Although my Ghia isn't quite ready to take on the road yet, each evening after work for four consecutive days after first firing up my new engine I would start it up and let it idle with an occasional blip of the throttle to warm it up (~160 oil temp) while checking for leaks etc. On the fifth day it would crank fine but not fire. Initial troubleshooting showed the Unilite module was working, and the Hyfire VI was blinking normally as the engine was being cranked. Using the jumper plug to bypass the Hyfire box it would start immediately and run fine.
Since the box came from ac.net I contacted John, and he suggested it was likely to be a wiring issue as it's rare for a Hyfire to crap out like that. The wiring was connected properly, so I hauled out my old Simpson meter and the continuity throughout checked out okay, too. Based on a thread on this forum I checked voltage through the ignition switch and found no measurable drop. My year-old Odyssey 1200 was reading 11.5 volts which translates to ~80% charge, and it was providing plenty of cranking power, so I figured the problem must be with the ignition box.
Before packing the Hyfire up and sending it back to John for a replacement I called the Mallory tech line (Mr Gasket) and talked it over with Glen there. He echoed John's perspective and suggested that if I was short running the engine the battery might be low. As there was no problem cranking and running with the bypass plug and the alternator/charging system is working I was a little skeptical, but thinking what the heck I went back and charged up the battery to 100%. Wouldn't you know, lo and behold the Hyfire works fine. Sorry, I didn't actually check the voltage at the Hyfire while cranking, so I have to guess that either the voltage or current was dropping below the minimum requirement for the Hyfire.
I posted this saga on Jake Raby's forum and learned that I'm not the first with similar experience. I know it's not rocket science, and hindsight is 20-20, but maybe this post will save someone in the same situation some troubleshooting time.
Ignition: Hyfire VI... happy ending
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crocteau
- Posts: 211
- Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 5:39 pm
Short answers: yes & yes. No complaints so far; the by-pass plug has already come in handyMNAirHead wrote:Do you like the unit & was it worth the money?
Seriously, there's a lot to like. The unit is easy to install and set up. It has a start retard that seems to ease cranking. I have it hooked up to control my shift light and tach and it has a built in tach test mode. I haven't tried it out yet but like the idea of being able to adjust the rev limiter (unlike the mechanical rev limiter that was in the distributor of my '72 bus). Also, I've been told it helps eke a little more hp out of my engine (~5%), but there are some bells and whistles that will remain unused unless or until I go for a different engine. Is this unit necessary? No, my engine will run fine without it. Is it overkill? Yes, for an old Ghia, no doubt about it, but that's my general idea with this project. 