voltage regulator

all right im putting a 69 gtx together that i got in pieces i converted it from pionts to electronic and according to my wiring schematic i have every thing wired correctly how ever when you turn the key on the voltage regulator starts smoking, do i need to use a different regulator with the electronic system if so what one wiring appears to be correct so im a little confused as to what my problem is

I'm guessing you think you need to use that "blue" regulator that M.P. says to use?
You don't. The electronic will work fine with the "mechanical" regulator, but there is a solid state replacement available from the parts store. Use it.

If it starts smoking you've obviously got a problem. Recheck all your wiring. Give us more to go on....like maybe a copy of the diagram you're using to hook this up, and maybe a pic of the wiring in the car itself.

I diagnosed a problem with the 88 T-bird from 1400 miles away the other day, but I don't use osmosis as much as I used to for this sort of thing lol

It is not the change to electronic iignition or the regulator that caused the smoke. Go back and check your wiring. There is something that is not wired correctly. Did they give you a wire diagram with the convert kit. Post it back or PM me and I think I have a set hanging around.

ok so coming off the fire wall on the engine harness i have a grey wire first for the oil pressure next i have a plug that has both a blue and a blue/white wire to plug onto the voltage reg then i have a green wire to screw to the voltage reg, then i have a single blue wire to the ballast resistor (this is the same blue wire that is tied in to the vol. reg.) on the other end of the ballast resistor is a blue and a brown wire. then down to the front of the motor i have a blue wire to the positive on the coil a green wire to a spade plug on the alt. and a purple and a black wire to the stud on the alt.

with the used electronic distributor i also got an orange mopar performance control module and a wire harness

for this wire harness i got 5 wires starting from the control module, 2 wires go to the distributor then i have a black wire with a tracer on it that goes to the neg on the coil a green with a red tracer that i was told to cut off and not use and a blue wire with a tracer that i was told to tap into a positive lead, it recommended the single blue wire on the ballast resistor.

i also bought a new accel super coil that gave me a new ballast resistor and also came with a short black jumper wire that i assumed was to go from the neg terminal to car for a ground

also when installing the engine/trans the ballance bar crushed in the cover of the voltage reg. about a 1/4 in (this may be the problem?) i plan on buying a new voltage reg but was unsure if i should get the one for my car or one for a car that is supposed to have electronic ign. if so what one is recommended

as far as pics go i took some have them on my comp but this site is asking for a url for them not sure how to do that

created an album here is a link to it i think

http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/vbpicgallery.php?do=view&g=254

so my other post needs to be approved by a moderator first but i think i got my pics on this one

i went to fleet farm today and it looks like they did have a different voltage reg for the 70 - 77 all plymouth and 61 - 69 all plymouth used the one that is supposed to be on mine so if i do need to buy the one for 70 -77 i need to alter my wiring because that reg. uses a triangle shaped plug with two terminals in it, not the same as mine

This is NOT the one you want to usehttp://www.jegs.com/images/photos/300/312/312-P3690732.jpg

Use either an Airtex 1V1067 or an AC/Delco C600M. Both are transistorized. The Delco part already looks like the original. You can make the Airtex part look like the original by removing the black case from the original and put it on top of the Airtex.

im not concerned with looking original i tried searching for the ac delco reg but couldnt find one so today i went out to the junk yard and got the wire plug for the 70's style voltage reg that way i can just get the cheap vr from fleet farm its only 8 bucks there compared to 26 at the local parts stores

ill just splice this one into my harness sometime this week and see if it works

Two words. Rock Auto. That's where I got the part numbers. They aren't $8, but you don't have to do any more hacking on your harnesses

Lots of wire splices is why I'm replacing 3 of the 4 harnesses in my Duster. Someone went through and just cut and spliced in an effort to hook things together. Do it RIGHT, and cut down on potential problems

alright got a new voltage regulator that now no longer smokes however now the ballast resistor smokes this was a brand new one that came with my super coil
now im not positive but i dont think this system is supposed to be grounded yet if you take a volt meter from the blue single power wire to the ballast and other end to the blue and brown wires it reads 12.5 volts telling me its grounded some where so in order to figure out where it was grounding out i seperated the blue and brown wire and traced the ground back to the black and yellow wire from the control module i dont think this is supposed to be a ground so any thoughts???

i have two control modules both of them cause the resistor to smoke and over heat within 20 seconds i just had both of them tested and they both test fine im lost plz help

morbidgoat,

I am having a similar issue and think it is the ballast reisistor.

In regards to your super coil I believe that you need to use their ballast in line with your original ballast resistor. At least, their docs specify this. Here's a link to their doc at summit for installation.

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/instructions/acc-140001.pdf

I too have a smokey BR. Check your voltage on both sides of your std Ballast Resistor, it should be 12 volts or there abouts on both sides. If not then you probably have the wrong BR.

I am using MPs Electronic conv kit and toasted my original BR, but the one autozone sold me gets hot and smokes like yours, but only puts out 3 volts to the coil which isn't enough to fire the plugs and start the motor.

I'm guessing you think you need to use that "blue" regulator that M.P. says to use?
You don't. The electronic will work fine with the "mechanical" regulator, but there is a solid state replacement available from the parts store. Use it.


Awesome... I was just going round and round about which voltage regulator to use. I too am working on installing these very same items and the catalog (JEGS and SUMMIT) specifies that you gotta use voltage regulator P3690732 with the MP electronic ignition conversion system, but then the voltage regulator says that it is for racing only. I read on another site that it can cause your battery to boil by overcharging, so was wondering what the heck I should use.

Thanks for answering my question without me eaven asking. :)

I also went back and forth with the ballast resitors trying to figure out which one to use... who would think of reading the instructions and putting them in series as it states!!! :head_smack:

Wow... this forum has already solved my two biggest current problems, and I just signed up!!! :yourock:

Ya might find it interesting that for the better part of 8 years I ran a MP on my Bee bypassing the ballast resistor, 7mm wires, 0.055" gap, Jacobs variable saturation coil, and never had an issue. Never changed a plug in all those years either.

It is not the change to electronic iignition or the regulator that caused the smoke. Go back and check your wiring. There is something that is not wired correctly. Did they give you a wire diagram with the convert kit. Post it back or PM me and I think I have a set hanging around.
badstroker is right, also you may as well go ahead and get another amp gauge. Smoke a mopar gauge one time and its dead.

Ya might find it interesting that for the better part of 8 years I ran a MP on my Bee bypassing the ballast resistor, 7mm wires, 0.055" gap, Jacobs variable saturation coil, and never had an issue. Never changed a plug in all those years either.


so its safe to bypass/eliminate the ballast resistor? i'm in the process of switching to the transistorized regulator, accel superstock coil, and 8mm wires. I still have points if that makes a difference.

so its safe to bypass/eliminate the ballast resistor? i'm in the process of switching to the transistorized regulator, accel superstock coil, and 8mm wires. I still have points if that makes a difference.

I'm curious about this too. I have the 440 source street 'ready to run' distributor and this PerTronix coil, .6 ohms. Everything else is stock wiring, Voltage Regulator and Ballast Resistor.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PNX-45011

The old MP book says to run the blue regulator, but with the electronic ones available as mentioned it should be a non issue.

A new ballast resistor letting out some initial smoke may be normal since a resistor is basically a heater, but after a while I would expect it to stop. If you have a short or a coil with too low resistance you will get more current flow and more heat.

The green wire from the regulator should go to the field (F) terminal of the alternator (not to ground) and the other wire should be 12V from the ignition.

well since i last posted i bought a wiring schematic for a 70 as well and in that schematic it shows the alt as having 2 fields, not wired the same therefore im pretty certain that running the 70 and newer vr and connecting it like my 69 was supposed to that was my problem but rather than guessing and checking more i opted out for the easy solution and bought an internally regulated alt. from summit. :)

Hey Meep, do you think a coil with a .6 Ohm resistance is too low for a stock ballast resistor? What's done in that case a different rated BR or take it out completely? Thanks.

Basically the lower the coil resistance (or impedance) the higher the current flow through the coil. Adding a ballast to the circuit will reduce the voltage and current flow in that circuit, which is required to not overload or over voltage some electronic switches like the Pertronix or Unilite - or burn points. Also to consider is the primary circuit operates on a duty cycle and not a constant ON condition so average current is dependent on how long the points are closed. When the points are closed for a percentage of time per revolution of the distributor cam (dwell) the coil draws current. To further illustrate the current draw characteristics of the primary side, 4 cylinder engines will typically draw more current because of the higher dwell angles so Pertronix will spec a different coil for that application. The coil is a transformer so increasing the primary voltage will get an increase from the secondary side, so running without a ballast will produce a hotter spark but at the expense of the trigger mechanism. In 69runner's case it sounds like he did some homework and selected components that handled the higher charging voltages and additional current draw.

As for specific coil impedance information you will have to check with who made the ignition module. Again, selecting the proper coil and ballast will protect the trigger circuit (ignition module) from over current.