My previous thread which I will not revive was on laying down or bogging on acceleration. This is not related to that issue and that issue has been corrected.


This is being posted in its own post with the hopes that it might help others. I posted in the "what have you done" thread on this and will rehash the issues and my plan of attack for right now.


First off the problem is rough running that comes and goes. Usually comes in after driving the truck a while. Runs like a top when accelerating and holding speed just at idle some times theres a surge and bouncing around at idle some times its just a roughness which the roughness could be plugs. I don't believe it could be because plugs would either fire or they wont not randomly work.


Second problem, today on the highway this happened twice. Second time was not as bad as first time how ever. First time I was turning 2,000 rpm going down the highway at 60 mph. All of a sudden out of no wheres the tach dropped to 1,500 rpm speed started to drop off fast and the engine did a major hiccup like the engine cut out for a moment. Throttle position was not changed at all during this nor was it on a incline it was flat level road. Second time was on the way home just a few minutes ago, was close to my exit and in the throttle pedal I felt a slight hiccup. Never did this before the only performance issues I had was all at idle never driving.


Third problem which seems to be getting worse, the truck is hard to start after its been runned once. If the truck sits over night hit the throttle to the floor once and it fires off right away and purrs fine. After arriving at your destination when you go to restart the truck if its 30 minutes later or 5 hours later the engine just spins over and you have to pump the throttle like crazy some times and some times hold the throttle to the floor like clearing a flood. This has cropped up in the last week to two weeks. Only restart issue I had was if you stopped and tried to restart after 5 to 10 minutes would be hard to start but you let the truck sit for an hour or more you didn't even have to hit the throttle would crank up and run on its own.


Fourth problem, engine just cuts off like the key is turned off from time to time after starting. Ive had this happen a few times to me start the truck up its running along at 1000 rpm for like a second and bam back to zero like the key was cut off then had to spin the engine over and hit the throttle some and hold it as the engine runs rough for a moment then clears out. Seriously it acts like the engine is loading up with fuel when I does this but usually loading up with fuel would run rough then drop dead. This is just like the key is being switched off.






Ok now on to my plan of attack. I am looking at swaping the ignition module and the distributor out right. From Rock Auto I can get a motorcraft module for $34.79 and I can get a WPS Power Select Dist. new w/o governor and with single vacuum and cast iron gear complete for $49.79. Now this is where my problem comes in, if I do it this way I have to wait till some times next week to get these parts to do the job. I am currently off till Monday and ideally would want to swap this and get it done now.


I checked the local Advance and they are sold out of the new Car Quest brand Dist. with a price tag of $65.99. If I could get a good name brand Dist I would do just the dist swap and order the Motorcraft module from Rock Auto at least that isn't a major deal to swap out.


I checked Oreilly and my options is a Richporter Technology FD09 which the photos looks like its a dual purpose dist with the DSII adapter and cap and a old timey female point style cap. Its $80 with a iron gear and I am not going to drive to Conroe to get it.


Looking at Napa the only one they have is the house brand which looks identical to the Cardone brand which I have used their gearbox before but I don't like them for things like this. Even then it doesn't come with the adapter or the cap and rotor its just the dist, vacuum canister, and the pick up coil for $67.50 plus $11 for the core charge. I can purchase the Echlin brand pickup coil for $31.50 by itself. Down side is napa does not have a online locator so you have to call them.


My other option which I don't want to buy now cause I planned on buying it for my 331 stroker build for this truck. Its a DUI DSII dist for $265. It will work with oem coil and the DSII module but to stabilly spin 10,000 rpm you need to use their E coil and their DSII module replacement. I don't need 10,000 rpm just 5,000 rpm but these are tuned out the box for performance and they have a full length oil impregnated bronze bushing for stability.


So it appears I will be ordering the Dist and the Module from Rock Auto as no one local has a good name brand or they want more for the cheap versions than what I can get them for online.


I do have a Dist here already but I bought it for my '78 Mercury which is a DS II equipped 351W. I do not believe this will swap as the 351W has a taller deck which results in a wider block which I believe also requires a longer dist shaft.

 

The 351w will not work because the oil pump driveshaft(hex shaft) is larger than the 302.

 

I read that after I made my post. I looked it up and found out length and the size of the pumpshaft is different.


I did a instore pickup purchase on a Car Quest new dist for a few cents less than rockauto with shipping. I will be reusing my original blue adapter and the cap I currently have and will put theses up as spares. I will also swap over my vacuum advance can as mine has a orange plug in the top near where it mounts and this new one in the photo does no have that. I read theses are the adjustable kind.

 

How old is your coil? What you describe reminds me of a bad coil issue I recently went through.

 

I know this will not sit well with the DSII purists but...for the cheap cost, why not drop in a HEI single wire distributor with the integral coil and see if it solves the problem?

 

I cant see buying a dist. just for a pick up coil and vac advance can, then you say you are going to use your vac can because it is adjustable.
In the old days with points the points would push the dist. shaft to one side and wear the bushing so the shaft would wobble throwing off point gap / timing that is why we would get re-builts. With electronic dist. you don’t have this so I see no need to get a rebuilt now days.


Also knowing what I do of AMC motors and swapping dist. or more so dist. gears you should use the old dist. gear on the new dist. or your un the risk of the un-matched gears getting chewed up and putting metal thru out the motor……..read motor rebuild time! I just don’t know if fords have a dist. gear issue if they are not a matched set but I know that old gear works now so why change it out?


Me I would pick up a new pick-up coil for the dist. and a new box of the fender. Pop the dist. out and change out the pick-up coil and pop it back in, swap out the box and road test. If still an issue change out the coil as that would be the only other thing left to change in the IGN system.
Dave ----

 

IMO, that still seems like a lot to go through given today's technology. If one is a purist, I get it.
As far as gear matching goes, it's easy to match metal property gears as most reputable distributors do, to avoid gear chewing. It's just my opinion but, why would anyone struggle with the DSII and all of it's inherent, well known issues when there is proven technology that succeeds it with proven results ? Don't get me wrong....if this is a restoration, then by all means, take it back to FoMoCo specs....but if not....you know the rest.

 

Those HEI things are power-hungry and you will want a separate fused and relay-actuated power supply using heavier-gauge wiring than what Ford provides for its DSII ignition.

And, their increased height will/can interfere with factory air cleaner assemblies.

 

Very true Chris ! I ran 10ga to supply mine with 12v and I am having issues with fitting a OEM air cleaner (not gonna happen). I'm looking into older FoMoCo air cleaner assemblies which are smaller in diameter and taller in height, like the 292's,etc.. If I have to fabricate a snorkle with the thermactor to an earlier assembly , then so be it.
I'll finger it out, I ain't scared, lol.
But You are right, it causes issues.
Truth be told, I'd rather have an I6, and I have one , it's just a matter of time before i can do the swap. There's a 260, and 2 289's in the garage and a 302 in the truck, and I want the 300 I6....
Go figure.
"It is better to want what you have than to have what you want."

 

Hey, Don, have you looked at/tried a spacer between the carby and air cleaner? I have no idea if those might help but thought I'd throw it out there.

My own air cleaner assembly is from a '70s sedan - Country Squire or Torino or some such - and is substantially different than what they used on the '80s trucks, in fact it's probably larger in diameter. But it's Old Ford Blue in color and reminds me of my 1970 Mustang's Wheezer and that's why I like it (PO of my truck had installed one of those chrome things the kids like, I learned as a kid (when I installed one on the Mustang) they're fine for summertime use but are absolutely worthless and suck ***** for wintertime use).

 

I honestly could not say. I replaced the dist today, the vacuum can was a two vacuum advance with one with a rubber bullet plug in. I got a single vacuum advance and installed it and set timing to 11* BTDC vs 8. Truck runs better and has more power, still does the hard hot restart but that's just this ethanol bs. One thing I noticed is the pick up coil did not look that bad wire wise. But the pick up coil was up against the reluctor wheel where as the new one does not touch.


Exhaust sounds a lot better, and theres a roughness at idle but I know my plugs are not healthy looking so will pull them and try cleaning them next week but hopefully the truck does not give me these problems again.


I don't need to get another module as I forgot the customers truck at work that we pulled the 302 C6 out of and droped a 5.0 Coyote motor in I pocketed the ignition module and its a work I can swap it out if it keeps doing the cutting out wen I drive on the highway which I will be doing next week on New years Eve.

 

As far as why replacing the dist over the pickup coil. The pick up coil locally cheapest I found was $32. I would then have to get a reluctor wheel which I found out was touching the pick up coil that is another $10 there cheapest I found locally. that is $42 before tax and I bought a brand new dist with life time warranty for $57 after tax.


Was just smarter to get the whole dist new and replace it all vs just replacing one or two pieces inside.


Also I did not use my old vacuum can as it was a two vacuum advance where I don't even know where the other end is supposed to hook up or if it is even right for this truck. It has a metal tag on it and its a motorcraft dist. But I kept the single vacuum can that came with it. Gave me a lot more clearance between the vacuum hose and my dealer installed A/C compressor bracket.

 

There's a lot more to a distributor than just the shaft runout specification, the breaker plate and other parts get worn and sloppy too. Electronic modules are more forgiving than breaker points but it's good practice to replace the distributor or rebuild when they get some miles on them, just like anything else.

 

One of the big jobs of the dist is to run the oil pump. And the helical gears put a thrust on the dist housing at the bottom, so they can wear over time like was mentioned.

 

Yep and this dist didn't have any physical wear in the bottom end but the motor was rebuilt back in 93 or so and I do not know if a new dist was installed which is doubtful since it has the dist tag still on it which tells me that dist been in the truck since maybe 1982. Time wise and cost wise it was just smarter to replace the whole dist and smear a little assembly lube on the cast iron gear to help it out.