Hi,

Today my husband decided to put on new distributor cap, spark plugs and spark plug wires. I love the man, but he had it screwed up and could not get the truck to turn over. I have spent hours searching the internet looking for the cylinder numbering and firing order. I finally found it... but I wanted to share my findings with the next person who finds themselves looking for the same information. I may be able to help someone out and hopefully spare them the long search that I went through. Today was Sunday and we had no repair manual or anyway of getting our hands on one since it was Sunday...

Here is the information I found...(it is written so that even a novice should be able to understand it)

Ford 302 V8 (5.8L, 5.0L, 7.5L)

Cylinder Numbering...as you are facing in towards the windshield (passenger side will be on your left and driver's side will be on your right)

Windshield

4 8
3 7
2 6
1 5

Grill


FIRING ORDER FOR 5.0L & 7.5L

MOVING COUNTER CLOCKWISE...

1 5 4 2 6 3 7 8


FIRING ORDER FOR 5.8L

1 3 7 2 6 5 4 8

MOVING COUNTER CLOCKWISE

Cap Clips should be sitting at 11 (the clip closest to the windshield) and at 5 for the other cap clip (the one closest to the grill) 11 and 5 represent number locations as on a clock face.

Your cap "may" have a number 1 raised on it (this marks where cylinder 1 location should be), if so this raised number should be at the 1 position as it is on a regular clock.


I hope that someone will find this information helpful... Hell who knows I might have to come back here again to find my own posting/message, if he ever decides to do this again himself in the future.


Best Wishes...


Brigette

 

oh... I wanted to add... they old ford gal has over 200,000 miles on her and is still running strong! (the truck guys, not me!)

 

 

thx Bridgette,

this was exactly the info I needed. I am having a timing issue. Not getting all the power out of my engine. My guess is around 85%.

 

great information!

 

I just wanted to say thanks for posting on the firing order of a 302 ci. I lent my truck to some family so they had a four wheel drive for the winter and for hauling wood, when I returned it ran like garbage. They told me they had done a "tune up" on it and it still ran horrible. I have spent the last few days trying to figure out what was wrong and even did another "tune up" of my own i.e, Cap, rotor, plugs, wires, air filter, Oil, Oil Filter. Still to my dismay it ran horrible. Apparently 16 year olds should not replace a cap and rotor without a guide because the young man had the firing oreder all messed up and when I replaced the cap and rotor myself I "assumed" (dumb of me) that it was correct. After reviewing your post and checking it was completely wrong I'm not sure how it even started or ran but it did...now IT IS AWESOME!!!! THANK YOU!

 

As you found, unless the engine has been running good before hand, NEVER assume the firing order is correct, as many people mess that up. I had a Jeep that apparently a PO had removed the distributor, as the firing order was correct, but half a turn off. I had failed to pay attention to the wire locations and got burned by it. With Ford doing their numbering totally different than any one else, it happens even more often.

 

Not only that but Ford changed the firing order of the 302-HO in 1995 to match the 351-W to make it even more confusing.

So if your engine has been swapped or worked on in the past, depending on what 302 engine cam it has, it could be either the standard one (1 5 4 2 6 3 7 8) or the newer (1 3 7 2 6 5 4 8).

Which if you are in doubt which cam you have use the standard order as default, (because it matches your year model) and if that doesn't work, use the alternate one.

 

Hi I loved this post!!Just got a 302 out of exporer for my 67 mustang but cap and wires are missing. Cap clips are in 1 and 7 oclock position not 11 & 5 any help?

 

The Explorer motor uses an EDIS setup... a sensors replaces the distributor and coil packs fire the plugs directly, so I'm not sure what you have there could be the wrong distributor completely or you're looking at the motor from the back. I suggest you toss that thing and go get a correct distributor and when you do wire it for the 351/HO firing order 13726548.

 

You can put the cap on in any position you desire, and the clips will end up at many different positions, but you can still get it to run correctly. Just envision it working correctly, but lifting the distributor out, and moving it one tooth counterclockwise. Sitting it back down in place would leave the rotor underneath the cap pointing at the wire that was counterclockwise from the original wire(it may take 2 teeth to equal one whole position). So what do you do to fix this? You take the wire the rotor was originally pointing at, and move it counterclockwise to the terminal that the rotor is now pointing at. Then shift all the other wires around the cap likewise. It will still run correctly, but you have shifted the physical position of the cap.

It's best to keep it like the factory had it if you can, the wires fit better and the vacuum advance doesn't hit anything when you try to time the engine.

 

Brigette:235299
Thanks for putting our basic information on here, I write this stuff down under the hood and even then I don't get it all. Some of the stuff for these old, dependable trucks seems to just disappear! I write it in my manual, I write it on the forum, and when I need it, GONE. But I hit the over 60 timeline and I feel like I wake up, hide something, and then spend the rest of my day looking for it!!!
My search, that I have looked for over 3 months is this. I get about 12 Miles Per Gallon. Now I feel that with this light 302 as well as I have taken care of it, it should get a better MPG than I am. So I have posted, asked, begged, and called around. I have the Duraspark Ignition Module D8VE-12A199-A2C (With the Blue Grommet). I am sure that all that has been done with this truck is had the spark-plugs changed and Gaped, the oil changed, and the Air Filter Changed. On its regular basis. I don't know if I am supposed to time it, or even how to time it. I have gone around and changed out all the Vacuum hoses to no avail. I set the gap on the spark-plugs at .41

If I could change out the coil or do something like add the Duraspark II inferno coil kit would it let me open the gap up to .55 hotter spark, bugger gap, would that give me a smoother more economical ride?

No one seems to know if this can be done?!?!? With the price of petrol up past $4 It would seem to be something that us old trucksters would really want to know about. Has anyone done this. Could you tell me what you added to your Duraspark Ignition Module and how you did it to get better mileage? Please, help me keep my money either in my wallet or doing better upgrades to keep this ol girl running up to par. When I bought it I had the Engine rebuilt and the Tranny rebuilt in the early 80's.

I spent most of my time out at sea in Alaska so it shouldn't have to many miles on it. I didn't change the speedo so if I am going over 50 mph it pegs over 80. I think there is a GPS speedometer I can get to stop that problem. But my main concern is tune-up and efficiency. So I am doing the ol timing the mileage posts or following my wife at a certain speed to see why it can't pass a gas station!

 

Widening the gap will not help your mileage any noticeable difference, maybe just 1/2 mpg, that's just a guess. But nothing you would notice, and your plug and wire maintenance will increase.

The plug gap was set at the factory as a compromise between a good running engine, and plug life. You can widen the gap,, but it puts more strain on the whole system, the wires, the cap, rotor, etc. These have to be in top shape to tolerate the increase in gap, as the increase raises the voltage at which the spark jumps the gap. And the plugs have to be changed more often, as any wear increases the gap beyond what the system can handle. The factory gap gives you a good compromise between performance and life of the components.

I would not put a hot coil on the original Ford system. You don't get something for nothing, and this puts more load on the stock ignition module, which can cause it to heat up and shorten it's life. If you want more voltage capability of the system, you need a completely different system designed for it, along with the better wires, etc.

You do not say what truck you have, is it 4x4, what tranny you have, do you have a lift, what is your gearing in the differential, what size tires are you using etc? They all play a big part in your fuel mileage. Also, how is your engine setup? Is it completely stock with a 2bbl carb? Is it a California model with a computer controlled carb system?

 

So far I haven't seen an answer that I can work with. I need more than guesses. I will keep searching for a better answer. Like I found cowl Induction hoods might give me 7 more MPG. There has to be an answer. Or a combination of answers. Money is a problem. Some of the answers are too expensive. But I am learning more and more. I have found that the more I search the more I get closer to an answer. I just have to keep on trucking tell I find what I can work with. Thanks for your help.

 

I find that If I keep looking something will show up.