Car broke down....half mile away

[kawahonda]

Could use some help. I thought I'd give it another shot before calling the tow truck. I decided to leave it parked overnight. Met the owner of the house which I'm parked outside of, good people. Traded numbers.

Preliminary story:

While my original distributor is off getting diagnosed for wonkiness, I had a bright idea to get a Reman at NAPA in the meantime. I got the reman, dialed in the dwell to 32, set the initial to 14. What was really neat is that the distributor seems like it has a decent curve to it, all in by 3000ish with 18 mechanical advance. I was so enthralled with this! I drove the car around and decided it could use a little more advance. Set the initial to 16 (34 total) and drove it around. It seemed to be performing great, then started to "hickup". By that I mean "missing", just not running right. Then sputtering. The sputtering got worse and worse. Pulled over, fired it up again, and limped it on a side road.

I walked home and gathered some tools and equipment.

1) Yes, I am getting fuel.

2) I do not think battery has anything to do. Rebuilt alternator, and the car "cranks" just fine, no sign of power loss. Battery is 12.5V after the many cranks.

3) I checked all plug wires, coil connections.

4) I removed distributor cap and made sure connections were tight, point was clean, etc. I found nothing amiss. I hooked up my dwell meter and cranked it. The dwell guage showed it being where I left it.

5) I retarded the distributor just in case, no change in behavior.

The car will eventually come to a sputtering start, but it barely runs, and quickly dies after a few seconds. If I rev it, it won't rev but just try to and sputter away. Missing, not firing correctly for sure.

The only thing I am left with at this point is that my coil just ate crap. I thought about grabbing a coil at the parts store, but really not sure what to get. Any other ideas that could cause this?

[73chalngr]

Check vacuum hoses my car ran like crap after working on it forgot to connect a vacuum line

[Rich G.]

Very possible. Hold the coil wire about an inch away from a ground and have someone crank it. Should get a healthy spark. If you do then it's not ignition

[kawahonda]

I did forget to plug in a vacuum line on the previous excursion. It still ran, drove, but yea, this is much, much worse. Definitely checked all the vacuum hoses! This is start, and sputter terribly and die.

When you say coil wire, you mean disconnect thick wire from cap (in center) and hold that 1" away from a ground. Correct?

The coil and balast resister are "who knows" how old..probably easily 20-40 years old?

By the way, a good pal of mine came by and tow-strapped it home. So at least it's here!

[GoodysGotaCuda]

Is the distributor clamped down well? It's possible it was rotating as you drove it and it is no longer in time?

Hook up the timing light and hold the button while you crank it, does it light up/spark?

[Chryco Psycho]

points might be loose & the dwell changed or the nylon tab on the points wore down & bit & closed them up , this is what I would chack first as this is the part you changed

[kawahonda]

I checked my "cranking" dwell and it was right in the range where it should be.....I took off cap and confirmed everything is tight in there....

It's appearing it isn't distributor/point related at this point.

[Chryco Psycho]

You need 3 things ,
Air
Fuel
Spark
you need to figure out what is missing first

[kawahonda]

Now that it's in the garage, I confirmed my "cranking" dwell @ 32 degrees. Even when it stumbles, it stays at 32 and doesn't move Perfect. Dead on. Nothing to do with points.

Hooked up a timing light on CYL 1. It will flash, but then it stumbles, it won't flash.

This is timing related like I thought. And I don't think it has anything to do with the distributor at this point. If it does, I would absolutely have no idea "what" would cause dropped spark. I didn't check other cylinders, just cyl 1.

I haven't tried any coil tests but I am still suspicious. Could the ballast resister also come into play?

Here are some coils. Are they correct?

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/driveworks-ignition-coil-26189/10703783-P?navigationPath=L1*14923%7CL2*15034%7CL3*16064%7CL4*-49999417
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/b/standard-ignition-5753/ignition---tune-up-16776/ignition-coils-19690/ignition-coil-12493/90c5da72ae86/standard-ignition-coil/uc12/5826154/1970/dodge/challenger?q=Ignition+Coil&pos=1

Looks like if I want an OE looking ballast resistor, then I need to order one. Actually, I'm not sure what is "correct" for 1970. Should it basically be a rectangular tube with a metal mount, or should the triangular mount be built into the plastic?

I want to have this car up and going by Tuesday like a raped ape by when my father gets here. I thought I almost got there today, but then this started to happen. None the less, it started to happen when what appeared to be a killer reman distributor. If I need to order, I need to order right away.

I'm actually wondering if this failure actually started with my old distributor, leading me to think that something was "up" with my distributor. Then today as I was beating on it/tuning it it just got worse, and worse.

Wires/ballast/coil are probably 30+ years old.

[kawahonda]

I did a google search earlier of "how do I know my coil is going bad". Below is a list and if it applies to me or not.

Backfiring

If your vehicle is backfiring, this can indicate early symptoms of a failing ignition coil. This occurs when unused fuel is emitted through the exhaust system. If you do not address the issue, you can also do serious damage to your exhaust, resulting in unnecessary and costly repairs. Your exhaust may emit a black smoke and you may even detect the smell of gasoline.

YES. I actually heard a pop today, for the first time ever in this car.

Starting Problems

Check your high tension leads (HT Leads). These run between the distributor and spark plugs. Ignition coil failures result in one or more spark plugs not receiving the appropriate amount of charge. If you have trouble starting your vehicle in the cold, this is a good sign of potential ignition coil failure. You can run a simple test on the HT leads to check that there is in fact a spark going from each lead to each spark plug.

YES, Applies. Trouble hot or cold at this point.

Fuel Economy

If your vehicle is getting a lot less mileage for the gallon, This can also be a sign of ignition coil failure. When less power is reaching the spark plugs, your vehicle will struggle and use more fuel to compensate for the lack of power transfer.

Can't tell.

Engine Misfiring

Trying to start your vehicle when the ignition coils fail will result in a rough ride. Your vehicle will cough and splutter regularly and when you drive at higher speeds, your vehicle will jerk and spit. It will also vibrate when you are running idle at a stop sign or intersection.

YES, confirmed just now.

Vehicle Stalling

With ignition coil failure, your vehicle will have irregular sparks emitting to the plugs to keep it running. This will result in stalling. When you bring your vehicle to a stop, it may just shut off totally, thus leaving you needing to restart it.

YES, applies.

[71vert340]

  I had this problem a few years ago in the Challenger. The car had electronic ignition and I had put in an Accel coil a few years before. My son had said the car wasn't running right. One day about a half mile from home, it died and wouldn't start. Towed the car home and let it sit for an hour and it tried to start. Checked the coil and it was weak and leaking oil. I guess when it heat up, it would act up. Changed coil and all is good.
Terry

[Chryco Psycho]

Original ballasts are ceramic with a metal strap , but very rarely are they intermittent
Coils typically cause more prrblems under load , the first link you posted would be fine , I often use Pertronics coils .
Ing wires can be tested with an OHM meter you should typically have 7000-20,000 ohms resistance

[kawahonda]

Maybe I'll pick up a Petronix Ignitor I coil. Should be safe to use with points? 1.5 Ohms I assume. I can hopefully remove the label.

This one good? https://www.amazon.com/PerTronix-40011-Flame-Thrower-Volt-Coil/dp/B00199F2WW/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Petronix+Ignitor+Coil&qid=1589601915&sr=8-1

Thanks guys for the info. I'll get a Balast Resistor as well to have one hand. Probably a good thing to have on hands.

I will definitely check the ohms of the wires too.

[Chryco Psycho]

That is the one I mostly use for a stock replacement coil , never hurts to have a spare ballast 

[kawahonda]

I can't understand my digital OHM meter. Sucks.

All wires tested the same.

At the "2k" selector, it was 1250ish.

At the "20k" selector, it was 1.3

Have no idea what that means, but it's probably in good taste to get some new reproduction wires. My car was a November car. If my Engine was casted in September of 69, do I want "Q1", "Q2" or "Q3" wires for the date code, or "any" of them would be correct? According to this eBay seller, Q3 would be correct. Looks like that's all that's available anyways.