390gtfastbk

For all you ignition genius' out there, question - Duraspark ignition (D8VE-12A199 A2C) in my '68 Mustang 390GT -after the last few yrs of gutting the whole car, rebuilding the 390GT engine (from a '74 truck block) this yr I've been having starting issues but only when it's hot (cranks fine but seems it has NO spark). At first I thought I had a lose plug on one of my 3 elect ignition plugs or coil wires but after last night I doubt it. I let it sit overnight & this morning it fired right up. @ this point I think I have a bad ign module. Anybody know how to test one? Bad sensor/pickup in dizzy? I've owned it since 2000 & it still has the Duraspark ign that was in it (which incl a MSD coil) so i have no idea how many miles are on the ign sys itself - all I know is I haven't put 1000 mi on it since I've had it. If it's bad & I can't find a Duraspark, could I repl it w/ a Petronix or similar? what else needs replaced if bad "box"? THANKS!

dawson1112

A hot coil will fail and loose spark, the duraspark box can be tested at autozone for free. I don't know the procedure they use , but testing a box that is good when it cools off is probly going to pass. The duraspark boxes are fairly cheap at autozone .

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...mString=search

I picked a random mustang but the duraspark ii system is pretty standard. Get the blue tab and youll be good...

dawson1112

Oh and I noticed you have the coil mounted sideways on top of the intake.

It is best to mount them vertically to keep the oil in them covering the entire windings.

Also if you can try to locate it to a cooler area of the engine bay.

I had my msd coil mounted to the front of the engine vertically .

fastbackford351

I carry a spare box in the trunk because they are relatively cheap and it's an easy road side swap if it ever does go bad.

btw, Damn, that is one fine looking automobile.

390gtfastbk

Ok - that makes sense but every coil photo on one of these engines has been mounted like mine - I'm not sure how else to stick it in there - also what part do I look for (duraspark black box)? I've entered different key words but don't find anything

scott_m_mil

Just ask for an ignition module from a '78 Fairmont. It will have the blue strain relief (plastic connector)

390gtfastbk

From the way it sounds, it doesn't matter what sizr engine it's being used with - whether its a 6 cyl or in my case 390? I'd think there'd be a difference...

scott_m_mil

You are correct. The modules were not engine specific. It worked on all of them.

390gtfastbk

THANK YOU! I'll stop & pick one up tonight - somewhere! From what I've read, nobody makes one thats made in the great USA - that sucks!

fastbackford351

When I was converting to a DSII setup I was having a problem with cranking. It really dragged when cranking but when I backed the timing off enough to get it to crank like it should I lost all kinds of performance.

Some old guy dropped a little knowledge on me about the Duraspark boxes in that he told me that the boxes with the white reliefs retard the timing while cranking. I swapped to the white box and the problem went away.

Just thought I'd throw it out there.