3rd failed ignition module?

[doylerl]

I replaced one with one from a j/y, then I bought one off of ebay, now today, my car died again, and I am leaning towards it being the problem again!

Ok, so my mom ran my car out of gas.. no problem.. filling it up is easy to do. It ran fine afterwards. Well, today I go to drive it and it seems like it is just cutting out while driving down the road. Cruising along about 45, shift to 4th and it bogs down and acts like it just shut off. After a couple hundred feet, it would pick up again and take off. Well, I thought maybe since she ran it so low on gas, it sucked junk up into the fuel filter. So, I went and replaced that for the 2nd time, and it fired right up and seemed like it was running good and smooth. So I leave the house, and after about 2 blocks it just dies on me. It will still turn over but won't start. My tach needle barely jumps when cranking which I believe means that it is not getting any signal to the coil to spark. Isn't that correct? Which leads me to point at the ign. module again. What could be causing these to keep failing on me? The first time it happened I had put an MSD coil on it and drove it for a couple months. I was told the MSD could have been too strong and burned the first one out. So, I put the old one back on, and since then it has burned through 2 more! What can cause these to burn up? Is there something else that it could be? Thanks for the help...

[doylerl]

I forgot to mention... This is my ONLY mode of transpo. right now and I have an interview tomorrow morning that I HAVE to get to.... Please help ASAP.

[jmye1524]

Trying to figure this out as well, what's the status on your suppression capacitor? new-old-none at all?
It's been called many things... but this is what it looks like....this one is missing the wire.
Some say that all this thing does is suppress engine noise in the radio, but I believe that it also sucks up excess voltage that the coil produces, and the disty wont take. If its bad then the coil burns up the pickup coil.
These things always have a fracture in the wire insulation where it meets the capacitor. It may look like it's good but maybe it's not.
It would be nice if we could find the real meaning of this piece and where to get one new.

[doylerl]

The wire broke off of mine, so I removed it completely.

[bhazard]

Maybe the fuel pump burned up when it ran out of gas?

[jmye1524]

Does the removal of this jive with your problems, at all?

[doylerl]

Maybe the fuel pump burned up when it ran out of gas?

I kinda wondered that at first, but if it did shouldn't it be leaking? It is the manual pump, no electric.

[jmye1524]

Maybe the fuel pump burned up when it ran out of gas?

The fuel pump on this model is mechanical.

[doylerl]

Does the removal of this jive with your problems, at all?

Well, first, I installed the MSD coil. After a couple of months, the module burned up. I was told the coil burned it, so I put the old one back on before replacing the module. During this first time, I found the wire was broken, so that is when I removed it. Since then it has gone through 2 more modules. I don't know if it is a coincidence, or if I have just been given faulty parts, or if something else is to blame.

[jmye1524]

I've read on several occasion, on other sites, that this thing does more than suppress noise in the radio.....we really need to find the facts. Can't keep replacing parts that are hard to find!

[doylerl]

I've read on several occasion, on other sites, that this thing does more than suppress noise in the radio.....we really need to find the facts. Can't keep replacing parts that are hard to find!

I second that! Hard to find and/or expensive if you can find it.

[Tim]

Interesting theory about the capacitor.

I once owned a Festiva that was mangled in a collision with a deer. The wiring harness got ripped, and I never reconnected the suppression capacitor, thinking it unnecessary.

Not long after, it developed a weird stumble which I tracked to the distributor. I wonder if that capacitor caused the module to fry too? Makes me wonder....

[Pu241]

Trying to figure this out as well, what's the status on your suppression capacitor? new-old-none at all?
It's been called many things... but this is what it looks like....this one is missing the wire.
Some say that all this thing does is suppress engine noise in the radio, but I believe that it also sucks up excess voltage that the coil produces, and the disty wont take. If its bad then the coil burns up the pickup coil.
These things always have a fracture in the wire insulation where it meets the capacitor. It may look like it's good but maybe it's not.
It would be nice if we could find the real meaning of this piece and where to get one new.

It has nothing to do with operation of your ignition system!
It is there solely to absorb/suppress the RF interference to your radio, generated by the ignition system.
Specifically, the discharge of the coil high voltage between the rotor and cap. Which generates a broad spectrum of RF emissions.
These emissions are picked up by wiring to the radio and work their way through the radios amp and out your speakers. Producing an audible "whine" proportional to engine rpm. So this capacitor is used to filter these emissions from the radio wiring by blocking the propagation through the wiring.

you can "fold, spindle, or mutilate" these devices and the worst you are likely to do to your car is create noise in your audio system.
New audio systems already have RF suppression built into the circuits to increase the noise to signal ratio, so it may make no diff at all in new audio system with or without this device attached.

It can not "suck up extra voltage the coil produces", if that were the case then it would need to be removed when people move to after market high output coils!
Further, more how is this device supposed to "suck up" this high voltage when it not even connected to that circuit?

Please don't propagate myth when you are lacking facts.

Anyone have the electrical diagrams that shows the capacitor in the wiring to the radio?
I'm not near my reference materials now.

[jmye1524]

Pu241, What are your qualifications...what makes you an expert?

[Pu241]

Not an expert!

But, I can read electrical diagrams, and know what various passive components in a circuit do.

And if you must know I hold Bachelors Degrees in Chemistry and one in Nuclear Science. Electrical circuit design and analysis was required for both.
Nothing elaborate, but it has been very useful over the years.

Having answered your question, what makes you think "it sucks up extra voltage that the coil produces"?