82porker

82 4.5 manual,replace ignition switch,fuel pump relay,ballast resistors, help

soontobered84

Relay, relay, relay

AirtekHVAC

I’m in the same boat with my 82. Already replaced relays, several times....we need to compare notes.

dr bob

It takes spark and fuel to run the engine. There's a cold-start valve that adds extra fuel to assist with starting. Quite likely you are "running" on that fuel for a few seconds.

1) -- Verify that you have spark all the way through the engine not spinning anymore. The ignition depends on a little Hall sensor in the distributor, with the signal transferred to the solid-state ignition module via the "green wire". That "green wire" ages less than gracefully, particularly the connector at the distributor end. If the green wire or either connector is less than perfect, ignition will be erratic.

2) There are two ballast resistors feeding power to the ignition system. One gets fed from the ignition switch 15 circuit (true on position 2 or 3), while the other gets fed from an auxiliary contact in the starter solenoid, true when the solenoid is engaged.

3) Fuel pump relies on a good tach signal from the ignition system to tell the relay to close, pump to run. Put a jumper between 30 and 87 connections for the fuel pump relay and see if the car runs. This will run the pump continuously, regardless of engine running or not. Background: The fuel pump relay closes for a second or two immediately on ignition switch to position 2 (engine run) or 3 (engine start). It may be pressurizing the system but not seeing the engine running to maintain pump pressure.

4) -- Get a [set of] "noid light" and plug into one of the cylinder injector connections. You should see pulses to the injector from the time you start cranking until it spins to a stop. If none, verify that the tach is bouncing as you crank.

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Injection and fuel pump each receive power directly from battery positive post connections via dedicated red wire feeders. Connections there need to be clean and tight.

The fuses used in your early car are little ceramic bullets with beryllium-copper contacts and copper elements. They corrode. Clean each contact for the critical fuses. DeOxit spray is a favorite treatment for those connections too. Sometimes it's easy enough to just spin the fuse in place a couple times to scrub off an oxidized layer. Fuses with poor connections will tell you -- the connections will be hot. I use a thermal imaging camera to find load issues in industrial distribution panels; the same works for the CE panel fuses and relays if you happen to have access to one.

AirtekHVAC

Thanks for the input Doc,

as as for me, I have tried all those things, with no joy, EXCEPT using the Noid light. I just ordered a set tonight, so that’s next on the list.

hope something you mentioned helps the OP.

82porker

Thanks very much for the replies,so here's what Ive found so far Dr Bob. i bridged the fuel pump relay but no luck pump is running,fuse is good.
when the ignition switch is in the running position the 0.4 ohm ballast resistor gets extremely hot.
there is no movement of the tach instument while while cranking or running.
the green wire is old but the car fires up so strong ,how could that be ? if it was that.
I forgot to say its a KJet system ,
thanks for you help

AirtekHVAC

You have an 82 k-jet? Is it a euro?

mine is an L-jet. K-jet is a different monkey. I, as many others here, have become quite good at working on cis. To effectively revive a cis car, the entire fuel system front to rear should be addressed.

clean tank, clean or replace in tank strainer, replace fuel pump, all rubber hoses at rear, accumulator, fuel filter, rubber hoses in fender well, rubber hoses under hood along fire wall, clean strainer at fuel distributor fuel inlet. Replace micro strainers in banjo bolts on top of fuel distributor, remove and clean fuel injectors (or replace), replace injector seals and tensioner nuts, if the originals were damaged in removal. After all this, you will probably find that the car half runs. Then you remove the fuel distributor and either send it out for rebuild, or you do it yourself, if you have the acumen.

Then, you use fuel pressure test kit, and setup guides found in multiple posts here, and adjust the mixtures properly, and viola! A runner!

did all this with my 78, and am at the fuel distributor stage with my 79......of course, this series of tasks is what worked well for me, your mileage may vary.

SeanR

If the resistors are getting really hot when the key is on you have a problem in your starter. The 3rd wire on it is connected to a magnetic switch and when it fails it does exactly what you are seeing. Put in a different starter and see if the problem is fixed. Encountering this quite often and the bad part is even some rebuilt starters don't fix this. One '82 I had in with this issue took 2 rebuilt starters to fix the issue.