Lost power to my distributor..

[Timebender]

As some of you know, my car has a 350 Chevy small block with an HEI ignition. It's been running rough, so i did the usual - replaced the spark plugs, wires, new cap, rotor, coil, and just the other day the ignition control module, and condenser/harness that connects to the icm and out to the cap. While at it I replaced the wiring from the car - tach and battery, where it comes from the bulkhead, as those had some wires soldered onto the ones coming from there and were looking pretty bad, plus the clips to the cap were old and breaking, not to mention the tach wire didn't even have a clip. So I put on a new clip that connects to both and clips with one clip onto the cap.
And everything ran like a charm, with the car performing nicely yesterday.
Then today I fire her up, roll out of the garage and let it idle for a little to warm up, and the engine dies. I thought maybe because it's cold and it does that sometimes. So I go to fire her up, and nothing. I had my wife turn the key while I checked for spark and I get nothing.

I'm going to assume I'm not getting power to the distributor - but will check when I get home if there's voltage when the key is on. If there is, then I have a bad coil (maybe but it's new) or bad ignition control module (could be as well..). If there's no power to the dizzy, then would I check maybe Fuse #1? Or where else could it have stopped (for anyone that has done a conversion).

Thanks for any thoughts.

Greg

[Dangermouse]

Bad connection at the coil?

[Ron]

If there's no power to the dizzy, then would I check maybe Fuse #1? Or where else could it have stopped (for anyone that has done a conversion).
Auxiliary Relay #2 sends power to the Resistor Block and it to the Coil when the Key is turned on for stock D. It also sends power to Fuse #1, which feeds some ignition components but not the Coil itself (not fused!).
The person who did the conversion would most likely feed the coil with the White wire (maybe White/Yellow), or, preferably, run their own heavier, fused wire to the coil.
Jumping 12V to it will answer a lot...

Odd it ran then quit....Which HEI system, In Cap, Remote, ??
If In Cap, did you use paste under the module...make sure the coil's ground wire was clean and TIGHT when reinstalling?

[Timebender]

Thanks guys. It's an in-cap module, and I did put the silicon grease down first. My guess is it's a bad module so I replaced it last night with another. Funny (odd) thing is when I got home, I thought I'd try to start it and it fired right up and ran okay.
So I checked the pickup coil and it's reading 823 ohms (should be anywhere from 500 to 1000 ohms). So it's "good" but old. Power is coming from a red wire I'm assuming is keyed on with the ignition on, which is fused somewhere.
This morning it ran fine, then stalled a few miles from home, wouldn't start then did when I shut off the headlights (I need a new starter as it draws so much the volts drop down to 6 from 12.5 when starting the car, and HEI needs 12 volts to really fire off). So it started, and a couple times as I was driving it hiccuped where you could see and feel a loss of spark (and no engine power) then it would come back like in a split second.

I think my next alternative is either take out the distributor, pull it apart and replace the pickup coil, or just get a new distributor and drop it in - less hassle too.

As far as the connection at the coil, it could be where I spliced the power to the new harness clip is just not all that great, though it feels like it's a good crimp. I might just solder those together and cover with heat shrink to get the best connection. I'll do that for that and the tach wire and report back.

Also, where is the #2 aux relay? Is that relay 17 in the diagram, and where in the relay compartment is that exactly? I can't seem to see it any pics.

https://support.delorean.com/AvatarHandler.ashx?fid=8395&key=3475194172

Thanks for everyone's help!

[Timebender]

Thanks guys. It's an in-cap module, and I did put the silicon grease down first. My guess is it's a bad module so I replaced it last night with another. Funny (odd) thing is when I got home, I thought I'd try to start it and it fired right up and ran okay.
So I checked the pickup coil and it's reading 823 ohms (should be anywhere from 500 to 1000 ohms). So it's "good" but old. Power is coming from a red wire I'm assuming is keyed on with the ignition on, which is fused somewhere.
This morning it ran fine, then stalled a few miles from home, wouldn't start then did when I shut off the headlights (I need a new starter as it draws so much the volts drop down to 6 from 12.5 when starting the car, and HEI needs 12 volts to really fire off). So it started, and a couple times as I was driving it hiccuped where you could see and feel a loss of spark (and no engine power) then it would come back like in a split second.

I think my next alternative is either take out the distributor, pull it apart and replace the pickup coil, or just get a new distributor and drop it in - less hassle too.

As far as the connection at the coil, it could be where I spliced the power to the new harness clip is just not all that great, though it feels like it's a good crimp. I might just solder those together and cover with heat shrink to get the best connection. I'll do that for that and the tach wire and report back.

Also, where is the #2 aux relay? Is that relay 17 in the diagram, and where in the relay compartment is that exactly? I can't seem to see it any pics.

https://support.delorean.com/AvatarHandler.ashx?fid=8395&key=3475194172

Thanks for everyone's help!

I found the relay - which was easy actually. I thought it might be able to be unplugged like the others, but lots of wires coming off it. I want to see if it's intermittently causing the coil to not get power. I'm assuming if I disconnect the big white wire, that should prove if I'm right or not, correct? And if it's a bad relay, does DMC carry new ones or is there an equivalent that can be sources at a parts store?

And this may sound like a dumb question, but on Hervey's diagram, it calls that the main relay - is it that or an accessory relay?

[Josh]

I found the relay - which was easy actually. I thought it might be able to be unplugged like the others, but lots of wires coming off it. I want to see if it's intermittently causing the coil to not get power. I'm assuming if I disconnect the big white wire, that should prove if I'm right or not, correct? And if it's a bad relay, does DMC carry new ones or is there an equivalent that can be sources at a parts store?

And this may sound like a dumb question, but on Hervey's diagram, it calls that the main relay - is it that or an accessory relay?

Main relay / accessory relay is the same thing. It is the first relay off the battery. One activates at the first key position (acc), the other at the second key position (run). Unplugging the white wire will remove power to various body electronics, plus whatever is left of the engine electronics. Once again, it is a custom setup so it is just a shot in the dark asking us to help troubleshoot for you.

[Timebender]

Up until recently I really haven't had the problem of the engine suddenly just cutting out - so after all I've done so far - replacing the ignition control module, condenser/harness, rotor, cap, coil, and spliced in a new connector for the battery and tach, new plugs and wires - which the car runs a lot smoother than before, I can only think either the power to the coil is not solid (easy fix if it's in the engine bay), or I need a new pickup coil - which is a pain to replace (take the whole distributor out and then apart), but cheap.
Or just toss in a new distributor.

I like toss in a new distributor.

But I'll try the wiring when I get home.