Technical Ford duraspark ignition wiring

Wtf did I do ?

no clue .

I installed some gauges , blew a fuse and now I got no spark.

I have found a couple wiring diagrams on line and with a few differences and i have been looking at this for to long and am now blind .

some one help .

out of the duraspark box I have :

white wire - ign pos
Red wire - coil pos ( no ballast )

green out of the duraspark box to coil negative

the yellow , purple and black to distributor respectively.


When I jump the starter solenoid I have ZERO spark out of the coil and the negative side is not switch

I have positive on both sides of the coil

I have tried another used coil - nope
And a used ignition box .

this thing was running just fine and now a big goose egg !

wtf ? It’s 6 wires , I’m completely stumped

 

The blown fuse may have caused an issue, or is the ignition wired completely independent of other things?

 

check grounds first...

 

Ignition is separate of the blown fuse .

there was a short and I blew the main 30 amp fuse on the fuse box fixed what I did and now nada nothing poopies

 

Then let me be the first to say, it’s “Ma Mopars” revenge on ya.

 

Have you checked the resistance of the distributor pickup? If you tried two boxes (hopefully at least one known good) and you have no spark with power to the coil, I'd be looking to see if the pickup is sending a signal to the box. If I remember right on the Duraspark, you should get a single spark from the coil each time you turn the key on. However, that was on the system from around 1976. I don't know what year system you have.

My 76 Ford truck would sometimes start by just turning on the key. You had to have the right cylinder in the right place with a little bit of fuel mixture for it to happen. If freaked me out the first time it did that.

 

I have a good wiring diagram if you need it.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/...ng-tip-for-those-with-duraspark-ignition.html
Ford EI stuff tends to be the components, not the wiring between, at least it used to be that way. Be glad you aren't running the TFI caca, those were NOT an improvement.

 

Probably the pickup coil in the distributor shorted out. Mine used the Ford style distributor fired by a GM style module instead of the Ford box. It was sitting there idling, then just shut off, no spark. I changed the module to a known good one, no change. Changed the coil, no change. Stuck my points distributor back in, spark! Screw that electronic crap, I’m leaving the points in it this time….

 

You can probably find a troubleshooting guide online for this, but broken down to the basics, the hot side of the coil should have voltage and the negative side should go up/down as the dist shaft is spun. The issue is usually the trigger side, but make sure there is power first. and yes, the pickup (and it's cheap wiring to the pigtail) is often a culprit, the early boxes (8 different color/pigtail combos?) were horrid, but later aftermarket ones were more reliable.
the colors
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1534809-duraspark-module-grommet-colors.html

 

The fix....



I've had very good luck with the DuraSpark distributors, not so much with the boxes....

 

@VANDENPLAS
You have the white wire wrong [this goes to the starter relay "I" terminal]

 

No no no.

 

If I could find one I would !

 

302 ford , nothing local .


I had a line on one last year when the stupid spark box crapped out , but I bought another “ blue connector” good box That lasted until last week .


I think I have it figured out

 

BUT you need to scrounge through your garbage to recover the old condensers that you just threw out.
I have never had any luck with new repro condensers [so I keep my old AC Delco pieces]

The "Big Scary Points" are great on Chevy's, you set the dwell with the engine running [and the timing, and the idle mixture screws]

 

Just picked this up , got the wiring figured out it’s a hot humid day today and I’m shmootzed out .

it’s now a tomorrow morning problem .

many issue mounting the box inside the car ?

or will it get to hot ?

not a really nice spot under the hood

 

More like $100 bucks plus shipping once you convert it to my maple syrup money


I’m always Leary of aftermarket distributors , we have a lot of bad luck with them at work .

im definitely gonna keep my eyes open for a good oem unit 289-351 should all work ?

 

Got a good deal on it , extra cap , rotor , wiring harness’ and a module all new in the box , distributor doesn’t look like it was ever installed even has the steel and bronze gear .

can’t complain , and it’s gotta be better then the duraspark crap

 

If I have this correct, you had dura-spark ignition, hooked up gauges, and now , no spark? What gauges did you add? A Tach maybe or what? So a different ignition system will fix it? Maybe undo gauge wiring and see if spark returns. Depending on what gauge wiring was added that may damage original ignition, you may want sort that out before trying another ignition system.

 

First thing I did was remove what I installed .

replaced the 2 blown fuses …… no spark . Wiring is all good , power in and out of the box , the coil negative is not pulsing

either when the fuse blew something backfed and shorted the box or went further down the line and took out the pick up in the distributor


This is the 2nd dura spark box I’ve put in in less then 20,000 km from what I read it’s a good system but the box quality, just like new points and condensers , leave a lot to be desired .


Swap it out for some aftermarket crap and hopefully I’m better off


Knowing my luck , nope , I’ll have spark smd end up with a flat tire

 

I have built about a half dozen SBFs over the last 20 years for my cobra. I learned a lot about many things, including ignition systems. I'm no longer a racer, I now cruise far and wide with friends. I believe in keeping it simple and using basic parts to their best. I s^&% canned my MSD 6 many years ago, it really didn't create much extra horsepower and it was prone to fail at ANY time. Here is a picture of my entire ignition system:

I use a David Unified Ignition (DUI) HEI distributor with internal hipo coil. In addition I have learned to shield the F out of the spark plug wires (it matters), this config makes a good 25 hp over an MSD 6 box ignition, and it is very reliable, plus it is super simple and not that expensive.

Dump that duraspark and run away screaming......

 

GM pace maker.

 

Gm hei is a bulletproof ignition system .

it’s also probably the single most ugly ignition system around

 

The original Ford D/S stuff was ok for many years, I agree that like many a/mkt electrical parts, quality has left the building. You haven't stated what gauges you installed that caused fuses to fail , and that may have led to ignition failure. Find out why that happened , a wiring error, defective gauge ? Again, was one of those a tach ? That's the only thing that ties into ignition compared to oil or water types. You don't want to damage the new setup. DUI components are very good, used many without problems.

 

The one thing nice about the Ford electronic ignition is that it can be made to resemble a point system,the more I think about it I have been stranded more by electronic ignitions then with points. My 55 Sunliner presently has the Duraspark system on the 351 but the 292 I just picked up will stay points,I do have a 302 points distributor not being used but I think it's going to stay where it's at since I do have a 302 in the fleet and I might get tired of the electronics. The local junkyard has plenty of points distributors but shipping might be a bit high going across the northern boarder.