Ignition module on the fritz?

[Zoro]

Went to start the Eagle this morning and it fired up on the first try as it always has but it immediately died. I thought I didn't have the choke set right so I tried it again and the same thing happened, runs for a split second then dies.. Took about 30 tries for the car to actually run and once it ran for more than a split second it ran great all day. Pretty sure it's not the carb as I manually set and unset the choke, added fuel, cut fuel but got the same thing every time.

It was wet and rainy when this happened. Could it be moisture in the distributor cap? I just want to nip this in the butt before it happens again.

[vangremlin]

Sounds like its another one of those electrical gremlins that are so hard to track down....

It could be moisture in the distributor cap as you suggest.  Your subject line asks if it might be the ignition control module.  Your symptoms don't sound like the ones I've experienced when an ICM is about to go or does fail.  Once it fails, the car won't run at all.  When its going out, you may notice the engine doesn't run quite as smooth, but its hardly noticeable.

Hope that helps, and your Eagle is running fine again in no time!

[eaglefreek]

So when you crank it, it starts and probably as soon as you turn it back to the run position from the start position, it stalls? If so, it could be an ignition switch issue or maybe the wire that powers the coil when it's in the run position. It gets it's power from the oil pressure switch through a resistor wire.

[Zoro]

Thanks for the info guys.

Vangremlin-
It runs just as smooth as ever and I had no issues today after it sat all night in the pouring rain. Drove it around all day today and put 8hrs of run time on it no problem. Definitely some sort of gremlin.

EagleFreek-
I checked for that but it was still happening even with the key in the crank position. If you hold the key down the engine fires up, stalls then keeps cranking and won't fire again until you let off the key, wait for the starter to come to a stop and crank again but it kept doing it.

[Zoro]

It came back this morning and it's been raining again all night. Eagle fired up normally but a mile down the road the ignition completely cut out for a brief moment, came back on then 30 seconds later went completely out and I had to pull over and play engine start roulette.

I did the ECM Test Bypass at the beginning of the year, could it be related?

[eaglefreek]

Maybe, however there are other things that can cause the same issue. I had similar problems a few years ago and swapped out the IM and the problem was still there. It would randomly stall like I turned the power off to the engine. Turned out to be the Pertronix coil that was only 6 months old. Six months later, started doing the same thing. This time it was the IM. I installed a MSD ignition and coil and haven't had a problem since.

[carnuck]

Lots of the vehicles I have worked on (Ford, AMC, Jeep) with that worthless ignition coil had issues with corrosion build up causing cutout and even burning out the module from the arcing. I switch them from those to '70's Mopar higher output coils with hold down nuts and the issues stop as well as improving starting when cold.