Questions and Answers

Ram Has No Spark Q. Hi Vincent! I have a 1982 Dodge Ram ½ ton pickup with a 225 cubic inch six cylinder engine (slant six), automatic transmission, two wheel drive, P/S, P/B, no air, with 138,000 miles, and a holley one barrel carburetor. Recently, the truck lost spark and shut off on me while driving it home.

I had it towed to my house where it still sits.

We replaced the coil, magnetic pick up in the distributor, cap, rotor, and plug wires but still can not get spark. The truck is in time. The next item suggested to me is the ignition control box, but I can not find one anywhere in the engine bay. I traced the coil wires back and they appear to lead into the Spark Control Computer System attached to the air cleaner. This truck has a Spark Control computer that was specific to 1982 and 1983 models only.

I'm not sure what to do next, the cost of a new computer is $172.00. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Dave

A. On the firewall you will see a white ceramic block with wires going in and out of each end. This is the ignition ballast resistor. The purpose of this resistor is to lower the voltage to the ignition system to prolong component life. It was common for this resistor to burn out and shut down the ignition system. I would try replacing it (it only costs like $6.00) and that should get you going again.

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