Hello to all, this is my first post here ... Congratulation me!!


Now for the bad news. I have an 89 Full Size Bronco, 351W, Auto. I've had it for about 2 years and haven't had much of a problem with it, you know just tune ups and brakes, things like that.

Last Friday when I was driving home from work the motor started to sputter up high, like around 4000RPM. Then slowly that number dropped as I started to loose power, almost like I ran out of gas. Of course I was going up a big hill when it happened, lucky for me I made it to the top and coasted all the way down.

It felt to me like a fuel problem, and I heard the in-line fuel pump running after I got out of the truck which I thought was weird since I had the keys in my hand! I immediately thought fuel pump. So I swapped out the pump (after towing the truck to my house), no good, the pump went back on as soon as I reconnected the battery. I was a little perplexed, but I thought OK, what would do this. I swapped out the green relay under the hood and the fuel pump went off and now only goes on for a few seconds when I turn the key. That is one problem fixed, but of course the truck still doesn't run. I don't have a fuel pressure gauge, but there is a fair amount of fuel pressure at the rail, but I swapped out the regulator anyway. When that didn't work I started to get a little worried.

I checked my timing which is right at #1 when at tdc. I also checked spark which there is. So at this point I thought computer. This is where I got cunfused. I pulled out what I think is the computer. It is the gold box under the dash, it is labeled E8TF-2C018-AA A, it also has 0247074 and CIV on the label, along with a bar code. Anyways, I went on down to the boneyard and got a replacement and stuck it in and nothing.

I know that there is an EEC-IV in there somewhere, but all I see is another box, this one black and plastic next to where the computer was, and I don't remember EEC boxes looking like that. The black box has no markings except for the work Ford. Also the Chilton manual says that the EEC box has a 60 pin connector and this clearly only has maybe 18 pins. So either this is the EEC and the book is wrong, or the EEC is somewhere else and I don't know what this is.

Either way the truck doesn't run and I would like it too !

Right now since there is spark and good timing, and fuel at the rail it has to be the injectors are not firing. Since I do not have an injector test light (which I heard were fairly expensive) I am thinking about replacing that little black box.

So any help or ideas is greatly appreciated and would like to return the help any way I can.

 

Ok ....easy injector test just pull one out and turn the engine over ( unplug the coil first ) pull it out of the intake leave it all hooked up and see if when ya crank it ...gas comes out,one bad injector will not make the engine stop running.The computer will be about 8 inches long and 6 inches wide sitting right above the gas pedal under the dash with a bunch of wires running into it...good luck



86 bronco 351w 4 bbl alum. intake headers dual flowmaster ( 2 pipes) exhuast sitting on 35"s....no lift ..all ya need is a sawzall!!

 

OK, thanks for the reply first of all.

I found the computer and the EEC-IV (it was in the distributor), and swapped them both. No dice. I also found out what that black box under the dash was, the cruise control brain.

The truck has been at a shop for the past week and they can't figure it out. I will check the injectors when I get if back if they don't fix it.

 

Had a similar problem with my 88 Bronco a few years back. Did the sputtering thing and then eventually died altogether: no start, no run, no nothing. Towed it to the shop and after about a week, they found that the ground system for the computer was bad. Replaced some of the ground connections and have not had the same difficulty since. Just an idea, otherwise sounds like a hard one.

 

are you sure that your getting spark? timed right?

Could the dizzy gear have broke the shear pin at the bottom? Still sound like the timing is way off, or the other pumps in the tanks are not working.

Still no fuel? Do a fuel volume test on the frame mounted pump, If it runs out of fuel in a minute or two, the intank pumps are not operating correctly.

good luck, fuel problems are a bear!

 

Well thanks for the ideas, however I have resolved the issue. I took it to a shop and after 3 days of troubleshooting they found the problem. The coil was backfeeding voltage through the computer and shorting out a relay somewhere. I didn't think that this was possible, but when they swapped out the coil it fired right up. Go figure.