Electronic ignition dead

carl

carl

True Classic
Wife was not impressed with her first ride in my 76 X when it died on the way home. The ignition is a Bosch unit that uses the very small "black box" that I think comes from a Yugo. What would cause this unit to stop functioning? The only symptoms I have are hard starting when leaving the house and when leaving the restaurant, normally the car fires as soon as I hit the starter. When I pulled away from a light it ran good in first and when I nailed second I heard a muffled carb backfire and then the motor was dead. I currently have the stock point system on which works fine.

Oh yea, be careful retrieving an X with a tow dolley. When we got the car in the garage I noticed the pristine front spoiler bent down almost vertically. Fortunately the spoiler itself is fine but the mounting ears were literally bent into S shapes. Apparently the spoiler got caught on something on the dolley (for long distances my preference is to tow Xs backwards on a dolley but this was local).

Carl in Virginia
 
Sorry for your trouble...

I have never REPAIRED an EIM but they are a fairly SIMPLE electronic circuit and easily repairable if you know what the componant values should be.

The cover can be removed and the circuit board accessed... a NEW and OLD one would need to be compared, and then annotated and then new parts sourced.

This would be a good project for Bob Brown or any other New Englander that is snowed in for 6 months outta the year.

Have fun... But in the meantime... pick up a spare Bosch unit from any one of our sources or Ebay and keep on board as a spare. Make sure the pocket DRAIN is clear and there is no WATERLINE indicated on the pocket sides. Usually it is a SOAK in WATER that causes these to fail!
 
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Simple??

Try removing the TOP cover and you'll discover there's nothing simple about it. (sorry Tony...)
Parts for this circuit can be a challenge if you don't have sources.

Best thing you can do is get another unit from Midwest Bayless, But also consider changing out the distributor and getting rid of those points.
This will make a big performance difference and your engine will love you for it.

Look HERE: or ask if anyone has a spare. Good luck!
 
Wrong ignition

Thanks guys, but I dont' have that X style electronic ignition. Although the distributor is probably the same the electronics are in a box the size of a small wooden match box and is sealed.

carl
 
Carl, is it the one with two flat male connectors on each end? If so, those are common on Chebbies and readily available at your local parts store.

///Mike
 
Sorry Bob...

But if ya re-read my post you see that we are NOT in any real disagreement.

The circutry is indeed accessible and repairable and not that complex... its knowing their values and function and sourcing the parts that can and does make repair a bitch...

Not only have I pulled one apart... I fabricated a replacement clear plastic cover for one. It should be with the spares in the trunk of White Fang!

COMPLEX in my mind is what you do everyday with regards to magic black boxes and digital reprogramming that's all in the software... that's complex!

Apparently though... Carl has some other form of ignition... sounds like it even could have been a capacitive discharge system if he used the points type dizzy with it. I'm not sure if he changed the dizzy out when the EIM blew or what...
 
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