2.3L ('83-'97) Duraspark II conversion problem

[TheAbstracted]

Hello all, recently I did a carburetor and Duraspark II conversion on my 1988 2.3. I saw this was a fairly popular thing to do on the 2.8, and I had had some kind of demon I never could figure out causing misfires in the stock fuel injection setup, so I decided to go ahead and attempt these conversions on my 4 banger. The carburetor conversion went pretty smoothly, but the ignition system conversion hasn't been as painless. So what happens is it will generally start up fine, run well for maybe 30 seconds to a minute, then suddenly just shuts off as if power were disconnected. It will start right up again if I try, and then exhibit the same behavior. I had thought perhaps where I wired the ignition module into power may have been cutting out after a certain length of time, but it behaves exactly the same way when I have it wired directly to the battery as well. Then I was thinking maybe I need to move the power source for the ignition coil away from the original wiring, because I still have the original ECU hooked up but it doesn't connect to much anymore, I thought perhaps it is looking for a signal from the old TFI-IV module that is no longer there and is cutting the power when it doesn't recieve one? But then I started to wonder if maybe I just got a bad ignition module? I kinda wanted to get some more experienced opinions before I go slicing and dicing again or ordering another ignition module. Thoughts, anyone?

Thanks!

 

[franklin2]

Your ignition box or the coil may be overheating and cutting it off. The DSII system you are using requires a resistor. Ford incorporated the resistor into the harness. By 1988 I do not know if it's still in there or not. But you could buy one of those large white resistors for a Chrysler and wire it in series with the coil + wire. The module gets a full 12v from the battery, but the coil gets somewhere around 9v running, but gets 12v starting.

If you want to skip this mess, you could get yourself a GM HEI module and wire it to your distributor. It can handle the full 12v to the coil.

 

[TheAbstracted]

Your ignition box or the coil may be overheating and cutting it off. The DSII system you are using requires a resistor. Ford incorporated the resistor into the harness. By 1988 I do not know if it's still in there or not. But you could buy one of those large white resistors for a Chrysler and wire it in series with the coil + wire. The module gets a full 12v from the battery, but the coil gets somewhere around 9v running, but gets 12v starting.

If you want to skip this mess, you could get yourself a GM HEI module and wire it to your distributor. It can handle the full 12v to the coil.

Thanks, I went and started it again and felt the coil getting warm just before the engine shuts off, not hot, but definitely warming up. I had read that not including a ballast resistor would potentially burn out the coil faster, but I read comments from a bunch of people saying they run DSII systems just fine without any ballast resistor at all, so I had figured I would get around to adding one once I got all the timing dialed in. But I'm certainly willing to try it, would you happen to know what ohm resistance I should be looking for?

I initially looked into those HEI systems, and they're a bit pricier than I was hoping to have to spend, but if push comes to shove that's the way I will go. Would love to have this setup workout if possible though.

 

[SenorNoob]

Guessing this is what franklin2 was talking about:

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Also I don't think you'd need the whole thing to use the HEI setup. Just the module and some skill to wire it up... My dad had an 86 Nissan D21 with the HEI module running the stock coil and distributor.

 

[franklin2]

That resistor above is one of them you could use. If you want it to start well in colder weather you are going to have to run a bypass wire from the starter solenoid/relay also. Hopefully you have a solenoid with 2 small terminals.

All you need to buy for the HEI is one of these. https://www.autozone.com/ignition/p...ition-control-module/1414166_0_0?cmpid=OSA:US

 

[franklin2]

1988 2.3 with TFI ignition system

 

[franklin2]

1988 2.0 duraspark II ignition system.

 

[franklin2]

Looking at the above diagrams, the 1988 2.0 DID still use a duraspark II ignition on some models. You can see the resistor in the harness that Ford used. Unfortunately, it looks like the resistor and the DSII harness is plugged in out in the engine compartment and is contained there. But I bet if you could find one of these harnesses, it would plug right into connector C102 and your DSII ignition system would plug right in, plug and play.

 

[Shran]

The older round ignition coils are supposed to run at 8-9v which is what you need the ballast resistor for. Some Duraspark swaps I've seen use the square TFI coil though which can run at 12v no problem.

Years ago I did a Duraspark swap on a 2.8 and didn't know that it would need a resistor. I don't recall how long it would run before the coil overheated but it wasn't very long.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Computer existing will screw with things too, get it out of the picture.

I left the computer in mine for awhile. I also tried to reuse the factory 2.8 e-coil. I would get a couple months out of an ignition module and I would melt it down. In an attempt to "fix" it I trashed the computer and then gained the ability to melt down a module in about half an hour. Researching deep into the interwebs netherregions I found more about the resistance gets screwed up if you don't use the correct coil.

My computer was only getting tach signal which knocked the resistance down so the module would survive longer than if the computer was there and thus had me chasing shadows. Apparently tach signal out of a e-coil is too spicy for a duraspark module.

I had the resistor and even have all the start/run stuff wired up how it is supposed to. With the correct coil it starts as easy if not easier than a EFI truck pending carb heat soak when hot.