Huh? I think we're talking about an old Duster here, right? There are no such "sensors"....

Hey, I was just thinking... I used to have a 5th Ave that developed an intermittent short in the alternator. It would shut the engine down. Gotta spare one to try out?

D/W

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If it ain't broke, fix it!

I have been thinking about that but I think I'll get rid of the blue and brown connectors at the bulkhead and put in a good splice since it has responded to wiggling the connector. Then I will check the harness splices and alternator. I think the one that was in there I turned in as core. The alternator, coil, and regulator are the only other components I haven't swapped out.

OK, I removed the blue and brown wires at the bulkhead conectors and made solid soldered and crimped connections there. I am still going on the theory that if wiggling the connectors seems to make it work then the problem must be there or near to there.

I tried to read everything, but it's quite a hard to read english at this time of night.

But if I understood right, after you turn key to run position, engine stops. Normally that means that bottom of that ignition lock has contact problem or ballast resistor is broken. Have you tried to carry + to the coil straight from battery and then tried to start engine?

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Sorry, my english is not very good

I also swapped out the resistor, control module, ignition switch, and ran measurements at all points. The only way it stops doing that is by wiggling the bulkhead connector.

I think you are on the right track, you may want to "by-pass" around the bulkhead connector.

When I run into this kind of tough electrical problem I tend to "model-up" a new circuit and run the car on that, just to get a baseline and eliminate all the wires and connection points in the car's harness. Once you have the new circuit running, then you can start hooking the car's circuit items back in it, one by one, to test them.

In your case this would mean using the spare parts you have and some extra wires to build another ignition circuit. Follow the wiring diagram(s) posted in the article or on the web. It is really pretty simple, you can screw everything down to a small piece of wood. "Power in" can be as simple as clipping a hot wire to the + battery post and a few wires go over to the distributor and coil.
Give that a try,
DD
http://www.slantsix.org/articles/elect_ ... iagram.jpg

Well, it has been four days since I eliminated the bulkhead connectors for the blue and brown wires and replaced them with solid splices. The problem has not happened since then. It has never gone more than a day. So, at the risk of coming back here with egg on my face later and saying otherwise, I think the problem may be solved.

Near as I can figure, here is what the problem was. It apeared that the harness connector was copper while the bulkhead connector was aluminum. They have different coefficients of linear expansion. I would guess it can get around 200 degrees or more under the hood and drop as low as the ambient air temperature. Those different expansion coefficients meant that with heating and cooling a gap was created at the connectors. In start mode, current was sufficient to jump the gap and also while running. However, when going from start to run, that brief interval before the alternator output is sufficient, the gap is not jumped and the engine dies.

Any other theories?

Thanks once again to everyone and their input and help.

I would attribute it to ICIO. (Inherent Cussedness of Inanimate Objects)

Bi-metalic switches are supposed to be intermittent, right????

I guess with the bimetal switches, I could convert it to a thermostat. It is still running fine. Now the brake light comes on sometimes. That would be the small black wire in that same block. I might as well make the other half of those connections solid and be done with it.

Hmm, maybe convert the bulkheads to a GM style weatherproof connector? Those are pretty solid and durable.

Do you get them at the bone yard?

Well, I suppose you can cut them off of any GM car and splice in the wires, but that would be a bit of a mess. You can buy them new either from your gm dealer or at electric supply places like www.delcity.net

I'm not sure if any come in a "panel mount" style like the bulkhead connectors. You will have to get inventive here, or hunt around maybe there are panel mount styles.

This is what they look like: http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/long56.htm

The common name for them are "weatherpack connectors" if you want to search for them from other sources. As you can see, each individual wire has its own rubber seal, and then another seal between the two parts of the conenctor. You'll need a special crimper too, availible from radioshack.

This is a place where a good auto electric place can fix you up.

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....