Thread: Chrysler Ignition Setup Questions

Tweet

Wow Ryan, not necessarily an easy question, especially when you consider what I think you’ll be using the car for….. I suspect it will include trips reasonably far away from home and tool box with the family riding with you.

I fully agree with you on the on reliability and cost on the MSD boxes, personally I’ve had reasonably good luck with the boxes (but have had one fail).

I’ve also personally had good luck with the with the Chrysler boxes, but have had to replace a few on customer cars. I suspect a LOT of good Chrysler ECUs have been changed due to a burned out ballast resistor, a bad ground or a loose connector in the plug. The problem with the plugs is that to remove or install it, a lot of people will wiggle the plug to get it on or off. This is basically a pin and socket type connection and wiggling the plug loosens the socket connections which can result in an interment connection that can be a real PIA to diagnose.

As far as adding a module to the distributor you have, I really don’t understand the purpose of it. If it can be run as is without adding a module it would seem to me that it already has a module of some kind already in it. Without seeing the manual/specifications on the distributor though I’m probably missing something.

The biggest problem I have with aftermarket distributors is that chances are if you have a failure, parts or a replacement may not be readily available. Depending on where you are and what the trip is for you might be down to either a day or 2 in a motel waiting on a mail order replacement or a long and expensive flat bed trip home.

Basically, I really don’t have any good recommendations for you. I can tell you how I handle it on my old cars. I have a complete (including cap and rotor) and tested spare distributor in the "just in case box" (for both the HEMI cars and I have a Mallory dual point converted to Pertronics for the SBC powered Ram 50).

In the case of the 57 Plymouth and the 68 Valiant I’m building, I have mounted an MSD box as the primary ignition system and a Chrysler ECU as back-up. Both are wired to separate plugs and either will plug into cars wiring harness (I usually unplug the MSD and test the Chrysler ECU prior to a long trip). Not the ideal situation but it’s pretty reassuring on those long desolate stretches of highway at 3AM in the morning.



.