Ignition Box = No Start
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 86
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta, Georgia
Ignition Box = No Start The short version is I installed a new Holley Annihilator ignition box with custom harness for the LT1 and the car won't start.
- Low mile '94 LT1, stock with headers, in a '86 Volvo 740 Wagon with Dr. K wiring harness
- Installing an ignition to help MPG hopefully
- Yes, I should have bought MSD, but $75 < $237; also I've used a similar Holley box for years on my El Camino
- Simple installation, two plugs (puts the ignition box wiring between the coil and the factory harness) red power & black ground
- I also installed a new coil that came with the Holley box, it is supposed to be a capacative discharge specific coil
- The car runs when I switch the harness back to stock
- The car runs better with the new coil, maybe it will fry my ignition module?
- Check connection to coil (ok)
- Defective Coil (no since the car runs fine with it wired in stock mode)
- Coil ground defective or poor (isn't the coil on an LT1 grounded through the housing?)
- Poor spark plug grounds (again, car runs fine in stock mode)
- Low voltage during cranking (?)
- Defective ignition box
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 86
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta, Georgia
If you run a MSD box with the plug and play harness, is the ingition module still used? Do those go out often?... they are $80! (guess I'm used to the old skool 4-pin HEI modules ~$20).
I want to put together a box of spares for long trips... I was hoping the ignition box took the place of the module, like it does on my El Camino with HEI.
I want to put together a box of spares for long trips... I was hoping the ignition box took the place of the module, like it does on my El Camino with HEI.
Originally Posted by chree
[*]Coil ground defective or poor (isn't the coil on an LT1 grounded through the housing?)
Those grounds are the wires next to the coil and should have hoops on them. I always grounded them on the coil bracket stud.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 86
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta, Georgia
The instructions for the box / LT1 harness are here .
Good news. The ignition boxes pass the spark test. If you power the ignition red wire and tap the white wire to ground you get sparks from a spark plug wired to the coil. Ignition boxes you say? I bought another unit to see if the first box was bad. This second unit also has a more universal harness so I can easily run the test.
So it has to be the harness. I'll reference the harness wires from the ignition box to avoid confusion (they match MSD colors)- the wire colors change on the engine side. With the ignition on I get 11.84V on white wire but no voltage on the red wire. I get 6V on the brown tach wire and the heavy red and black are 12V/ground.
Good news. The ignition boxes pass the spark test. If you power the ignition red wire and tap the white wire to ground you get sparks from a spark plug wired to the coil. Ignition boxes you say? I bought another unit to see if the first box was bad. This second unit also has a more universal harness so I can easily run the test.
So it has to be the harness. I'll reference the harness wires from the ignition box to avoid confusion (they match MSD colors)- the wire colors change on the engine side. With the ignition on I get 11.84V on white wire but no voltage on the red wire. I get 6V on the brown tach wire and the heavy red and black are 12V/ground.
I have a similar problem with my MSD. Tests with the voltmeter show good on the harness and box so I sent it back to MSD for diagnosis and repair. Can you get another harness pretty easily?
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 86
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta, Georgia
Originally Posted by dhdenney
Can you get another harness pretty easily?
Trending Topics
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 86
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta, Georgia
Would you believe the female pigtail that plugged into the factory coil pigtail was wired backwards? This was a new harness made by Holley specifically for LT1 applications. I traced where each wire went by testing for resistance with my multimeter.
I will say Woody at Holley tech was helpful to confirm the "tap the white wire to ground" test would work on the Holley box.
The scientific method works!
- The ignition-on power wire: red on the box, red coming out of the harness, should connect to the pink on the OE harness.
- The trigger wire: white on the box (separate from the weatherpack connector), black coming out of the harness, should connect to the white trigger wire on the OE harness.
I will say Woody at Holley tech was helpful to confirm the "tap the white wire to ground" test would work on the Holley box.
The scientific method works!
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
Awesome K5 Blazer Restomod Comes With C7 Corvette Power
Verdad Gallardo
10 Camaros You Should Never Buy
10 LS Engine Myths That Refuse to Die
Verdad Gallardo Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 86
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta, Georgia
Originally Posted by dhdenney
Cool man so it works? I'm not so lucky. MSD called and said my box was ****. 
). I also need to get a spare module. I basically want a spare of all the easily replaceable parts in case of an emergency.I thought no matter what was wrong with an MSD the max you would have to pay was ~$65 for them to rebuild it like new?
i had a similar problem.
Some how i screwed up the wiring. I guess the wiring diagram could have been a little more clear but anyhow this is what i did.
i had the trigger input and the trigger output wires reveresed on my setup. The spark test on the box passed by grounding the trigger wire. car would not start with box but all passed all tests except for starting the car. Ended up being an easy fix but i had to tear apart my beautiful harness that i had spent a few hours on. it took a few hour becasue it is a DIS-4 plus box with a delteq setup. 19 connections i had to make with this box. had to redo 8 connections. trigger input 1-4 trigger output 1-4
Some how i screwed up the wiring. I guess the wiring diagram could have been a little more clear but anyhow this is what i did.
i had the trigger input and the trigger output wires reveresed on my setup. The spark test on the box passed by grounding the trigger wire. car would not start with box but all passed all tests except for starting the car. Ended up being an easy fix but i had to tear apart my beautiful harness that i had spent a few hours on. it took a few hour becasue it is a DIS-4 plus box with a delteq setup. 19 connections i had to make with this box. had to redo 8 connections. trigger input 1-4 trigger output 1-4
