hi all, a while back I upgraded my ignition from points to electronic on the 68 dart.

I used a re-man dist
new cap and wires
borg warner ecu
and i upgraded the charging system also.

it ran great not one hick up for about 3000 miles
then it dies, i get it started and get it home and it hasnt ran right since.

so I ended up replaceing everything, and still the same problem,,
it starts great but right off idle it sputters misses, back fires.
So i got fustrated and installed the points system back on, and it ran great.(left it that way the rest of the summer and fall)

So I ordered a new dist from A-1 cardone and I thought i would try it again.
Yesturday I re-install the system, even pulling off the wiring.

Once i got it all back together and same darn thing.

But i did notice when i disconect the Vac advance it does change for the better.(but that doenst explain why the first ran great then crapped out)

reluctor gap it ok, within the factory specs..

I set the timming at 0, and i have tried it up to 5 degrees.
no change.

If the timming chain is wore, could it cause this?
how about masive arching inside the cap?
i have tried other caps with the same effect.

what about the alt, could it cause this?

I even ran a hot wire over to the ignition box.

I am getting 13.4 V at idle, when i rev it up it goes up to about 14.5, when i check the power feed going to the ecu my V-meter goes crazy, so thats when I used a jumper from the batt to the ecu power feed.

I have taken the alt to have tested, and changed the VR.. could the alt be interfering with the electronic system?



I just cant beleive it ran great, and now i cant figure out whats going on.

Are you 100% SURE you have both a good engine ground and especially a GOOD ground to the ECU box on the firewall? very critical.

Also, what is the voltage at the ignition coil+ when the key is turned to the "ON" position, not start position? Then check the voltage at the + terminal on the coil when it is running?
Also make sure yu dont have an ECU power wire running near a spark plug wire etc. Your "crazy" erratic readings may be some some of voltage spikes from other sources etc.

i have checked all that..even ran extra grn wires. But i think i have it figured out.. (vacume advance) i adjusted it and it finally got better. I just dont know why it ran good, then all of a sudden it acted up..

so now whats the proper way to adjust the total timing on a stock 68 318. Do i do it the same way as a performance engine? if so what should the total advance be?

ok thanks, i wasnt for sure if i set it at 35 degrees total or not..

The 35 total may have to be adjusted a little depending on what your initial falls at.

The total that you suggested will not nessesarly be a true total advance unless the distributor is calibrated to have the mechanical advance fully advanced at the said 3000 RPM's. Stock distributors will not be.

ok this is an all stock dist..

the dist is a new one from a-1 cardone.. i am not to impressed with thier parts, so hard telling if the mech advance is correct.

I thnk i have it, rev the engine till the advance stops, set it at 35 total, then let the engine idle and that will be my intial.

yes(with vac adv disconnected) & see what you do have for initial when you let it go back to idle.

You have a stretched/jumped timing chain.

with the advance unhooked, using a light the timing marks stayes steady, but then the chain is 40yrs old..and it runs decent with the points dist.. I am using a new NOT rebuilt A-1 cardone dist POS IMO..

the springs on the mech advance to me are very tight compared to the points dist which isnt 40yrs old(re-man)
I think id been better off buying a JY dist..

so anyway what or how do i check the springs?

let me back up a bit.You converted to electronic ign & & it ran great for an extended period then died & you replaced alot of the electronic conversion parts(which ones?) & it wouldn't run right so you went pack to your points dist (& setup) & it ran great like it did before you originally converted it? Correct? Since the vac adv is having a major effect on this problem I would suggest: turn the crank to TDC & see (1) far the rotor tip is from the #1 dist cap terminal( & on which side of it) (2) how far the reluctor is away from the pickup coil magnet(not the gap) but how far past(or behind)it & (3) do you have a vacuum pump to pump up the vac adv & see what that does to the .008 correct gap(that Master Nacho brought back to mind last night).