Hey kids...
New guy on the block here. I bought a 1984 F250 with a 4.9. I use it for work around my house and hunting / fishing. It's not pretty but it is what I need.
When I got it, it had been sitting seven years so I have essentially rebuilt this thing and I hate it now. I want to love it, and I will but everything I fix reveals two more things that need repair. The most recent is changing the distributor. I went with an HEI setup because eventually I'm changing to EFI manifolds and a four barrel intake / carb setup and also the smog pump is going bad and I refuse to pay $250 to replace that piece of crap. It has a feedback carb and a control module so the distributor exchange was necessary. Please spare me the "Why are you putting an HEI in a Ford!?" bitching. It's not like I'm dropping an LS in it. I LOVE the 300 six, but I have had Ford's before and every one of them with the module has left me at times. Not going there again. So please suppress your urge to tell me how I've defiled the Mona Lisa (I've read a few threads here before asking for help) and can someone tell me what wires to tie into from the distributor module connector. I went with Red / Blue because it goes all the way back to the block by the battery. But now the starter won't disengage unless I turn the key to the "Off" position. The truck fires but I have to shut it off immediately. So I know the distributor is in correctly and getting power but I have this starter issue now. Thanks in advance!

 

I don't believe you read many recent posts here. There are many posts where the aftermarket HEI is one of the recommended swaps for the computer controlled 4.9. Anyway, can you find the old coil wire that went to the square coil that the engine used to use? It was a brown pink and then led to a plug on the driver''s side fender where it changed to a red/lightgreen. That's the one you need.

 

I read plenty of them...that's how I know everyone blasts you for putting an HEI in a Ford. My wiring has none of those colors. it seems they changed color codes every few years. I traced Red / blue and Yellow /green and had this problem. Decided this morning to just follow Derek Bieri's advice from VGG and run a fan relay with power straight from the battery.

 

You may have seen the HEI in a v8 as "qhy did you do that" as there is not a lot of room in a v8 for HEI.

Can you list the color wires that went to the factory COIL not the gray box in the distributor.
Dave ----

 

So I just decided to get a universal relay and run power from the battery but I need to find the ignition wire so I can run it as a switch lead. The schematic in the Haynes book shows a yellow wire that runs from the ignition switch all the way to the starter relay. I figure that has to be the switch leg for this. The one that calls for juice and stays open after the engine fires.

 

Duraspark all the way for me! My Natty 84 F-150 runs like a deer after I jerked out the cheap knock off ICU and put in a new Motorcraft unit. Plus, the distributor cap and rotor were trash. The terminals looked like old rusty nails in there and the leading edge of the rotor looked like baby sister’s pie crust.

I’ll let this truck sit for 3 weeks when I’m at work on the pipeline, come home and bang bang, fires up on the first or second try.

It’s the Texas heat and humidity just kills electrical stuff.

You really put a GM distributor in yer Ford? LOL

 

Any of the wires that run to the starter solenoid will ONLY have power when the key it turned to start NOT when in run.
Dont be looking for ant wires over on that side of the truck as there will not be any you can use.

You need to find the wires that went to the FACTORY COIL as 1 of the wires is what you need to power the HEI dist.
or if you want a relay.

Do you have any pictures of the factory coil & dist. we can look at?

Looks like brown / pink or white / light blue or red / light green would be the power wires you are looking for that were hooked to the factory coil.
I also have not heard of Ford changing wire colors every year or even few years.
The above is from Ford's mast book for 1985

Now if your wire colors dont match find the wires that went to the factory coil and with a test light or meter turn the key on and see what wire has power.
Then check if it has power when the key is turned to start. When the key turned to off it should not have power.
If it does then that is the wire you hook to the HEI power in.
Dave ----

 

Yes. Yes I really did. Because I want to get rid of the smog pump, the emissions system and the cat converter since in Virginia I can remove it on a vehicle older than 25 years. Got it running finally and it starts so fast it will scare you. I want the truck to run...not to pull my pud over because it's not a certain brand.Thanks for ignoring my request to just answer the damned question and leave the pissant crap out.

 

I wound up just pulling the old wire off the old coil and running a lead from that to my relay. Fired right up. But now it sounds like there is sand in the crankcase. Something is grinding in there. I swear I hate this damned truck. It reproduces problems like rabbits.

 

I think you'll be happy with removing the emission systems. Here in Texas the law is the emission systems have to visually be there at the time of inspection, but they don't have to work. Problem is majority of state inspectors are a good deal younger than I am, they are in their teens and twenties, and they wouldn't know what is or isn't stock on these vehicles. They don't even really check to verify they just pop the hood take a glance and yep, it's all good, they don't waste their time on something 25+ years old especially if that something is pre OBD II.

I am building a 302 to swap into my truck but I am trying to build it stock looking to pass the sniff test of some gung ho kid that wants to pretend they are saving the world by being a stickler for the rules. I was a state inspector for ten years and I was only ever a stickler for the rules when it came to safety not emission systems.

Thing however to keep in mind when removing emission systems, you will have to make changes. For example, the OE carb is calibrated to take into account the EGR for example. You cant simply block off the EGR valve and run it as is, it is very hit and miss cause my truck ran just fine with the EGR blocked off and with it open, but I am also only 25 ft above sea level currently and it might be ok for me but might pose a risk at higher elevations. You also might have to play with timing curve in the distributor as well as that is calibrated with emissions in mind as well.

 

Well, I can't agree "everyone" says so. From a statistical viewpoint, that's virtually impossible.

Back to your HEI swap. Much of the bias likely stems from the quality. Many of the HEI conversion kits are low quality Chinese knock-offs. Unless designed around GM spec internal components, you may be SOL down the road when (not if) you need parts.

No doubt there are quality conversion kits out there, but unfortunately the market is also flooded with crap from brands like Fling Dung and Wok Hoam.

 

Thanks Karl, I did go cheap but it's not a daily driver...it's not even a monthly driver some times. I use it for hauling for the constant renovations on my house on weekends and for deer hunting. If I put 3500 miles on it this year I'll be surprised. The HEI made an ENORMOUS difference. The thing starts almost frighteningly quickly and sounds different as well. however, I think that in one of my failed attempts at wiring this in, I got the starter wire crossed and it's hanging up. Something is making one heck of a grinding sound down there.

 

If you think the starter is still engauged when running remove the wire going to the small stud on the starter solenoid and see if it stops.
Dave ----

 

Hi there for your starter problem, I also own a 1984 f150 with the 300 6 4.9 . I also had the same problem and fixed it by changing the starting solenoid on the passenger side fender wall. After I change the solenoid the truck started fine every time. I hope this helps you

 

The solenoid works fine and the truck starts but it sounds like it's not disengaging. Was that the problem you had? Was it a bad grinding sound? Because mine sounds like a grinder