EI Distributor install on 70 1600 and I have some other wiring weirdness after install!?

[justinmc89]

So not sure they are mutually exclusive and something else didn't happen in process. I bought a ECR distributor through Datsun Restoration Products and swapped it in. Followed the instructions and she fired up... but.. I've lost water temp/fuel level (I understand there is a regulator/voltage stepper under the dash for these?). The turn signals quit working and I believe my alternator is no longer charging!?!?? Doh!

So below you'll see the "what I did"..

Dizzy swapped... using a Bosch "blue" coil (which I've discovered doesn't have correct resistance (3 ohm's is what I measured)).

I have 5 wires that were related to the coil/distributor that were removed from the old setup.
#1 solid black wire... went to the negative term on the old coil this has a tag on it that says "0" = Ground
#2 white wire (they look yellow from age) that ran to the pos terminal on the old coil and has a "1" on it.. getting 10ish volts to this when I flip the key to "start"
#3 white with black stripe ran to one terminal of the ballast resistor on the old setup.. getting 10ish volts to this when I flip the key to "start" as well
#4 black with white stripe... ran to the other terminal on the ballast resistor on the old setup and gets 12v with key in the "on/run" position
#5 random thickly shielded/insulated solid black wire that ran to the condensor tab/terminal on the old distributor

I hooked them up to the new setup as follows.
wire #1 to the negative terminal (car would crank/fire/die without this hooked to the negative terminal)
wire #2 to the positive terminal on the new coil
wire #3 to the positive terminal on the new coil
wire #4 to the positive terminal on the new coil
#5 unhooked and taped the end off

Originally I just had a jumper wire between #3 & #4 wires.. but was told that was a no go so I rearranged it all.

New dizzy also has the blue wire to the negative term of the coil and the red wire to the positive term on the coil per the instructions.

So almost as quick as I started the car with the new setup... I lost the coolant temp/fuel level.. I drove the car awhile and the amp meter was still showing 30 amps but the car sputtered and died as I came into my driveway and the battery had discharged completely which leads me to believe somewhere along the line the charging circuit quit charging. Now the above issues might have ZERO relation to the coil install... I'm not sure. I need to do some more digging and probing with things but was just looking for some input?

I'm wondering if perhaps I backfed the system with one of the wires connected to the positive terminal? According to the ECR/etc guys I should only have 3 wires to the dizzy. #4, red wire from dizzy & one of the 12v "starting" wires...

I'm guessing that I need a new coil that is proper specs i.e. less resistance for starters... Any other input?

roadsteroriginalcoil.jpg

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roadsternewcoiltake2.jpg

[justinmc89]

So a Bosch "orange or red" coil has a primary resistance of 1.8ohm from what I can tell. Not quite down into the .84-1.02ohm spec'd by ECR... Thoughts?

[GeoffM]

I installed the MSD Blaster 2 (8202). Works fine.

I hate electrical issues...its all voodoo to me.

[notoptoy]

No way the coil or Distributor should have any effect on any other circuit. It's more likely that in moving wires around that you disturbed a connection or ground somewhere. Check your grounds, and make sure you didn't bump/disconnect the white wire or harness on the back of the alternator.
You only need the black/white and white/black (12V when key is on and 12V when key is in start) wires going to the (+) side of the coil, and the Red and blue wires from the EI as directed. None of the other wires should be needed as you have bypassed the resistor if you do this - so you should not need that jumper either. Tape off any wires 'left over". You don't need to connect that little noise condenser - unless you have ignition noise through your radio, and even then they are dubious.

[justinmc89]

No way the coil or Distributor should have any effect on any other circuit. It's more likely that in moving wires around that you disturbed a connection or ground somewhere. Check your grounds, and make sure you didn't bump/disconnect the white wire or harness on the back of the alternator.
You only need the black/white and black wires going to the (+) side of the coil, and the Red and blue wires from the EI as directed. None of the other wires are needed as you have bypassed the resistor. You don't need to connect that little noise condenser - unless you have ignition noise through your radio, and even then they are dubious.

Wait.. so the solid black (what I would assume is ground) wire that was on the negative terminal of the old coil is going to the positive side now? Or do you mean the black w/ white stripe and the white w/ black stripe?

I will take a look at the grounds, etc. I suspect something might have come loose or I rubbed something that was already bare somewhere as you mentioned. Need to do some searching. Thanks.

[notoptoy]

I modified my response above, to clarify.

[justinmc89]

I modified my response above, to clarify.

Thanks.. makes a lot more sense. I just wanted to make sure I hadn't missed something.

Now it's on to figure out what the heck is going on with the rest of the wiring issues. I suspect at some point something might have chewed on something or whatever. The car sat for a few years in someones garage and I found a couple of mice pellets near the battery tray. Oh boy!

[justinmc89]

I installed the MSD Blaster 2 (8202). Works fine.

I hate electrical issues...its all voodoo to me.

The specs on the Blaster 2 look to be closer to what they are calling for. I'll go that route. Thanks!

[JT68]

Not to belittle anyone, only to help, I'd really suggest revising that spiders web of wiring- since is actually a very, very
simple circuit. The extra wires and incorrect color codes make it seem much more complicated than it is.

Keep this in mind:

For 68-70 cars There are only two wires needed from the dash harness to run the engine:

Black/white (+12 ignition on/run)
Black/white/red (+8-12 or so only when cranking to start)

Since you are eliminating the ignition resistor, both of these wires listed above simply go to coil+.


The Ei module harness has a red wire which also goes to coil+
The Ei module harness has a blue or black wire which is the ONLY wire that connects to coil-

The coil determines the need/no need for a resistor. Since you are going to an EI coil, you just need the 3 wires on coil+, 1 wire on coil- and that is it. All those confusing wires can be eliminated.

Of note, your temp sender wire should be yellow/white, the brake differential warning switch wire is yellow/blue I think. Make sure those are not mis-connected.

Hope this helps,
J

[justinmc89]

JT you are correct. Way too many extra wires floating out there. I found the solid black and solid white to be not needed. Assuming that they actually splice back into one another further up into the harness but I will dig into that another day. I wrapped each one individually and then wrapped them all together with some fabric tape and zip tied them all nicely out of the way.

Car started right up. I traced the other issues... all of them.. including the charging issues back to one 10A fuse that was burnt on one end (didn't appear blown until I pulled it out and held it up to light). Crazy. Literally everything works as it did before. So I am sure my original questionable wiring backfed the system and burnt the fuse (thank god for fuses).

[JT68]

Good to hear you figured it out. Since it has had some "less than professionaI" wiring service, I would open up that section of harness, eliminate extra wires and make sure any splices are well done-preferably soldered. A fault in the coil circuit can easily put you on the side of the road or cause all kinds of intermittent problems.

[justinmc89]

Good to hear you figured it out. Since it has had some "less than professionaI" wiring service, I would open up that section of harness, eliminate extra wires and make sure any splices are well done-preferably soldered. A fault in the coil circuit can easily put you on the side of the road or cause all kinds of intermittent problems.

Indeed... I've been slowly sorting out the "ran when parked" issues. It's a slow process. Cars that sit are always full of surprises! Over the winter I hope to put your suspension setup and do some wiring work upgrading things to LED's and moving to a compact alternator on the RH side. This summer has been primarily getting it drivable and finding all those issues that need to be addressed, etc. Next winter hoping to move to a U20/5spd setup but that's further down the road!

Final answer wiring below... car started right up and ran well. Need to adjust the carbs a little better now that spark is correct/good.

[JT68]

Looking good