Last time I posted I was working out the kinks on a 1982 F100 I6 I had picked up.

I've since moved and had to sell her

But I found a 1982 F150 with 302 engine and AOD with 73,000 original miles from the original owner


Anyways...been trying to sort out a random cut off issue. Problem first presented itself a couple days ago. Was warming it up before going to work. Engine suddenly died after about 3 minutes of running. Would not restart. Figured the duraspark ICM bit the dust so ran to Autozone and replaced it. Fired right up, took it down the street where it promptly died the same way. After a push back to the house I started scratching my head. Been reading on here about the pickup coil in the distributor. Couple of things pointing me in that direction:

• On the last drive it began giving a shudder which almost felt like transmission but could be the engine missing
• The tach has been intermittent at best and my understanding is the pickup coil is related to the tach

Bought plugs, wires and ignition coil but have not installed yet. Want to make sure I'm barking up the right tree. Any thoughts would be appreciated

 

Ive never seen a pick up coil or anything ignition related act like that. Every time ive seen something electrical for the ignition system it goes out and its dead. Doesn't mean it couldn't happen, ive seen some strange ****. But I would take a look at your spark plug wires see if any have rubbed through and if they are grounding out that could cause a stall to come and go. I had cylinder 8 do that and it was arcing out every now and then didn't cause a stall but going down the freeway at 70 mph the tach dropped from 2500 rpm down to 1500 rpm and right back up for a split second. Thought it was the DSII Module, replaced it with a motorcraft one from rockauto didn't fix it. replaced the original dist and it still did it from time to time. the real fix was replacing plugs and wires.

 

Heat can cause electronics to fail and the they will come back to life when they cool off. I think you are barking up the correct tree. Problem is, the pickup in the dist is a pain to replace. Be careful pulling the gear off, don't chip the gear teeth.

 

Its possible, I just haven't seen a ignition system break down that way. For what its worth its cheaper to just buy a new dist than to try and replace the pick up. Cardone has a brand new dist for $50. Got to be careful though they have one with a steel gear and one with a cast iron gear.

 

and

Given the chance to spend your time and money, I'd suggest the pickup, too. Here's the puller I used on my '84 351W. You need a fairly small puller for the job and the Posi Lock 103 was perfect:



One more thought - What about the ignition coil? Could that be acting up? Would it affect the tach if it did misbehave? Not sure, but might be worth a gamble.

 

I am not too hot on Cardone, though they are the only game in town sometimes.

I had to replace the pickup in my 86 ranger. I knocked the roll pin out of the gear, and dummy me used a two jaw puller to pull the gear off, and I broke one of the teeth. I looked and looked, and everyone said they sold a new gear, but no one had it in stock and could not get it. So I ended up buying a rebuilt Cardone unit from the store, and installed it. Now I had new problems. Instead of running bad, it would keep cutting out and not want to start sometimes, and I was getting a memory code 14, which the book indicated could be a bad dist pickup. I knew the only thing different was the Cardone distributor, so I pulled it out.

This time I used a bearing separator and the press to get the gear off, no broken teeth this time. I pulled the Cardone dist apart and could not believe what I was seeing. Old crud and gummy grease, and a original pickup coil inside the dist. They had not even taken it apart when they "rebuilt" it. You would think for $70-$80 that I paid for it, the could have at least put a new pickup unit inside it. I cleaned it up, re-lubed it, and installed a brand new pickup unit inside it, and now all is well. No way was I going to take it back and get another "rebuilt" piece of junk, I went through it myself.

 

Oh believe me I would not buy a rebuilt Cardone if my life depended on it unless it was my only option. The Cardone dist I am looking at for $50 is brand new though. There is another brand as well I saw listed a World Power System dist new for $51.75 with a steel gear I could go with but never heard of them so not sure if they are any better or not.

But I agree it seems like they don't even attempt to clean on remans they just replace what doesn't work to get it working don't care if its a heat related fail issue they just let that **** go.

 

Pick up coil can be related to the tach issues if the pick up is dropping the signal to the ICM
As previously stated the next suspect is the pick up coil. Elec components can get fussy with age and the heat can cause intermittent connectivity issues..

 

DuraSpark introduced in 1974, but not all light trucks/cars/Broncos/Econolines came with it until 1976. F600 and larger series trucks don't have it until 1978.

The 3 step scenario of a failing DuraSpark ignition module:

1) Module overheats, engine dies. Module cools down, engine restarts almost at once.

2) Module overheats, engine dies. Module cools down, engine restarts in an hour...or so.

3) Sooner or later, usually sooner, the module overheats, BURNS OUT. Now the engine will not restart.

Taking the module to an auto parts store to be tested. Will test OK unless it has burned out.

1974/86: Module located on the left fender inner apron.

Engine heat, especially when radiating from the V8's red hot left exhaust manifold, is the mortal enemy of these modules.

When replacing, use some washers to space it further away from the apron. The more airflow, the better.

The stator aka magnetic pickup coil inside the dizzy can have the same symptoms as the module.

btw: The original 1970's modules were so unreliable, that Ford techs referred to DuraSpark as NEVER/Spark!

 

Thanks for the insights everyone.

I'm debating buying a new distributor or replacing the pickup. I bought the pickup coil ($15). Do I have to remove the gear and sleeve at the bottom? Or can I remove the whole assembly and replace the pickup coil without having to remove the bottom? I think I remember reading somewhere on here about using a multimeter to test resistance in the pickup coil plug to determine if it is failing but can't find the info.

I'll gap the new plugs and install with new wires as well as the new ignition coil because I have them on hand. When I replaced the ICM I spaced it off the fender hoping for better airflow. Figured that's why they have cooling fins built in. I'm up in Palm Desert and it's 113 degrees today so will wait til night to do any work on the truck.






Old (original?) ICM. The plugs were a bit stuck together...

 

Upper pic, stator is 12A112.

 

I want to say you have to pull the gear off like I did on my ranger, but on the duraspark I am not sure, I seem to remember taking two screwdrivers and prying the star wheel off while it was still on the truck. If I am remembering correctly, the big risk to that is losing the little pin inside the wheel, it's a round pin but it sits in there like a little key.

Here's a link, looks like you can use two screwdrivers and pry it off.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l-install.html

 

Yes, you have to remove the reluctor to get at the stator....be observant as to the position of the roll pin as there could be two different spots to re-assemble. Pry up on the meat of the reluctor with a coupla screwdrivers. Check the set screws on the breaker plate as well as the wires - ORANGE and PURPLE for a good connection.
Ohmagibles for the stator.....between the PURPLE and ORANGE wires going to the 3 prong connector to the distributor. You want to read between 400 ohms and 800 ohms...clean/check/wiggle the wires, too.

Good deal....

 

Couple of updates:

Spark plugs gapped (were pre-gapped but a couple were off .005"), antiseized and installed.

Began to install the new plug wires and was a bit confused:



The big numbers corresponded with 400 CID motors and the small numbers closer to the coil wire were for the 302. So...aftermarket distributor cap I think. Existing plug wires were going to the right number on the distributor cap but I thought the firing order for the 302 is 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8 with the distributor going counter clockwise? In order on this cap it is marked: 1-3-4-8-6-5-7-2

I connected all the new plug wires exactly as it was with the existing wires as I knew it ran when parked. The existing plug wires for cylinders 1 and 2 came apart before I even started to pull them off the plugs. Probably the source of most of the problem.





Started up immediately and running much smoother. Pulled the distributor cap and the reluctor does not look anything like what is pictured in the diagram posted above. Started to feel around the distributor for the connector so I could test the resistance on the purple and orange wires (thanks Filthy Beast). Could not find any wiring coming off of the distributor. No vacuum advance, no electrical. Found a sticker that says "Refer to service manual. Timing not adjustable" on the exterior of the distributor housing. The rest of the sticker had been rubbed off.

Couple of crappy photos (sorry, it's 2:00 AM):






I can get better photos in the morning. Just for kicks I took it around the block and drove it about 20 minutes. Best its ever run in the short time I've owned it, no throttle hesitation, no shudder. Seems to have much better throttle response. It didn't randomly die on me and I stopped, shut if off several times in parking lots to see how the restart was. Fired up immediately every time. Before it was crank it for several seconds to a minute before it fired up.

So...drive as is or try to figure out the distributor situation? I still have no tach. If there isn't any connectors coming off of the distributor how am I getting tach intermittently? It really is random when it begins to work and only works for a few minutes before the needle goes back to 0.

 

Sounds like your cap is marked for the 302HO and 351W firing order which is 1-3-4-8-6-5-7-2, standard 302`s have a 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8 firing order. My '82 truck is 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8, but after I do my 94-96 302 long block install the roller cam in it uses the HO firing order thus 1-3-4-8-6-5-7-2.