Finally getting around to rewiring a Duraspark conversion that I inherited from the PO. It was a mess held together with wire nuts and ultimately caused a fire under the hood. I am eliminating the unnecessary wiring, old injector connectors, old smog connectors, etc.

I have the loose, un terminated wiring cut out and have rewired the Duraspark connections but I have missed something...

I have spark and the truck will crank but dies immediately. It almost acts like I am losing voltage once the ingition switch goes back to 'run' from 'start'. Should the red wire from the DS module (blue grommet version) retain voltage after cranking?....or, does it just need voltage while cranking?

Currently, I have the white wire(DS) connected to an 'ignition run' source...meaning it gets voltage when the key is turned on. The red wire (DS) is connected to an 'ignition start' source...meaning it gets voltage while the key is turned to start (same as the ignition start wire that fires the starter solenoid).

In the previous setup, the 'I' terminal of the starter solenoid was not used. I have seen multiple diagrams that show using the 'I' terminal for the DS red wire connection...which indicates the module only needs voltage during cranking. My 'I' terminal, however, never gets voltage...in any condition.

Maybe I am overthinking this and I have inadvertently cut out a safety switch or something....

Any ideas?

 

Chris has shown before that Ford swapped red and white wires at the connector of the module.
Not sure how your socket is pinned out.

These years im pretty sure the 'start' wiring is all done in the cab harness.
​​​​​​​If you have a four terminal fender relay you should have power at the 'I' terminal while the starter is engaged.
If you don't, you could just put a ring terminal on the wire and hook it to the starter cable stud. I don't think there's any way for it to back feed.

Pictures are always nice.

 

The Red wire, as in the Red wire coming out of the blue grommet on the DS2 IGN module needs to be powered in both run and start key positions.

I would just skip the white wire, it will work without it.

Jim

 

Thanks for the responses guys!

So...once the engine is running, the red wire retains constant voltage for the DS module, correct? If so, that's my problem...I'm only giving voltage when the key us turned to start. Where is the best place to grab a constant hot*while running)? I see that it should be the wht/lt. blue wire coming from the old TCM/ECM...I'm just not sure I have voltage there. I'll check again today. Just so I'm understanding correctly, should the DS Module have constant voltage(on red) anytime the key is turned "on"?

 

Why don't you just swap the white and red wires you describe in paragraph four of your first post?

​​​​​​​This will also eliminate you having the timing constantly retarded (as that is the function of the white wire of the DSII module)

 

That's what I'm going to try first today. Just trying to wrap my head around what the connections do. I'm one of those people that need to understand what I'm doing versus just following a diagram. Overthinking is a curse

 

Red powers the module
White tells the module to retard the timing while the starter is engaged.

You say you've seen the diagrams. It's about as simple as it gets.