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Nothing is going to the TACH TEST plug (and there wasn’t anything plugged in there before I swapped the coil out either). I haven’t found the other end that plugs into TACH TEST floating around the engine bay. I’ll have to keep looking.
When I replaced the coil I cleaned up the connections in the horseshoe and added diaelectric grease.
Thanks for the assistance as i as I chase these things down!
Generally, a GREEN wire would run from the TACH TEST terminal on the coil.
Might have the 351W then. The boss is definitely below the head like the second image.
Ok, pulled the distributor cap. Rotor looked goofy. Label on the side of it says "Timing not adjustable" and there is no vacuum advance. I think I have EEC III
I ordered a cap and rotor from Autozone. I also found this thread from 15 years ago. Guess I have some reading to do...
The EEC-III system is painful to diagnose, I see what looks like a Duraspark2 box (with the 2 black connectors)on the DS plastic wheel covering but I can't see the color of the grommet holding the wires; if it's brown, that's EEC-III; it'll be blue if a Duraspark 2.
The EEC-III system is painful to diagnose, I see what looks like a Duraspark2 box (with the 2 black connectors)on the DS plastic wheel covering but I can't see the color of the grommet holding the wires; if it's brown, that's EEC-III; it'll be blue if a Duraspark 2.
It's brown sadly. Cap and rotor will be here today. I'll install and see if that is the culprit. My confusion with the firing order makes sense now. The rotor hits alternately so it is not going in the order that is listed on the cap which is why it was running fine in what appeared to be the wrong order. Beyond replacing the cap and rotor I'm not sure how to further diagnose the problem. I just fired it up and while warming up it missed badly then quit.
When it quit did it still have spark & fuel?
I don't think you were in outer space so it had to have air.
I don't see a cap & rotor fixing a on & off running issue.
Bad IGN box and dist. pick up coil can come & go like that.
Dave ----
It's brown sadly. Cap and rotor will be here today. I'll install and see if that is the culprit. My confusion with the firing order makes sense now. The rotor hits alternately so it is not going in the order that is listed on the cap which is why it was running fine in what appeared to be the wrong order. Beyond replacing the cap and rotor I'm not sure how to further diagnose the problem. I just fired it up and while warming up it missed badly then quit.
No need to be sad. You can get of that stuff if you wanted to. You have spent a little money on what you have already, but you can put a different distributor on it and get rid of the eec III
Well...cap and rotor replaced. This is what the rotor looks like:
No videos or photos that I could find with my google-fu. FYI for those who may find themselves with this distributor, you cannot get to the retaining clip. If you break the top of the rotor you can remove the clip and slide the rotor off the top of the shaft. Pre-set the clip on the new rotor and it will pop into place in the notch on the top of the shaft during reassembly. It is indexed but I marked mine just in case.
Cap is also indexed and pops right in place. The contacts on the old rotor looked worn as well as the pickups under the cap. It fired right up then had a big miss and died. Fired it up again and got video rolling:
You can hear idle drop then pick up right before it dies. It didn’t miss as violently as it did before recording the video. Now I’m scratching my head. Fueling???
Why don't you take a look and see if you have idle adjustment screws on the front of the carb underneath the bowl that can be adjusted? That might make it run better. If you do not have any, that is clue the carb has never been rebuilt.
Sorry, missed your question from the other day. No idle adjustment screws that I can see. It’s the 2barrel variable venturi carb and is stamped Motorcraft.
Guess I could’ve read this. It tells me it has EEC III. Where’s that facepalm emoji?
When it quit did it still have spark & fuel?
I don't think you were in outer space so it had to have air.
I don't see a cap & rotor fixing a on & off running issue.
Bad IGN box and dist. pick up coil can come & go like that.
Dave ----
No pickup coil on this distributor (also no vacuum advance or any other wiring on it at all). Possible the Duralast ICM failed I guess. I happened to replace the original with a EEC one (brown grommet) even though I didn’t know for sure I had EEC. Has wiring under the drivers side seat. Guessing that is the brain.
Do a Google search on puling codes from the EEC-III system and see what you can find; IIRC the electrical connections are near the battery/starter solenoid. You'll need a test light or maybe an analog volt/ohmmeter.
If it were me, I would have that junk pulled off that engine in a second. That venturi carb is known to have problems. The EECIII as you have found is poorly supported and is difficult to troubleshoot.
EECIII W Duraspark III as noted is not well supported to say the least. It only lasted a couple years before being replaced by TFI The Duraspark III system used a Crankshaft position sensor in place of the pick up coil in the Dist.
The VV 7200 carbs can be trouble prone most of that is due to not being set up/adjusted properly when rebuilt. There is not really any engineering issues in it unlike the 4350's they are just extremely complex, probably the most complex carb ever fitted to an auto application, the Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection system is idiot simple compared to a VV Carb W/EEC.
. When VV's are functioning/adjusted properly they will return fuel economy un-matched by any other automotive carb. But the whole feedback system has to be working properly
The 7200 VV's were quite common here in 84 and 85 on the Crown Vic and Grand Marquis with the 351W, Most Grand Marquis sold here in those years were fitted with the 351W and the VV Carb so were very common. The VV carb hung around till 1991 Model year on the 351W PI Crown Vic's.
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