I recently acquired (cheap) a 1982 26' RV with the E350 and the 460 motor. I normally wouldn't have bothered with such an old RV, but this one... 23,000 original miles and the interior seriously looks like she just rolled off the showroom floor. So I figured she would be a nice fixer upper for a day trip or two.

I wanted to modernize the motor a bit and installed an HEI from Summit. yeah, it's big and needed some modification to the water neck, but they do run well.

I went to clean up the old ignition wiring and smog items and now I'm having some issues. The rig ran well before I attempted the clean up. Now, she starts and runs well until she get's warm the she starts idling rough and eventually stalls out. To start her back up I have to floor the accelerator pedal and soon she will cough and kick and accelerate spitting out a plume of smoke. So this is a two part question, I'm assuming something I did with the old ignition wiring or vacuum hoses is causing this.

• What can I remove from the old ignition system as the old wires/plugs ( clip to the coil etc) are still hot when the motors running. Can I unplug and remove the ICU?

• There are a ton of vacuum hoses on this motor... More then any I've seen in before. I have vacuum to the water neck, vacuum to the air intake, vacuum and power / sensor wires to the top of the passenger valve covers.... What needs to stay and what can I pull off?

 

Great find! We need some pics!
Personally I like the Dura-spark system you removed. The biggest problem with it is when people use a after market ICM, they just don’t last. I converted my 85 e150 from EEC-IV TFI ignition to a Dura-spark ignition but ordered a Motorcraft ICM.
I have read many people are happy with the HEI ignition systems though

I probably cant be of much help with your 460 as our family vans are 302‘s and a 351 which I believe vacuum controls are much different on the big blocks... But,, have you checked the EGR valve and automatic choke?

Here is a couple of things that will help you out greatly. The CD, mine is from a different supplier but it still looks like a Ford manual... Much better then anything you will buy in a parts store. i usually get mine from Ebay but didn’t find the 82 on Ebay. It also mentions EVTM on the CD but i think the book is much easier to work with and the EVTM book is specifically for the Econoline.

1982 Ford Econoline Van Electrical Vacuum Troubleshooting Wiring Diagrams Manual
Under $7 with shipping and there are others for a bit more in better condition.
1982 Ford Econoline Van Electrical Vacuum Troubleshooting Wiring Diagrams Manual | eBay


FORD 1982 VANS E100 E150 E250 E350 Factory Repair Shop Manual CD
E-100, E-150, E-250 and E-350 Econoline Van, including the Club Wagon, Cargo Van, Window Van & Display Van, plus the RV "Cutaway" & Chassis, Commercial "Cutaway" & Chassis and Parcel Delivery.
Looks like $32 total


Here is another valuable item which covers the wiring before it was converted to a motor home.
1982 Ford Econoline Van Wiring Diagram E100 E150 E250 E350 Club Wagon Electrical
$20 free shipping
1982 Ford Econoline Van Wiring Diagram E100 E150 E250 E350 Club Wagon Electrical | eBay

 

I had a 1982 E350 class "C" also.
I also like the Dura-spark system you removed.

You will not find a vacuum diagram in any of the manuals listed. The Ford shop manual vol "H" is the one for the vacuum items.
But here is a vacuum diagram I made up for my 82 460 RV:


/

 

Hey Guys, thanks for the replies!

I decided to go with the HEI as I was having issues with the stock ignition system. The Coil was overheating and causing all sorts of havoc. I was hoping to be able to remove all of the ICU components and clean up the engine bay as well as removing all of the "Hot" wires that are now not being used.

Subford; that vacuum diagram is perfect, this should really help.

Annaleigh; thanks for those links... will be ordering them today.

 

let me throw in some pics here from my 85 and see if if you have anything that resembles it.

Do you have a set of 3 connectors coming out of the firewall under or near the master? 2 round and one square?


If so is one of them similar to this one? It goes to the neutral safety switch.


These two here have the wiring for the original distributor, oil pressure sender, temperature sender, choke heater, and I would have to review over my diagrams to see what else!
if these colors are the same as yours i have some more info that might help.

 

Here is the DS Ignition:


/

 

also here is a ignition diagram I used while converting my 85 to Dura-spark. it is from a 83 and a 300 six.. I am not sure if wire colors are the same as yours but the circuits should be. I don't think there was any difference in the circuits coming out of the firewall from the ignition switch regardless of what engine you have.
If you need to go into it more in depth, I have the notes I made.. I know you changed to HEI but this will give you info on the original wiring so you will know what is what.. .. You can ignore some of the notes made on the page

 

We must have been posting at the same time Subford!
If that diagram from the EVTM for the 82 with a 460? Just curious as the drawing i posted was used as generic so I could trace down the wiring..

 

Yes it was the 1983 EVTM diagram for a 460.

 

Yes, both of these. The round one is is not plugged into anything. It appears to have 3 male leads in plug. Where does this one plug into?

 

Again remember this is a 1985 e150 that had a TFi ignition and feedback carb. Also it was a couple of years ago and I do well to remember what I did today!

Here is what i came up with when i was tracing the wiring down. At end of this i will post a link to the thread about my duraspark conversion. it may be a bit hard to follow. I had found a harness from a 86 E150 that had a 351 with a 4bbl carb but the harness had some burnt wires so i basically had to build a new harness.

#1 Round Connector. C235-----------
White - -------- to red on DSII-------- Run = 12v --- Start = 12v
White/Blk ---- Choke heater---------- Run = 0v ---- Start = 0v
Red/Blu------- to white on DSII------ Run = 0v ---- Start = 12v
Blue----------? emissions-------------- Run = 12v --- Start = 12v

Square connector C226
Red/Grn ------ Ballast resistor and bypass ---- Run = 12v ------------------------- Start = 12v
Red/Wht ----- Water temp sender -------------- Run = bouncing from 2v to 4v-- Start = 0v
White/Red --- Oil pressure sender ------------- Run = 12v ------------------------- Start = 12v
Yellow ------- ? emissions ----------------------- Run = 0v -------------------------- Start =12v

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...clv-tfi-3.html

 

Great info!!! Thanks a bunch buddy.... now to see what's going on with this thing.

 

A couple of things to note..
Round connector #235
White - -------- to red on DSII-------- Run = 12v --- Start = 12v
Red/Blu------- to white on DSII------ Run = 0v ---- Start = 12v
For some reason known only to Ford, those two wire colors swap colors at the plug on the DSII module connector.

White/Blk ---- Choke heater---------- Run = 0v ---- Start = 0v
Has 0 voltage because in start or run because its power comes from the back of the alternator, the S terminal if I recall. The choke heater only needs 6 or 7 volts I seem to recall, don't quote me on that.. Also it only needs power when the engine is running. If it had power when you turned the switch on, it would heat up and open the choke without the engine running.


Square connector C226
Red/Grn ------ Ballast resistor and bypass ---- Run = 12v ------------------------- Start = 12v

You may want to refer to the drawing for this next part..
The ballast resistor.. when the ignition switch is in the Start position, it feeds full 12 volts to the coil through a wire that bypasses the ballast resistor. If it had 12 volts all the time it would overheat.
with the ignition switch in the run position, the coil is fed through the ballast resistor wire reducing the voltage to the coil to around 6 to 8 volts.

Because the ballast resistor and the bypass wire connect just above the square connector C226. So that red/green stripe wire reads 12 volts when the ignition switch is in start or run.
Also: The ballast resistors job is to lower the voltage going to the coil when the engine is running, say 6 to 8 volts,,, it will show 12 volts on a volt meter at the connector because there is no load on the ballast resistor. Once it has a load on it, the voltage will drop..
So that is why my readings show 12 volts in either position..