 3.0 ohm. Which is what 'tech' calls are telling me to look for. I"ll eventually run the jumper to the ballast, but havn't needed it yet.

I've recently been through the fuel side for the last month... rebuilding the 94, about three times; and finally getting tired and ordering a new two barrel 350. Both with the same result. Both will run fine at high rpm only to beg for more fuel. But in the end when I get it to run at lower speeds, its essentially just drowning itself in fuel... with a rich mixture.

 

Sound like a vacuum leak.

 

Maybe I misspoke, when I said 'it begs for more fuel', what I think is happening is that its fouling the plugs(at low idle) and the 'begging' is actually just to clear cylinders.

Would a vacuum leak cause fouled plugs? I have the power vavles reduced to 3.5's

 

I also can't tell from your picture how the whole system is wired, but it almost appears the coil and ballast resistor are wired in parallel and not series. Can you draw out what you have going, and post a picture of your wiring diagram so we can maybe help?

 

A resister with no load as in points open would show 12v only with a load do you get a voltage drop.

 

petronix 1181ls, not ideal, but spoke with tech line, and got the go ahead

coil is also new
http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx/Ignition-Coil/_/R-MPEIC12SB_0359796152

 

minus the 'jumper' from start switch to coil, would this be in series?

 

Think the diagram is a reasonable setup?


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The jumper powers the petronix unit.

 

I was referring to the lack of a jumper from starter switch to coil


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Not sure your question, so here is some crude ASCII art:

Series circuit:

---------[xx]-----------[xx]-------------- +
|
------------------------------------------ -

Parallel circuit:

------------------------------------- +
|.................|
[xx].............[xx]
|.................|
------------------------------------- -

 

guess I'm just looking for that AH-HA moment. Ive probably put out 50 posts in the recent weeks; and just cant find the problem. I think I've got it narrowed; but dont 'see the light just yet'

 

Do you have the power for the pertronix coming from the ballast resistor?

 

No it's off the 'run' side of the ballast.


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Pre ballast...



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a vacum leak will cause the "powervalve" to open as the vacum numbers are dropped .on a carbed engine sometimes the carb will have a gurgling or sucking thru a straw on a empty glass sound if there is a vacum leak , it should have a hissing sound . the diagram shows it wired correctly . pertronix unit getting full juice , coil is lower .

 

1181ls isn't the correct model; per pertronix. So; I decided to put in a set of points in this afternoon with the same result. Runs good at 3000 rpm, and dies as it comes down. Trouble is now.. I'm cooking my starter and battery. Just a grand snowball effect.

I get about two shots at it with a cold starter before it heats up.

Its a marine distributor with mech advance; I cant say what initial timing is because I cant get it there. But Im starting to believe that it may need a vacc advance for low idle.

 

Looks correct to me, and yes it's a series wiring diagram, but really a series/parallel diagram since the ballast resistor and coil are in series, but also parallel to the Pertronix unit with the tap off ahead of the resisitor to the distributor.

 

is the timing correct?if you have had distributor out may be off a tooth.sounds like timing retarded.

 

If its a marine distributer made for reverse rotation your advance could be pulling into the wrong direction where it won't run ?Just a thought.

 

The lack of a jumper from the solenoid to the coil (resistor bypass wire) would cause the coil to not get a full 12 V when you are cranking the engine to start it but with the Pertronix igniton that may not be an issue. Our in house HAMB Pertronix factory guy might expound on that if he picks up on the thread.

From what I have gathered in other threads on them the Pertronix units either work or don't work if everything is set up right and wired right. That is very much like a GM Hei that either works or doesn't work with little or no almost works. If it is all set up correctly I'd be looking at other things on the engine to see if they are having an effect on how it runs.

 

Thanks thus far... Haven't been able to look into it much further today. I did however order a chevy II 2.5 distributor up today. It seems like the marine dist had all 34* in the mechanical advance.
Hopefully the vacc advance will help.




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I always disregarded that; that be the problem, because these distributors have a spade tip on end. Not having it in front of me... I thought the gear was secured by a roll pin. But if it isn't... I'm sure that could be the case.

I did notice when I brought the engine to TDC, the points I tried where closed. I figured they would have been open; but chalked it up to inexperience.




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hope that distributor solves it for you.I was just going by my v8 experience over the years.350 chev they have the tang on oil pump end also but when dropping in distributor if not watching very close it is easy for the gear to mesh with cam gear one tooth out.you can turn distributor to compensate or move wires.just will not be dead on drive you crazy.

 

just another thought search using vacuum gauge.not to be smart ass but it will reveal a lot about timing carb etc I have used one a lot over the years.one of the best tools in box.after reading up on it I am sure if you dont have one you will after.

 

If you get an internally regulated coil you will not need a ballast resistor and avoid all that headache. The resistor is designed for use with points to make them last longer.

 

274 grind on the cam
compression test reveals (120,135,135,150)

Vaccum Video

http://s301.photobucket.com/user/jdub240/media/IMG_0451_zps85a6c562.mp4.html

 

The red wire shown on your diagram doesn't seem right. It shouldn't be there. The Pertronix triggers the coil and the red wire bypasses the coil. Take the red wire off and you will have the ballast resistor in series with the coil. If you want to bypass the ballast resistor, put the wire from the ignition switch (12 volt source) on the coil side of the ballast resistor or just remove the ballast resistor, (with the red wire removed).
If you are trying to give the ingition system 12 volts when cranking with the shown red wire, you need to come off the I side of the GM starter solenoid and run that wire to the side of the ballast that is connected to the + side of the coil (or just hook the wire from the I side of the starter solenoid directly to the + terminal of the coil).