Scratching my head on this one

[Pegasus]

Hey gang. Maybe someone can help me out on something that has me scratching my head trying to figure out. Here is what I am working with:
1968 Scout 800. 266-V8. Completely rewired. (I removed the resistor wire and added a 1.8 ohm ballast resistor in line).
OK here is the deal. Truck has been running great, starts easily and purrs like a kitten when warmed up. I recently had an issue starting the Scout when parked on a serious incline. The Scout that usually cranks first try every time, just turns and turns. Plenty of fuel getting to the carb, it just lost fire. So I roll down the hill to a more flat attitude. Still no fire. I decided to try to bypass the resistor, so I unplugged the input and output of the resistor and held them together and she fired right up. I shut it off and plugged the ballast resistor back in and she cranked right up first try. I checked the resistor output, while running, and was getting 9 volts to the coil. Since the coil was pretty old I decided to swap it out with a new "Standard" brand. The Scout seems to like the new coil since now she cranks easily no matter the incline. ----> Here is the thing that I have a question about. I ran a jumper wire from the "S" post on the starter solenoid to the (+) Pos post on the new coil to get the full 12 volts to the coil while starting. Everything else is unchanged (still have "main" hot wire running from the "R" post on the starter through the ballast). When I crank the Scout with the jumper wire in place, (piggy backed with the main wire on the coil), the truck fires up and dies as soon as I release the key, as if I had removed the "R" wire that feeds the coil. Once I remove the "Jumper" wire, she fires up like nothing happened. Has anyone ever dealt with this? It is like the "jumper" wire overrides the main "R" wire. Thoughts?

 

[Robert Kenney]

The resistor is going open, because it is bad or opening because it is getting to hot.
The solenoid R terminal wire goes after the ballast (coil side). The point it so supply the full available battery voltage the the coil while starting, once it starts and you release the key, the ignition power is dropped by the ballast since the ballast is now the only supply of + voltage to the coil.

You description of what happens when you remove the S wire and it continues to run when the key is released is seemingly impossible unless the ballast is intermittently opening.

Next time it won't start, put a jumper across the ballast without disturbing the ballast connections. Use care not to run it very long jumped.

 

[Pegasus]

The resistor is going open, because it is bad or opening because it is getting to hot.
The solenoid R terminal wire goes after the ballast (coil side). The point it so supply the full available battery voltage the the coil while starting, once it starts and you release the key, the ignition power is dropped by the ballast since the ballast is now the only supply of + voltage to the coil.

You description of what happens when you remove the S wire and it continues to run when the key is released is seemingly impossible unless the ballast is intermittently opening.

Next time it won't start, put a jumper across the ballast without disturbing the ballast connections. Use care not to run it very long jumped.

Hey Robert, Thanks for the info. I sat down with the wiring diagram, and after a little while, I figured out my issue. The replacement harness followed the original run, for the most part. I now realize that the original resistor wire had two functions, 1. To give full battery power to the coil, (12 volts), upon cranking. and 2. To create resistance as it heats up, thus feeding the coil around 9 volts or so. By rewiring to the original schematic with standard wire and adding a ballast resistor in line, I essentially deleted the 12 volt "boost" upon cranking. The only juice the coil was receiving while cranking was coming thru the ballast resistor, which sometimes made for very difficult starts. I added a 10ga jumper from the "R" terminal on the starter solenoid to the pos (+) side of the coil bypassing the ballast. The run with the ballast in line remained unchanged. I can report the Scout is starting nice and strong. Thanks so much for your help.