https://www.google.com/search?q=DS2+...ient=firefox-a

 

Maverick 600 - no offense, these folks have been super at coaching me along. Youve came to the right place to speak with the experts.

Experts - I've changed the font color of each question to blue so that they stand out in the long narrative.

On my truck, the 84 300" - heres the latest. The self test yielded no results. I found the two plugs, grounded the one as per the book, set the probe to continuity and had the leads on output of the big plug/pos battery terminal and ----- nothing. Maybe the PO had it all disconnected, if - when it started acting up?

I did make several test drives. I disconnected each of the dozen sensors wires from the carb (one at a time) and drove two miles. Nothing, effected performance. Connected them all back up before I called it a day just for safe measure. Since the self test system does not seem to be working, and none of the sensors being disconnected effected anything, should I begin to hunt for a used (salvage yard) DSII system? IMO, change it out to the system that I've been advised works with no frills. Does the DSII have to come from a truck with a 300" or just any vehicle with the same engine? My need to find list this far; distributor (with vacuum advance), coil, carb, wire harness, all 7 spark plug wires, and two ignition modules (one extra in case it doesnt test out to be good).

I also think its due time to install a tachometer. I have the cluster that has the speedo on left, blank in middle, gas-oil pressure-water temp on right. Would there a blank/spare wire already ran to behind the cluster as part of a stock harness that would just "plug and play" with a stock dash cluster that came with the speedo? Would the same "model" tachometer work with the current setup and the DSII planned for the near future?

Timing; boy did I learn alot about timing yesterday. After an hour with a diagram pulled up on now a very greasy ipad, I think that I finally found the timing marks near the harmonic balancer. I've determined that this is a project best done with the proper tools (I was going to attempt try adjusting by hand / ear). My "qualified friend" agreed to give a lesson next weekend - WITH a timing light tool.

 

As far as tests go, I don't know what you would or wouldn't look for when testing that system. When I purchased my '84 with the feedback setup, the PO had converted it to a 4bbl intake/carb, but left the rest of the ignition setup in place. There was no point in testing it or trying to get it to work, since I knew it wouldn't, and just did the DSII swap.

One thing I forgot to mention is passing emissions. First, before anything, be sure that your local emissions don't have rules against changing out components to previous years. My emissions simply state that as long as it passes the sniffer test, it doesn't matter what I've done to the engine. Yours may be different. Just something to consider.

But personally, I'd do the swap if your tests came up inconclusive. (Where do you start looking next if no tests are showing anything?) Unless, someone else has some more ideas for you, of course.
As for your list, the only thing I'd do differently is buy new spark plug wires. They're not too expensive and is part of a normal tuneup as is. Also, the only wire that'd be different is the distributor to coil wire. You can use your current spark plug wires otherwise. But, new ones are recommended.


Yes and no on it being plug and play. The instrument clusters have a circuit board printed on the back, and the models with the tach have an extra bit of circuitry. You can't just stick a tach in them and have it work.
But, what you can do is get an instrument cluster from a truck that does have a tach. Grab the cluster and the tach, swap all your gauges over into it, and then THAT will just plug and play.

The clusters can be a tad tricky to remove, but aren't hard. Hardest part is getting the ***** off the headlight and wiper switches. There's a spring inside them that holds them on. Look for the notch on the ****, put a tiny hook, hex wrench, screwdriver, etc. into the slot and catch the tab inside. If you do it right, they'll pop right off. By tiny, about 1/2 mm wide or so.

Then, you have to pinch the speedometer cable just right to get it to come off. Pretty much just press, pinch, fiddle with it until it unclips and slides off.

Pinch the sides of the electrical plug that goes into the cluster to remove it.

The rest is just screws and such.

Most 300s have 2 sets of timing marks. Not sure why. One is on the passenger side and the other the driver's side. The passenger side one is a little metal tab with marks on it that hangs out slightly over the harmonic balancer. The one on the driver's side is on the face of the timing cover. Most generally don't know about this one because the face of the cover is usually covered in sludge. Get some good degreaser and clear/clean the face of the timing cover off and you'll be able to see the marks, and they're much easier to use than the ones on the passenger side.

 

Cool deal AB - thanks for the advice. You had read into what I meant by plug and play - the entire cluster was my plan. Will it work with the feedback system and the future planned DSII?

 

Yup, it's all pre-wired in the wiring harnesses. It'll work with either.

 

You don't have a Check Engine light (first year for that, hooked up to a computer, was 1987) but you have an EMISSIONS light which I would imagine it would use instead. does this light come on for a few seconds when you turn the ignition on?

My 1986 DD Tempo doesn't have a CEL, either, but it flashes the SHIFT light on the dash (supposed to tell me when to shift gears for maximum mileage).

To use the in-dash blinkenlight, all you nee to do is connect the STI to ground.

I've done the Test Light thing before, it says to connect the STI to a good ground, then hook the test light to 1) the battery +, and 2) to STO.

I have never done it with a digital multimeter before and haven't verified that will work.

Perhaps a PO disconnected the computer's power-supply relay or something like that, thinking he was gonna "clean up all this smog sheet and make it run better." Yeah, right.........

I would try a test light or the in-dash blinkenlight, then investigate the wiring to see what else may have been hacked up if I still couldn't get any results. Gotta love POs.

Changing over the carb + distributor is something of a big deal if you're not real experienced with automobile mechanics, this is the primary reason why I'm proposing you look at making it work the way it's intended before you venture off into something like that....

 

ctubutis - no emmissions light found, only P brake, hi beam and turn signals. I do know that the smog pump has been removed - exactly as per the PO "clean this up and make it run better". It is a pretty bad hack job. I've found four vac lines plugged, a few ports plugged, wires to the middle of no-where, and what looks like what used to be sensors laying near the carb on engine block. I WILL have supervision when replacing the with the DSII system; step Dad has built a few hot rods in his day and my "qualified person" friend have volunteered (if/when needed). Will the DSII from any 76 - 83 300" work - or must I find one from a truck only?

Im a huge fan of "the way things used to be done" being simpler and better. This old truck is a learning experience for me, and I am loving every step. I normally drive my 2013 crew cab F150, ecoboost - a comp perk with the M-F job. Being honest with the owners of that company I don't drive it for personal use on the weekends. The newer truck is so non user friendly that I wouldnt dare check the air filter without knowing which computer to reset. That all being said, I enjoy learning new things. I'm 28, had a DL for 12 years now and I'd bet that I havent paid more than $1000 at a mechanic in my lifetime. Theres never a status quo, you are either gaining or losing knowledge. I might not have this truck forever, I might not even have it for another year. We might get the ignition and carb running right, then weigh the cost of proper gears / tranny to pull the required load and realize that its best to move on the "bigger but maybe not better".

Thank you guys for your help and patience with my learning curve. I'll climb down off of my soap box. Enjoy the game tonight and I'll keep yall updated on my junkyard finds for DSII, carb, and dash cluster.

 

I have no idea which distributors are interchangable, others here might know, though.

Or, you might find the information in one of those DS2-swap threads.

 

That's the way it's done, man. Learning, figuring out how it works, and piecing together how all the systems correlate. That's what differentiates a mechanic from a wrench turner.

Anyone can change a starter, but it takes a real mechanic to analyze the symptoms of an engine and be able to figure out what's causing it by understanding what components aren't working correctly.

Not enough of us know how this stuff works anymore.



As for which DSII system to get, the 300 only came in trucks, so that's where you'll find it. And yeah, you'll want one from a 300. They're common and easy to find so it shouldn't be too big of an issue, unless you have a really small junk yard.

 

Just to make the search for DS2 system components a little easier for Willmeng, the 300/4.9L engine also was offered in vans.

 

I should have specified that. I guess I think of vans as "trucks".

 

Lets revisit this again.

We have been super busy (and blessed) with the pressure washing business this summer and never had a minute to spare for the DS2 upgrade. Old whitey was putting around and getting me back and forth the the weekend hustles and I was honestly putting off the change over till colder weather / pressure washing off season.

The truck finally died last week. Its got gas (removed outlet of pump and checked) turns over, but no fire. So the inevitable is here. I checked napa for 1980 model parts; the ign module was ab $30, coil was also around $30, dizzy was around $50, and the the carb was a whopping $230. Today was my first chance to go junkyard shopping. Found several straight six ford trucks - all with absent carbs. Considering all of the other parts were affordable I was mainly hunting for carbs. After running off several copperheads in the truck corner of the yard, I mozied over to the sedans. Several open hoods later I found a 80 Fairmont with a straight 6 - carb intact. $35 later and a call to Napa I am advised that this will probably not work. Ahhh the frustration to save a few dollars. I should've studied our thread here and it would have reminded me that the 300" only came in trucks and vans and that I should only go with a DS2 setup ONLY for a 300".

This leads me to my next thoughts - per the "napa know how" there were several part #'s (motor craft) for the 300" engines' carb from 76 - 83. From there I assume that I would be taking a gamble with a dizzy from here, ign module from there, carb from this - type approach.

What do the FTE experts say? Should I only consider used parts if I can find the complete setup in the same truck? If I go with new parts, will any year model 76 - 83 work? Several of the yards have entire rooms full of carbs - what MotorCraft part numbers should I look for if I stick to my budget with a used unit (napa said that numbers beginning with "d5" and "d7" seemed the most common). Should I pick up an extra module or coil from the JY if I can find them - again will any late 76 - 83 ford's work? I've got one more yard to check here local - most of the places said "nope - no 300's here". Its only the big yards with lots of snakes where I have found the mass graves.

Playing golf in the am - celebrating a great summer - making pressure washing customers happy and my wallet grow. I'll check back in tomorrow evening for the consensus.

thanks in advance for the advice / help.

- William

 

Guys, any thoughts?

 

Hey William. Great to hear this are going so well with your business!
Do you know why the truck died? As for the other questions, if I were you, I'd get everything new but the necessary wiring harness and the ignition module unless you're willing to step it up to the eighty dollar version. The thirty dollar one is cheap China stuff with an unknown life span. When you get one or two have an auto parts store check them to be sure they're good.
For the carb you might want to check online at places like allcarb.com or nationalcarburetor.com. they can have some pretty decent prices. Not sure in exact part numbers but I would imagine there's not going to be a lot of difference between them. At least not noticeably.