Finally got all my parts installed, 4.9 ,1985 f150, Clifford manifold ,weber 2barrel carb, long tube headers,new starter, new alternator,and used the painless wiring harness to complete the duraspark 2 swap over .The distributor ,module and barrel coil came from rock auto, also used a new starter relay with the. I wire hook up. After the complete swap the truck won't start,good heavy start up but will not fire. Double checked the tdc. At the 1 plug. (And timing mark at 0).Took the fuel line off at carb to make sure there was gas ,now baffled , guess I need to recheck all the painless wiring and joints the diagram from painless was simple , only a three wire hook up white to I term , red green resistor red to ignition hot -then to resistor . The carb fuel line was done as clifford suggested -fuel pump(mechanical)to fuel filter to regulator to oiless fuel pressure gauge then. To carb . Just don't understand why it won't start ,tried easing the dist back and forth to no aval. Help. Thank TR

 

Have you pulled a spark plug and grounded it while cranking to see if you're getting a spark?

 

If you don't have this diagram it should help.

 

No Baron but will do ,isn't there a way also just to check the coil with an ohm meter thanks for the reply , TR

 

There is a way (primary should be 1 to 2 ohms, secondary should be 7 to 10 kohms), but check for spark first.

 

Ok i have a no spark situation here , as previously stated the dizzy and module (blue grommit ) and coil are new ,any suggestions . i am going to relook over my wiring. The painless resistor is what i used for this application .Thanks TR

 

Just wondering if not grounding my black wire as i have seen on posts which was highly suggested has anything to do with no spark . Doesnt it use the dizzy itself as ground Thanks TR

 

You need to check for power on the RED and RED/GREEN wires on the painless harness. Just use a test light if you don't have a meter.
Jim

 

Thanks Jim , Seems my ignition coil is good 1 ohm and 9.19 k ohm , checked to make sure power was at the ballast resistor with key on but havent checked if i have power at the white/red green yet ,as this would be while starting which my white wire is hooked up at the i terminal of the solenoid , Before i did this swap i had only a three wire solenoid and changed to the 4 wire for this application TR

 

The BLACK wire coming from the ignition module runs out to the distributor, where it seeks ground. It does not need to be grounded anywhere else along the path. It's set up this way so that the coil return current is kept in a tight loop back to true ground at the engine, not through a bunch of sheetmetal and ground straps that will only lead to ground shift and EMI interference.

I'm not as familiar with the Painless setup, but typically the 'I' signal of the solenoid is used to feed the coil bypass, meaning it's connected directly to the positive terminal of the coil. The hot-in-START signal of the ignition module (originally RED, but eventually changed to WHITE on most replacement modules) runs to the same hot-in-START signal from the ignition switch that feeds the 'S' post of the starter solenoid.

The diagram posted by Baron is accurate, but typically found in sedans which have two isolated hot-in-START poles on the ignition switch. Trucks usually had a single hot-in-START pole on the ignition switch (which fed the hot-in-START signal of the ignition module as well as the 'S' post of the starter solenoid), and relied on the 'I' post of the starter solenoid for the separate coil bypass. Later model trucks eventually moved to having two hot-in-START poles at the ignition switch as well.

 

Thanks for the help fmc but i did ground my black wire and i regained my spark, motor is grounded in several places starter and passengers side (rear back) i went back over my wiring and all was correct , i did notice my plus negatives hooK up at the barrel coil was cocked with all, said its running thanks for all your help , Baron fmc , Jim now to other problems TR

 

Glad to hear you got it worked out, but be aware that if you had to add a ground outside of the distributor, then either the black wire was not grounding inside the distributor, or something else is/was going on.

 

Yes , i may undo that ground wire and see if i still have spark , before this rebuild, this truck had near 532000 .Its running good and seems strong Thanks TR