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Go with what it shows. A ballast resistor is a very minor thing. If you have a dual you can still use it. Only connect to one side.
Your car left the factory with a Dual Ballast Resistor like Bob mentioned earlier
Now your saying you installed a Single Resistor - What did you do with the dual resistor wiring harness black plastic connectors and pins ?
Chinese manufactured ECU's have a dubious reputation for being short lived and high failure rates.It hasn’t failed if you have spark
Not all together true....if the output transistor turns ON, to switch 12v to the coil (and turns OFF to produce the spark), perhaps something in the INTERNAL dwell timing network (programmable PUT-Programmable Unijunction Transistor) has failed, preventing accurate on/off timing of the ECU. its a combination of WHEN and HOW LONG the ECU controls the coil.
Cranking voltage like you said taken at the positive lead on ignition coil
And how old or what brand coil are you running
Battery voltage = 13v
Ignition switch on, BR Ign 1 voltage = 10.8v
Ignition switch on, voltage to ECU = 10.8v
Ignition switch on, Coil + = 3.8v
Cranking voltage at Coil + = 7.1v
Although it was cranking OK the other day, today the battery really struggled to crank the engine. So my starter may be on the way out as well. If it helps diagnose this, I also did the cranking test with a remote starter switch, Ign On, and had 3.8v at the coil +.
As for the coil, I have no idea how old it is. It's just something the guy who sold me the distributor had laying around (along with the previous non-functional ECU).
Compatibility means the coil's requirements (current) cannot, or should not, ecxeed the ECU's switching or current handling capabilities. Likewise, the resistance of the ballast resistor, if too low, will cause too much current to flow thru the ECU and the coil. Brand names are not important as the electrical specifications. Sometimes, vendors package components based on profit or what is in stock vs component compatibility.Thanks for the reply and your patience.
What does it mean for the coil, resistor, and ECU to be "compatible and in conjunction"? How do I determine this? FWIW, nothing was arbitrarily changed. All the components (except for the new replacement ECU) were purchased from the same vendor as a working system (or so I thought).
Would a bad starter affect that cranking voltage?