# 1977 Dodge Ram Wagon -Battery wiring issue

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/1977-dodge-ram-wagon-battery-wiring-issue/165095>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** dodge\
**Created:** [May 31, 2020, 7:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1977-dodge-ram-wagon-battery-wiring-issue/165095 "2020-05-31T07:21:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BrianBocage69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@BrianBocage69](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BrianBocage69)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2020, 7:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1977-dodge-ram-wagon-battery-wiring-issue/165095/1 "2020-05-31T07:21:52Z")

</div>

Van dies if you take off the positive lead to the battery but thats because the van wont start unless I run a hot lead from the battery to the coil

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![It\_s-Me](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/it_s-me/32/12660_2.png) [@It\_s-Me](https://community.cartalk.com/u/It_s-Me)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2020, 9:42am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1977-dodge-ram-wagon-battery-wiring-issue/165095/2 "2020-05-31T09:42:38Z")

</div>

> [@BrianBocage69](#):
>
> because the van wont start unless I run a hot lead from the battery to the coil

Sounds like a bad ballast resistor.  
 ![Capture](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/3/a/3a785800f8f3cbaf9e691e0f278571f4e80bd389.jpeg)