WH928

I am in the final and most painful stages of restoring my 78 . when i spent time cranking the engine and letting it run or at least try to run tuning and tinkiring i smelt a odd smell in many occations i thout little of it because of the running condition. i then later in the noticed the smell accompinied by smoke comming from the ballast resistors . i had a battry charger on the battry with all the cranking could this be the cause . or can the key in the running ,position without the engine running cause this thanks

heinrich

wtf are ballast resistors?

WH928

im sorry i didnt use non tech language but they are ignitoin resistors made to resis electricity and make it smaller

heinrich

that much i know but where r they on a 928

Imo000

I still have no idea what part you are trying to describe. Where is it located?

WH928

they are in front an below the ignition coilmounted on sidewallthe wires or some go to the coil

PorKen

Heinrich = early car noob



(There are two resistors. They are on the driver's side, between the PS tank and the radiator. Both are used while running, one is bypassed when starting.)

SharkSkin

It is possible that leaving the key in the on position could cause the resistors to heat up a bit, but they are pretty durable. If they still provide the correct .4Ω or .6Ω resistance and the casings are not damaged then they are fine. Are you sure it wasn't just PS fluid slopped on them and smoking from the heat? Or maybe the got oil/degreaser/paint etc on them while you were doing other things?

If none of the above you could have a shorted coil.

heinrich

:S

WH928

thank you sharkskin very informative

jpitman2

One of our guys had problems here with burn out, due to the feeding wires fraying/corroding. The genuine resistors are $$$ (in Oz anyway), but there are equivalent value and wattage units used on some Chryslers IIRC. Talking of $$$, I looked up 928 106 142 00 recently - water deflector in 86+ radiator inlet pipe (4" of 1.5" alloy tube with 90deg cut out at one end) - $80! Think I can make one for less than that.
jp 83 Euro S AT 49k