Hi everyone. I have a 88 LE150 318 throttle body dodge. It has always been a dependable billygoat until the other day. I use the truck exclusively as a farm truck. I went to dump some stuff on my burn pile and everything was fine. I turned it off unloaded and it wouldn't start. Now I have no voltage at the coil and of course no spark. My fault code (from turning the ignition off and on) is 11 - no reference signal. I replaced the single pickup coil in the distributor and still nothing. I do have a Chilton book and it mentions a ASD relay and maybe ballast resistor - I have no idea where either are - I don't see the resistor and wouldn't know the ASD if I saw it.

Do you think I am on the right track - any suggestions??

Thanks

 

the ballast resistor is white with 2 wires comming out of it and it's on the fire wall.
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Thanks for the reply - I have looked and looked and cannot see one on my truck. I re-read the manual and from what I am reading it appears that the Power Module which is part of my SMEC unit contains the ballast because ti mentions that that is what drops the voltage going to the coil?? I called the dealer and they say that they cannot test this unit. This unit is a large things that has a air hose that is connected and looks like a snorkel - ever seen anything like this?? They want $175 at O'Reilly's for it and it is special order - I hope that is the problem but at this point I don't know what else to do?? Any thoughts??

 

Mine's not TBI but one night I was driving down the freeway and my truck just shut off on me. I coasted into the rest area (handy!) and tested for spark - nothing. Turns out my ECM took a dump. Mine, thankfully, was only $35 or so at Schuck's, but I had to get towed back to my parents place and wait until morning.

Sounds like the TBI unit is a lot more expensive. You might try a junkyard, but with the parts store at least it'd have a warranty. Know anybody with another truck you can swap modules to test?

 

I am hoping to find a SMEC in a junk yard - hopefully. If that doesn't I am going to try and get a better book - I bought the Chilton's 67-88 Dodge truck repair manual - it just wasn't very good. My truck being a 88 is not hardly even mentioned and those before about 87 had the 4 wire ECU instead of a SMEC.

What is the best book I can get for my truck?? I would like to see a breakout of the wiring harness and also some sort of troubleshooting the SMEC.

 

Can you hear the fuel pump come on for 2 to 3 seconds when you turn the key to "on"?

Code 11 is almost 99% of the time the pickup asm in the distributor but you say you replaced it? some new aftermarket pickup asm have been know to be bad out of the box. Remove the battery cable for a few minutes and try to start and then check the codes again.