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Topic: Killing Duraspark Boxes (Read 8103 times) previous topic - next topic

Killing Duraspark Boxes

Reply #15 –
Quote from: HAVI;191121
  Is it possible you have the DSIII that was used for a short time?


DSIII = EECIII...so most likely not.
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo

Killing Duraspark Boxes

Reply #16 –
Alright, so help me some more.  A TFI coil runs 12v (or 9v with weak spark).  If it's made to take a 12 volt load then why not run it at 12 volts.  I'm not hurting coils, I'm killing boxes.  So really the ballast shouldn't be needed since I'm not using a 9 volt coil.

Does that make sense?
84 TC 302 -5.0L/t5/7.5 locking rear and a 3.45 gear, Edelbrock Intake, Aluminum Heads, Edlebrock 65mm Throttlebody, Edlebrock Cam, 24lb injectors & MAS Air Sensor calibrated via chip,  BBK headers, Catback H pipe, Magnaflow lers :evilgrin:
:pics-stfu:

 Project Thread with pics

Killing Duraspark Boxes

Reply #17 –
blu84302 did you try to convert the factory c.f.i. wire harness to work on your combo ???? there might be an extra wire NOT needed that is back feeding to the d.s. module killing it. after weeks of problems i took a harness from an 83 tbird that had the 2BBL CARB V-6 in it. had no problems....with you want i can take pictures of my setup for you. since we both are running the same motor setup in the same year car ??????just trying to help.

Killing Duraspark Boxes

Reply #18 –
No, I made my own harness.
84 TC 302 -5.0L/t5/7.5 locking rear and a 3.45 gear, Edelbrock Intake, Aluminum Heads, Edlebrock 65mm Throttlebody, Edlebrock Cam, 24lb injectors & MAS Air Sensor calibrated via chip,  BBK headers, Catback H pipe, Magnaflow lers :evilgrin:
:pics-stfu:

 Project Thread with pics

Killing Duraspark Boxes

Reply #19 –
Now that I'm awake....  Let's buttstuffyze what's going on here.  The coil is not the issue.  The TFI coil can handle the 12 volts.  At the ign. box, the red wire goes to the ignition in start and run, and the white wire is to the S on the starter relay.  Not using the white wire eliminates the "retard" at start with the 12 volts.  Not a real big deal.  The pink(maybe some other color for your car) wire under the dash is the resistance wire.  The green wire is the neg. to coil, or tach.  The purple and orange wires are for the pickup/stator inside.  The black is the dist. to box ground.  My question is what type of dizzy did you buy?  Is it designed for the DS2?  I suspect two things.  One:  the ignition box is getting hot....put the spacers in between the fender and the box to get some air around it.  Heat is a killer.  Two:  the dizzy isn't designed to run a DS2 box.  For sake of security, I'd put the resistance wire in and eliminate the guesswork of that being a problem.  One last note, get the module from the JY, as aftermarkets are not as good as the original, IMO.
1987 TC

Killing Duraspark Boxes

Reply #20 –
For further reading:  You may need to save them and zoom in to read it.  Good luck, I hope this helps.
1987 TC

Killing Duraspark Boxes

Reply #21 –
might need this page too.  It shows the ballast resistor going from the icm to the coil in the lower left diagram.
1987 TC

Killing Duraspark Boxes

Reply #22 –
this one shows how to set up the tester/jumper wires for the test on my previous posts.
1987 TC

Killing Duraspark Boxes

Reply #23 –
See how organized I am, lol.  :wtf:
1987 TC

Killing Duraspark Boxes

Reply #24 –
Quote from: blu84302;191155
Alright, so help me some more.  A TFI coil runs 12v (or 9v with weak spark).  If it's made to take a 12 volt load then why not run it at 12 volts.  I'm not hurting coils, I'm killing boxes.  So really the ballast shouldn't be needed since I'm not using a 9 volt coil.

Does that make sense?


yoru staring at things from the wrong side of the fence.
forget about "start" ect.
look at the diagram and study the wire coming from the batt part of the coil.  trace it backwards up to the ignition module.

See a resistor inline?  yes.
resistors do what?

they act like a water cut off valve.  the higher the resistance, the less the water (current) flow.
reducing current reduces heat.

now the ballast resister is in series with your module.
some voltage will appear across the resistor but the remaining 6-9vdc will appear at the module.

without the ballast, you have no control of heat, current or voltage.

all this equals heat (in watts).

the coil gets no benefit from the balast being there.  trust me, that coils going to keep on keepin on with 18-24k volts all day long.  Igntion module gets the benefit of the ballast.  Stop talking coils and all the other destractions and start focusing on the heat you are putting on the module.

Killing Duraspark Boxes

Reply #25 –
Quote from: blu84302;191004
Yeah, it's close to that except I'm not running the white wire for the timing retard.

[COLOR="Red"]Also I'm not using the ballast bypass because it's not nessesary with the TFI coil[/COLOR]. 

I did ground the case out today.  Before it wasn't grounded because it uses a gound in the dissy.  Hopefully that will keep it from heating up alot.


you still did not answer my question on the above in red.
Why do you think this?

Killing Duraspark Boxes

Reply #26 –
matter of fact,, end this now for yourself. 
go to radioshack and slush out pennies on the dollar for a high wattage resistor of the values you see in the diagrams.

install it

whitness the heat going bye bye on the module.

Killing Duraspark Boxes

Reply #27 –
I may not have directed my reasons to you, but I stated that I believed the ballast doesn't have anything to do with the coil.  My reason is better described with this picture.  The red is 12v.  The Ballast is going to the coil not the duraspark box.  I do not see the ballast as being in line to the module. 

I'm not 100 percent sure that I'm reading the diagram right.  But that's why I'm asking for help.  HAVI thanks for those diagrams.  I haven't read through them yet but I will.  I'm definitely wanting to get this problem licked. 

And lastly, I did post that I bought a ballast and a canister coil.  It's in the car along with 2 spare modules.
84 TC 302 -5.0L/t5/7.5 locking rear and a 3.45 gear, Edelbrock Intake, Aluminum Heads, Edlebrock 65mm Throttlebody, Edlebrock Cam, 24lb injectors & MAS Air Sensor calibrated via chip,  BBK headers, Catback H pipe, Magnaflow lers :evilgrin:
:pics-stfu:

 Project Thread with pics

Killing Duraspark Boxes

Reply #28 –
From the 84 shop manual:
The resistance of the Duraspark II coil primary is 0.8-1.6 ohms.
The resistance of the EEC IV coil primary is 0.3-1.0 ohms.

It looks like the EEC IV coil may draw more current given it's lower DC resistance.
However coils have another current limiting factor called inductive reactance. This is present while the magnetic field is being built around the coil. I don't know how this compares between the two coils.

The ballast resister limits current flow through the coil but this same current flows through the ignition module via the green wire.

Killing Duraspark Boxes

Reply #29 –
The ballast resistor dates back to the breaker points days and is a method to compensate for the battery voltage being dragged down by the starter motor. Before the ballast resister and the low voltage coil cars were a real pain to get started on a cold morning.