1966 ignition pink resistor wire

[brian gilbert soares]

Calling all ford gurus,

Once and for all I need to know if the infamous pink wire is required in the ignition circuit when you are using a blue grommet Duraspark I module. I have been chasing this electrical gremlin for over a month now. Is the pink resistor wire the problem, is it causing the lack of spark?

Up till now I have replaced the ignition module, coil and the dizzy. Chased all the bad connections and still have weak or no spark. Almost ready to send it to the shop, good thing the slick isn’t my daily drive as it has been in the past.

Thanks in advance for the help.
Brian

[Gritsngumbo]

Sorry Brian, don't have an answer for you, but reading your "Slick" profile in your signature makes me wonder why you haven't shared any pics with us? Would like to see them, especially the fiberglas cover. Thanks.

[brian gilbert soares]

Grits,
All the pixs I have posted in the past are on the FTE website.I will post pix here's a start.

[Johnny Canuck]

Brian. All the ford trucks i have owned have had duraspark ignitions. the two slicks I have had with them I circuited past the pink wire from the ignition switch. The reason I have done it is because i belive that wire gets a little crispy over the years and resuists nore than it should.
I've read Durapark LIKEs 12v to the coil, so the resistor is not required, BUT all the wiring diagrams I have found say different
http://home.earthlink.net/~rcfaulconer/ ... rk/eec.htm
so you can get a 1.10 resistor for the run wire if you want.

[Michelle]

Yes, you use the pink wire. Here is a link to my web page that has a wiring diagram with complete instructions on how to make the conversion.

http://www.michellesfords.com/FalconTechPage4.html

[Tech]

The duraspark box doesn't need the pink wire but the stock coil does. If you buy a new HEI coil that is designed for 12 volts you can delete the pink wire. My pink wire was so weak that the truck would barely run when I bought it.
Jeff

[Hawkrod]

I have to say that, for such a common thing, the Duraspark system is one of the most misunderstood ignition systems ever and the responses here show that. Unfortunately most people are only familiar with the specific Duraspark conversion that they did or found on the web and then they assume things and make absolute statements. Here are a few examples of what I am talking about : "The duraspark box doesn't need the pink wire but the stock coil does", "I've read Durapark LIKEs 12v to the coil", "Yes, you use the pink wire". These statements are all right and all wrong depending on your specifics. Durasparks were made for quite a few years and for quite a few different applications and they were not all the same. First off, and most important is your coil. There are basically two different Duraspark coils (you should not use a regular coil with a Duraspark but there are some conversions that do work). The most common Duraspark coil is the non resistor and I say that because it was used for a longer period of time. The other coil is the resistor coil. They are usually but not always marked. The Duraspark coils are easy to ID because of the top clip for the coil tower connector and flat spade type terminals. Make sure you are using the correct type of coil and that it is for the system you have. If you are using the stock resistor wire to the coil then make sure you have a resistor type Duraspark coil. Next is power to the module. The blue grommit module does not seem to care if it gets a full 12V in the run position or not and I do run mine just fine from the reduced coil voltage. I have also known people to run a separate power supply from the ignition switch to the module for the run position and theirs seem to run fine too. I am a proponent of the lower voltage only because the modules are known for heating up and more voltage means more heat so I prefer to err on the side of caution. The important thing to remember is that Ford did it both ways and you should make sure that whichever way you put your system together, you are using the correct coil for what you have. Hawkrod.

[douglloyd]

I rewired my '66 longbed this spring. 302 with Duraspark II (blue grommet)

The manual in the Painless univeral kit will tell you up front that they do not include any accomodation for a resistor in the ignition circuit. I was told that the coil would get too hot being fed 12V directly from the pink wire. Apparently through the 'magic' of the Duraspark system, the coil is more than capable of providing more spark with less voltage, as evidenced by the spark plug gap settings.

Since the old resistor wire is kinda embedded in the old harness I opted for a ceramic block resistor and ran the pink wire through it between the key and the coil. Also, I did not bother with the optional jumper wire that momentarily feeds full 12v to the coil while the starter grinds. Seems to run great how it is - probably more to dumb luck than skill on my part<g>

Thanks Hawk for the lowdown on coils - I never knew there was a difference. Now I need to check this out.

thanks,
Doug

[Roger Carter]

I have done several Duraspark conversions on older Ford products, and as Hawk states, there are different Duraspark systems. I always use a wiring diagram from the Duraspark donor vehicle to wire it into it's new home.
The last couple conversions were from '77-'78 F-series into '66 Slicks. One was a 302 swap and the other was a 460 swap. These both used the blue grommet module. In these systems Ford did install a key activated 12 volt wire to the module as well as a key activated resistor source. A starter solenoid controlled 12 volt source, in the crank posistion, was also used.

I came to the conclusion (learned?) a long time ago that if Ford put something in a system the odds were pretty good that it was needed.

Roger Carter