Hello Everyone,

I have a problem on my 65 Barracuda that has me baffled.

When I turn the ignition to the "start" position, the car will turn over (and over and over and over and over) but will not "fire" until I release the key to the run position. Once the key is released to the "run" position, the car runs just fine (except for a miss around 3000 rpm but maybe that's a different problem)


If I remove the coil wire from the distributor and ground it, there is no spark until the ignition switch is released to the run position. When released to the run position, I get a giant, blue spark from the coil wire.

I have gone from trying to diagnose this problem to throwing parts at the problem (I'm desperate).

Parts that I have replaced
1) ignition switch
2) ballast resistor
3) coil
4) ignition boxes (orange, black and chrome)
5) new distributor cap
6) new rotor


Each of the above were replaced one at a time with absolutely no change whatsoever.

Car is equipped with an MSD 6A (put on 15 years ago maybe) wired through the white wire.

These problems all started after I changed the intake manifold. I have no idea if I have something wired backwards or jostled something loose.


I'm not great at electrical problems but I do own a multi-meter and can follow directions pretty well.

Any help that any of you can provide will be much appreciated.

if it ran before, then you have it wired right, yes you might have jostled something loose or it might just be Murphys Law that a connection worked loose at the same time as the intake swap. Pull the wire/terminal off of the "ign" male terminal on the starter relay to disable the starter then have a helper hold the key to "start" & you under the hood with your meter see if the coil and MSD are both being fed.

Try replacing the the pickup in the dizzy. Are you using a stock dizzy or MSD? I've had this issue with an 81 swb pickup with stock dizzy.

Also I've found that just because something is new, doesn't mean it's good.

These things can be frustrating.

Good luck. Let us know what you find.

Check the bulkhead connector. Your coil is not hot during cranking, and it should be. It's only hot in the run position. The bulkhead connector is often the cause of this.

can you tell me exactly where to put the test leads to check for coil and msd spark?

I pulled the wire from starter relay as requested.

I then pulled the coil wire and Had helper turn ignition key to start and then release to run. Somewhere along that time period, I got the ever-loving snot shocked out of me. My right hand is still tingling.

any particular thing I should be checking at the bulkhead connector?

I am using a mopar electronic distributor I got from Napa 15 or 16 years ago.

My dad and I put a direct connection electronic ignition conversion in this car in 1985ish. There was a perceived problem somewhere so I stuck a Napa reman in the car in the 1990s when the problem turned out to be a faulty orange box.

Wire's are back words on the ballast resister.

I'd try replacing the pickup plate in the distributor...I've had them go bad a few times in SB's over the years.

i will have to raid dad's part stash, but i will definitely try that.

Yes, disconnect it it from the engine side and inspect, you are looking for signs of heat/burning/melted plastic etc. Clean corrosion if evident. Reconnect and try.

You can also check for voltage at the ballast resistor while cranking--I bet there is none, but it IS there when you release the key to the run position.

actually, I had 11 volts in both crank and run on both sides of the ballast.

I thought that was weird.

Having the same voltage on both sides of the ballast during start is normal.

So I assume that you are using a Mopar electronic ignition?

I agree with the bulkhead as being a strong suspect.

I also assume that you have a ballast resistor with just 2 wires. Without removing the ballast resistor wires, I would run a jumper from the positive side of the battery to the ballast resistor (end that has 2 wires connected to it) then try to start it.

If it fires while cranking, then it does point to a bad bulkhead connector. I suspect it will fire.

Unless I'm worried about full originality, I splice wires on both sides of the bulkhead for both the high amperage wires. I remove the brass connectors, run a drill through the plastic connectors and just run the wires straight through. Have done this on a couple cars now very successfully.

I reread your post and see that you are runnimg the MSD. With most MSDs you should not have a ballast resistor.

Where are you powering your MSD from?

I would still do what I suggested in my post above, but to the MSD power wire.

I do suspect that the way you have the box powered you are losing voltage to the MSD because of a bad connection in the bulkhead. I suspect that the MSD power is being taken off of the original ballast wiring.

PM me if you would like some additional guidance.....

Hand hurt? Be thankful its not worse (yes it can be). Look at the MSD 6 instructions for how to test. Try not to do a traditional spark wire test with any MSD unless you must.

Ignition power during start uses the wire connected to the coil side of ballast resistor. In other words, it comes from the starter switch bypassing the resistor. IIRC if that's not working with the MSD the MSD isn't getting turned on. Disconnect the battery and check for connectivity between the battery supply and the start side of the ballast (resistance if using a meter, light on if doing it that way). If not, then go to the back of the switch to determine if its switch or wiring.

If you prefer diagrams, here's my '67 Barracuda charging and ignition wiring diagram Your colors may be different but the layout will be similar.

The big red msd power wire is coming off the big lug on the starter. The big black msd ground wire is is grounded to the body underneath the battery tray. I know the MSD directions said to run the wires directly from the battery but that just looked like someone wiring in a cheap (sparkomatic) car stereo.

I'm pretty sure I have the MSD white wire and the small red MSD trigger wire connected correctly, since the car started and ran fine for 15 years. I will definitely check all of that again.

If you want to know why I didn't wire the MSD directly to the mag pick up: Well. I guess I would have to say that I wasn't confident in my ability to do that at the time.

I got the MSD as a Christmas present and put it in the car during a snow storm. When it worked the first time out, I was pretty excited.

And everything worked fine until now.


I will definitely try what you suggested and get back to you

white wire is trigger with points.
Small red wire is power on. Normally this is attached to the coil positive wire. (The coil itself no longer gets electricity from that wire but from the MSD box )

Yep. Hand is still tingly. Thank you so much for the easy to understand diagram. I am going to use this as I trace down my wiring.