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No Start - Mallory Hyfire 6al #2758452
04/01/20 03:33 PM
04/01/20 03:33 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 727
Ottawa, ontario
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dd340 Offline OP
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Vehicle is ‘87 ram with a stroked 340. Can’t get it to fire. I have a Mallory Hyfire ignition box and matching Mallory unilite distributor.
At the end of last year I Tried to start it and the battery was dead (It had been running fine the last time I drove it). Boosted the battery but it wouldn’t start. Tried 2nd battery and same thing. It was getting some spark because it was on the verge of starting but just not quite enough. I left it for the winter and now I’m trying again.
Same condition. I tried the manual troubleshooting and followed the instruction to check to make sure the box was working, basically disconnect one wire and ground it. Should get a spark which I did, but is seemed very faint. Nowhere near as strong as get from the Mopar OEM box when I hold the coil wire to metal to check for spark.
Called tech support, they said it was the optical sensor on the distributor. I just swapped that and still getting the exact same condition. Close to starting but just not enough.
When I pull the coil wire and crank the engine I can’t see the spark jump.
Any suggestions?

Re: No Start - Mallory Hyfire 6al [Re: dd340] #2758500
04/01/20 05:20 PM
04/01/20 05:20 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,122
Auburn WA
Dave_J Offline
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Auburn WA
I'd hook a wire to the Neg of the coil and with the coil lead set off of the block, turn the ignition on and tap that wire to the block to test the coil.


Retired, US ARMY 1973-1994
ASE mechanic, Electrical 1994-1997
Retired GTE/VERIZON/FRONTIER 1997-2015


Posting cheap tech help (CRAP) here since Nov 97, 1000's of posts, some may be good.

03 Suzuki Burgman 650(Burger King) Scooter
65 Formula S Cuda
78 Little Red Express Truck
98 Buick Regal (wifes car)
Re: No Start - Mallory Hyfire 6al [Re: dd340] #2759122
04/02/20 08:27 PM
04/02/20 08:27 PM
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Ottawa, ontario
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dd340 Offline OP
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I have an update, I swapped spark plugs and got the engine to start but it stumbles the minute I apply throttle and won’t rev above 1500 rpm. I confirmed I’m getting spark at all 8 cylinders because the header tubes got warm. It really feels like a spark issue. Like it’s not getting a good combustion. I don’t have any noticeable vacuum leaks.
Suggestions?

Re: No Start - Mallory Hyfire 6al [Re: dd340] #2759130
04/02/20 08:58 PM
04/02/20 08:58 PM
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Florida
Locomotion Offline
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Just a few ideas.....Do you have another distributor and/or coil (check compatibility) you could adapt & try? I recall hearing that the Uni-lite distributors can go bad, but don't recall the symptoms. (Dirty window?) Gotta ask - firing order correct or timing moved? I've run a Malloryr 6AL with one of their magnetic pick-up distributors for 15+ years with no issues.

EDIT - I did have one issue: One of the pins in the distributor lead pushed back in the plug and had an intermittent connection.

Last edited by Locomotion; 04/02/20 09:06 PM.
Re: No Start - Mallory Hyfire 6al [Re: Locomotion] #2759795
04/04/20 12:13 PM
04/04/20 12:13 PM
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Ottawa, ontario
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dd340 Offline OP
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Turns out the Mallory box was bad. I scrounged up a spare and it had at least 10x the spark. I’m not sure how it can go bad but still have a small spark but that’s exactly what happened.

Re: No Start - Mallory Hyfire 6al [Re: dd340] #2759814
04/04/20 01:01 PM
04/04/20 01:01 PM
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 43,007
Bend,OR USA
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Cab_Burge Offline
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Bend,OR USA
Originally Posted by dd340

Any suggestions?

I read your last post, I think the ground to the original box got corroded bad enough to limit the amount of voltage the box was getting to operate on twocents
I would put it back on after making sure there is no corrosion on the bottom mounting surfaces and see if it is okay or not scope thumbs


Mr.Cab Racing and winning with Mopars since 1964. (Old F--t, Huh)
Re: No Start - Mallory Hyfire 6al [Re: dd340] #2760430
04/05/20 04:17 PM
04/05/20 04:17 PM
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Washington
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madscientist Offline
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Washington
Originally Posted by dd340
Turns out the Mallory box was bad. I scrounged up a spare and it had at least 10x the spark. I’m not sure how it can go bad but still have a small spark but that’s exactly what happened.



What’s the part number of the box? Also, if you PM me I’ll give you the email address fo the guy at Mallory who was the head engineer on most of those boxes and he fixes them pretty cheap.

If it’s the part number I like and you don’t want it I’d be interested in buying it.


Just because you think it won't make it true. Horsepower is KING. To dispute this is stupid. C. Alston
Re: No Start - Mallory Hyfire 6al [Re: madscientist] #2760481
04/05/20 06:19 PM
04/05/20 06:19 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,122
Auburn WA
Dave_J Offline
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Dave_J  Offline
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Posts: 3,122
Auburn WA
I will be running my old Mallory VI-AL (Not 6-AL) on my LRT build. It works good when wired right. But a loose ground almost made me toss it years ago.


Retired, US ARMY 1973-1994
ASE mechanic, Electrical 1994-1997
Retired GTE/VERIZON/FRONTIER 1997-2015


Posting cheap tech help (CRAP) here since Nov 97, 1000's of posts, some may be good.

03 Suzuki Burgman 650(Burger King) Scooter
65 Formula S Cuda
78 Little Red Express Truck
98 Buick Regal (wifes car)
Re: No Start - Mallory Hyfire 6al [Re: Dave_J] #2762038
04/09/20 08:11 PM
04/09/20 08:11 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 727
Ottawa, ontario
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dd340 Offline OP
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Ottawa, ontario
I have a 2nd update on this issue. I put spare box on and it fired right up which was great. But when I went back to wire it up permanently with the proper connections i lost all spark and and the box started to emit a high pitched hum. I have no idea how, I had the battery disconnected. Anyway I have disassembled both boxes and I can definitely smell burnt wires when I open them up. Nothing visibly burnt however. Long story short, I just ordered a new Summit box, it is virtually identical and I just wired it up today. Truck runs great again!







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