z_ya

Just gotta learn the difference between a cheap part and a good price. Rock auto is a nice alternative. I work at a local parts store and I bought my ICM on rock auto.

I had the ballast removed once I changed the coil. It still made the HEI fail at high rpm. I'm very certain that going off of the diagrams posted my wiring was correct. It is entirely possible the P.O. had done some "rigging" of her own..... Going off of the other wacky stuff done to this thing I wouldn't put it out of my mind. Either way I'm back to OEM. With a new ICM and coil an it seems to be a bit better.

And after one day I am switched back to OEM control module. So SOMETHING is not right. And I really don't know what.

Alright success!!!!!!!!!! (again) I bought an accel coil (like 20 some dollars) and now it will start multiple times so i'm just gonna watch it and if worse comes to worse i'll switch back to OEM. The way I mounted it was where the old "clamshell" was, and to double ground it just in case I also ran a wire from the screw I used to an AFM ground that I am using just s a fail safe. So far so good but in a few days we will see I guess. Thanks for all the help guys I wish I would of thought about this before buying the ICM but it will be sent back because it was still causing issues.

I'm confident with my ground that I had used, And is the pin 1 to negative just for this swap? Cause I've always had it hooked up to the positive and that's where it's at now with my OEM ICM. If so then I'll do it I just don't want to ruin something that will cost a decent chunk of money. And yeah after thoroughly going through all three of my books (chilton, haynes, and the FSM) I have checked the pickup the coil an all that. But for some reason last night I could not achieve spark through the OEM ICM either and have no idea why. But after unhooking everything and hooking it back up with the OEM it started an ran.

Turns out the HEI module I had was faulty or I had damaged it somehow as it did not pass the high rpm range. I got another one, I did not buy the msd 2 though (maybe that is the problem?) I'm gonna wait till tonight and try this again but I will bypass the ballast. Now you did say that the #1 ecu wire goes on the negative, with that wire producing a +12v wouldn't it go on the positive terminal?

Okay, I had followed the diagram from earlier to hook the HEI module up, I originally had the black and white wire (ECU #1) was left were it was when I bought the car it was placed on the positive terminal, and the blue tach on the negative. This was with the ballast hooked up. It ran and started but I go to start it just earlier and nothing happens. I have no spark. Ran through the wires and it appears now that both my - and + are continuous. So did my coil get fried? Or did I hook something up wrong and have it magically work twice before it telling me to bad?

I remember seeing the MSD Blaster 2 was the recommended coil of choice for this swap. The one that was with the car when I first purchased it did not have one that I can remember, me not knowing the difference between a good price and a cheap part back then I picked it up from a online wholesaler and it was just a generic "diamond" brand coil with the soap bar ballast so I just hooked it all up together. I will check out the suggestion of a mid 70's coil. Our msd 2 just went on sale and with it being on sale my discount does nothing haha. I have not heard of any bad things happening from running a coil without a resistor other than just burning it up, is there anything serious that can happen if I try and run the coil without the resistor or am I asking an obvious an silly question?

Did not see it up there, my apologies.

Yeah, to test the 280Z module was a pain but take it in and they will do it. But back to the matter at hand. My car being the 78' 280Z would I be fine with removing the ballast? Is that what is causing my tach to jump when i rev it up quickly, and making it a bit of a chore to start?

Well I do have a 78' 280Z and the coil just came with the ballast so I went ahead and kept it there so can i get rid of it? And that testing machine I used is at work which is a local parts store with green shirts I can't remember exactly but i believe it is a borg warner made machine and it just tests ignition modules and a number of other things with various different connectors for each different module or part. I'm not sure what other parts stores have them i'd think all would but that's the tester I used.

I installed it and noticed a MAJOR increase in drive ability and its much smoother rpm drop when changing gears. I took the red and green and connected it to the module and for the coil I hooked it up off of what i call the "soapbar" ballast resistor. The only thing i noticed was that when I would rev it up the tach would jump around a lot but if i do it slowly it won't. Also after doing the swap it was a little difficult to start up (possibly be the ballast resister causing issues? Can i eliminate the resistor without any negative effects?) But other than that I am highly satisfied with this. Thanks for all the pictures and explanations I truly appreciate the help.

Haha that was not the question. the question was do i take the #1 wire from the ecu and mount it to the negative on the coil?

My question still has not been answered.

3. Disconnect the wires from the (-) post of your ignition coil. Identify the wire that has conductivity with the #1 connector on to your ECU (beneath the driver's side kick panel), and reinstall it on the coil. Fold the remaining wire back on itself, and wrap it up in electrical tape. You may pull this wire back out later if you wish to revert to OEM. OKay so do i take the #1 wire from the ecu and mount it to the negative on the coil?