Ongoing electrical problems...need help bad

[Mac2Night]

Okay, so I posted a couple of days ago about my thinking that my MSD ignition box might have fried when I added charge from a battery charger to the truck's wiring.

Being stupid and in a hurry (wife needed me to get back in the house and do some chores), while trying to hook up a radio which wouldn't come on with the wiring inside the cab, I used a trickle charger on the positive and negative of the radio's wires to give it a known power source, BUT the positive wire from the truck's wiring was still barely attached to the positive from the radio). After that one incident, the truck had no spark what so ever.

I then tested the box as recommended by CB Board members and MSD's Technical Support, but still no spark. Engine turns over/cranks but doesn't send spark to the coil.

So, I went out and bought a new MSD ignition box (an upgraded digital model with an LED light on the box's top so that you can see if it is getting a connection. Crank the switch/motor, LED lights up, but still no fire. Pulled out my test light and tested for power from switch to box, box to distributor, positive and negative to battery and all of them have juice. With the switch turned in the on position, should the box to the coil wire get juice too or does the motor have to be cranking to send juice from the box to the coil? I tried (2) new coils and not a single spark or light from the test light.

To make matters worse, while using the test light around the truck to spot any open wires, I could feel a tingling sensation of electricity through my body when I touched the truck (switch was in on position) but not after I turned the switch off. Tested all of the fuses (all worked but one so I replaced it, but it still would not work nor would touching the metal clips that hold the fuse in place) but I moved my way around the truck (under the dash, under the hood and everywhere a wire was on the truck). Positive wires lit the test light up (switch on) and none of the grounds lit it up. THEN, when I touched the test light to the alternator housing (not the wires on the back of it) a huge amount of sparks flew everywhere from the alternator.

What the heck is going on? Did my surge of electricity from the battery charger cause the alternator to go bad? Did it damage the switch (it seems to work fine providing juice to the ignition power wire connected to the box) or do I have a bad ground somewhere causing it to not give me spark at the coil? I am at a total loss and really need to get this truck back on the road.

As always, I really appreciate your expert advice and prayers ;D

 

[WheelHorse]

You could simply unplug and unbet your alt and see if it starts up. Do not run it for more than a few seconds ...no water pump with no belt. Maybe you took out a diode and the system is seeing AC voltage.

Process of elimination.

You also need to see if your dizzy is sending a switching signal to the MSD box...a switching signal that a test light wouldn't be fast enough to see it in real time. I've seen hall effect switches burn up.

Box should provide juice to the coil and switch the ground side.

What's the name of your MSD box...like Street fire..6A, 6AL, ...?

 

[Chicago71Bronco]

And Viperwolf should be chiming in in about 3...2...1........

 

[Mac2Night]

I had just PMed him when you posted this.... no reply yet! Please Viperwolf, help me! :-X

And Viperwolf should be chiming in in about 3...2...1........

 

[Bundy]

I had an optical module go out in my Mallory distributor- it would just die. Replaced way too much shit before I figured that out and it was only $35 to fix it.

Just a thought.

 

[Viperwolf1]

Where is the ignition box located?

Sounds like the body might have lost it's grounding. You might want to add a ground from the motor to the body.

 

[Mac2Night]

Viper wolf,

The ignition box is on the fender well. The previous owner placed it there and it has ran fine for 5 years until this week. Would loosing its ground cause these symptom (no fire at all, feel of electricity running through the body, etc)?

Where is the ignition box located?

Sounds like the body might have lost it's grounding. You might want to add a ground from the motor to the body.

 

[Viperwolf1]

Viper wolf,

The ignition box is on the fender well. The previous owner placed it there and it has ran fine for 5 years until this week. Would loosing its ground cause these symptom (no fire at all, feel of electricity running through the body, etc)?

Yes, very possibly.

 

[pcf_mark]

If you are using the 2-Pin Magnetic Pickup of the MSD to trigger the ignition, follow these steps.

Make sure the ignition switch is in the Off position.
Remove the coil wire from the distributor cap and position the terminal so it is approximately 1/2" from a good ground.
Disconnect the MSD Magnetic Pickup connector from the distributor.
Turn the ignition to the On position. DO NOT CRANK THE ENGINE.
With a small jumper wire, short the Green and Violet magnetic pickup wires together then pull the jumper off. Each time the short is removed a spark should jump If spark is present, the ignition is working properly.


http://www.msdignition.com/page.aspx?id=3206

This will help you diagnose a bad box, bad wiring or bad dizzy. You may have put a new box in place of a good old box with bad wiring or have a wonky dizzy. Your frustration will only have you spending money. Relax and enjoy the hunt.

 

[Mac2Night]

Thanks Mark.... Already tried this multiple times with zero spark. With the new MSD digital 6AL box with the LED, the LED lights up when I use the jumper in the magnetic pick up, but never produces any spark at the plug. Frustrating is right! ?:?