There are certain parts that just get maligned over the years. People blame them for everything, even stuff they had nothing to do with, and they just kind of become the brunt of jokes that that they should never even be mentioned in. One of them is the famed ballast resistor that Chrysler used in their ignition systems for many years. Any time you talk to someone who grew up in the 1970s or 80s they’ll tell you that they drove a Chrysler and always had one in the glove compartment because the things were just dying left right and center. Well, as you will learn here, that’s pretty much all hogwash and Not only does Tony explain why, he goes into the detail of what these little guys were doing, why they were doing it, and how.
For many of our more seasoned readers, this may be old hat type of stuff, but if you are a kid and are getting into old cars, this could be information that’ll save you lots of headaches going forward and maybe get you out of a bind when you are on the side of the road at some point.
Here’s the Ballast Resistor gospel according to Tony!
I always enjoying Tony’s lectures. What’s readily apparent is, he’s got a thorough understanding of what he’s talking about and it’s reinforced with many years of practical experience.What I appreciate is, he chooses his words carefully so as to convey the facts in a very straight forward, easily relatable manner. -Much more straight forward than the way I just said it! 🙂 Thank you, Tony!
Guess I’m one of the people who believe the “hogwash” because I’ve always kept a fresh one in the glovebox of every old Mope I’ve ever owned. Still do.
I replaced 3 of them over the years but thankfully never on my own car but the new ones all came out of my gloveboxes. Found a friend at a mini-market with a no-start situation in his 78 D100. Plugged mine in and vroom. Ditto on a friend’s 74 Barracuda. Both of those had actually cracked. Then another guy with a 79 D300 called me about a no-start. Told him to replace it, he said he did already. I told him just because something’s new doesn’t mean it works. So I took one of my replacements to him and it started right up. Go figure.
The good thing about those is they don’t have to be grounded so even if you have NO tools to take the bolt out you can simply unplug the old one, plug the new one in and let it swing in the breeze.
It’s really nothing compared to the microchippped do dad that breaks in a new car and can even be found in the car.
Tony’s a good teacher.