Well, my 1979 f250 3/4 ton 2wd truck and i were cruisin down the road at about 60mph and then the truck suddenly began to sputter and the engine lost its 'go'.

i lost alot of speed, down to about 35 mph, and when i took my foot off the pedal and then reapplied pressure to the accelerator, i was able to maintain regular travel, as long as I didn't push it higher than 45 mph, if i did, it sputtered again and lost its push again.

i made it home and changed the inline fuel filter placed b/f the fuel pump, and I changed the carb fuel filter, as well as adding some methyl hydrate. the problem continued.

i thought it must have been a carburator problem, or fuel pump. the filters weren't plugged, the fuel pump still works, the carb ain't cracked, and no white crap was found in the fuel after adding hydrate...

so i tried firing it, but there was no spark.

then i tried it again sevral minutes later, and it fired, but when i drove it, the same problem occured, but this time it completely died, and the engine shut itself off.

now, i have had exactly zero problems with my 351M manufactured at the michigan casting center on 7 June, 1977, and i am puzzled.

i put a new niehoff computer module on and took it for a spin today, but not for very far, and it was fine.

i'm a little afraid to push it in case it happens again.

could it have been the module? does it sound like a coil problem? how about a carb problem afterall?



o.k. another question:

this weekend i bought a 79 f350 2wd 460ci that runs great, but needs a new body. the problem is that it has a door on the side of the box for a spare tire, but i don't know what that door is called in order to purchase a replacement panel for that door.

anyone have a name for this piece?

also, this truck is a 4 speed, does anyone know what the timing specs could be for this truck?

thanks,

bobby love

 

Similar problem with my 79 351m. I picked up a couple of extras at the wreakers and keep on in the glove box. It is the control for your ignition and spark control. When they go they cause different problems but replacing it will almost certainly solve your problem.

 

If it does it again, I would suspect the pick-up coil in the distributor. They will go bad and make it act like it is running out of fuel.
Jimmy


Oh, by the way, Welcome to FTE

 

Contrary to popular belief a vehicle does not have to have a computer onboard in order to operate.

Ditto on the distributor pickup module. The vac advance moves the wires around and show up a broken wire.

 

I have heard that back in the old days, the world used to function without computers. How could that be???? HEE HEE

Jimmy

 

Back in my day, we had to push our trucks in the snow, barefoot, uphill,,, both ways. I tell ya, these new fangled motors are something else. I concur with the pick-up coil. Had this happen to me on a 300.
The '79 F-350 you recently purchased is called a Camper Special. I believe that door is simply called the Spare-tire compartment door. Never heard a fancy name for it yet. Quite a few of our fellow FTEr's have the luck of having one of these beauties so they shouldbe able to help you with replacement parts. Try the search function. The timing will be listed on the label on the valve cover. It's something specific for each motor, depends on the setup. Welcome to our little piece of Heaven on the internet

 

I had a similar problem with my 351m. I never quite figured out what was wrong with it but it started running fine one day...

 

When I bought my 78 thats all that was wrong with it was the box was bad. I bought it off a the guy who rents our farm house for $300 because he couldnt figure out what was wrong with it. The first thing I did was throw a box on it and it ran fine the previous owner could have cried when I fixed it with one of my spare boxes. HEHE

 

i had that EXACT same thing happen to me. when i got above 45-50 it would sputter just like urs is. i replaced the same things u did and it still happened. so i called my grandpa whos been a mechanic for the past 40 yrs and he told me that i should replace the pick-up coil inside the distributor. sure enough that was it, started right up and ran like new. but the second time i started it my starter went out and i had to replace that too lol. go figure

let us know how it goes

 

That sounds kinda familiar.
Jimmy

 

lol i didnt see that u already said it was the pick-up coild if thats what ur talkin about the familiar thing

 

Yeah, but that's ok. It's always good to have someone else with the same opinion. It is probably one of the most overlooked ignition componants when it comes to diagnosing problems.
Jimmy

 

yea i never even considered it as the prob...i had a good ole time replacin it tho (saracasm) the gear lookin thing that u have to take (forget what its called) was rusted on there.

 

I think the correct term is a stator wheel, but I have been wrong before. Well, once that I know of, anyway. HEE HEE.
Jimmy

 

Well, Lxman, this wasn't a second time, no worries