Hey everybody! First time on the Bronco forums but it may not be the last ( I mostly hang out on 87-96 F-series forum). My little brother is 14 and for his first vehicle he really wants an 87-91 Bronco. I figured it would be a good learning experience of how to work on vehicles, and a good chance for some brotherly bonding, so my plan is to surprise him with a Bronco of his own, which he will be able to work on and tweak for 2 years before he gets his license and can daily drive it.

So I'm looking on craigslist at a 1988 XLT Lariat for less than $1000. Its not in bad shape but its got some dents and scratches. No rust that I can see, but its his first car it doesn't have to be perfect. Its a V8, not too sure what it is but the guy says it has the 3 speed automatic so I'm thinking it's a 351. Anyway the guy says he can't get spark out of it. He claims to have "replaced many parts trying to get spark", which I'm guessing are the standard auto parts "throw it at the vehicle in an attempt to make it run". I'm thinking it might be a more obscure and advanced issue like the shutter wheel in the dist or the PIP, but I haven't yet seen the vehicle or got to play around with it. Really I'm just asking for suggestions on what to do and things to look at when I go look at the Bronco next week. If I can go there with a game plan in mind I'd feel a lot more comfortable picking it up.

I think that for the price and the condition of the vehicle, I'd be willing to work and troubleshoot this no-spark condition, and it'll give my little brother some appreciation and knowledge of how to work on old Fords.

Thanks in advance for any help!
Evan

 

How To Test The Ford Ignition Control Module (Distributor Mounted)

On page 3 is a reference to a LED test light for testing the PIP operation, get one of these before going to see the vehicle. Have it handy to narrow down the no spark root cause.

 

if the bronco has the Flat Top hubs you might consider passing. These are strong hubs but were only on the 87-88 models and parts are either very expensive or very difficult to find. If this is a late model 88 it could be an 89 model which would be better. Otherwise great price based on the description.

 

Randy - thanks for the help, I'll have to go pick one up. Who knows what I could find to maybe bring the price down even lower!

I guess you learn something new everyday. Just looked at the craigslist photo. It looks to me like the hubs were at one point swapped for manual locking? Not sure, here is a picture of the truck. Sure it looks a little rough and has dents, scrapes and surface rust, but for a teenager's first car it isn't in too bad shape (I think). And I'm not ashamed to admit it, the guy was asking $700 at first but I was able to talk him down to $500 once I told him it was for my bro.

 

if there are no screws holding the hubs onto the rotors then it would infact have the rare top hat hubs. no worries again if the price is right. and not a deal breaker. my first bronco was an 88 5.0/AOD