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I have a 1985 F250, 302 EFI. I have taken the motor out and am in the process of rebuilding it. I've noticed that there wasn't a crankshaft position sensor, and I'm surprised that the truck ran pretty well without it. I see that this part is available, but Im not sure how it mounts and if all the EFI 302s are supposed to have them. The timing mark indicator has a hole in it that faces the harmonic balancer, and I expect this is where it mounts to, because the sensor is a short cylinder and looks like it would fit into the hole, but I'm not sure how it would be fastened to it.... I haven't looked for where the sensor would plug into yet, and have only been considering how to mount it, and if my vehicle should even have one (I'm pretty sure it should). Any information to clarify this is greatly appreciated, thanks!
@chuckd86000 Your 1985 5.0L EFI does not use a crankshaft position sensor. The ECM uses feedback from the PIP (Hall Effect Pickup in distributor) to determine crank position.
It is my understanding that the small tube near the harmonic balancer was only used during manufacturing.
Only the distributorless engines use a crankshaft sensor. I shouldn't say that, since there were a few oddball examples that did have a distributor and a crankshaft sensor, like the old EECIII system. And the vortecs in the 1996-1999 chevys had both. But the Fords with the TFI distributor didn't have one.
Thanks diggerrigger and Franklin2 for putting that concern of mine to rest. I thought that may be the case (about using a sensor in the distributor), but couldn't understand why the typical auto parts sources offered a CPS for this truck. So, the hole in the timing indicator was used to hold a CPS used manufacturing, that I would never had guessed.
I guess it is important to install the distributor in a particular orientation, not like a carbuerated vehicle....
With the engine at TDC on the compression stroke and rotor pointing to #1 on the cap, align the "notch" on the distributor base with the end of the "ridge" on the manifold. Barring a worn out timing chain, you'll be close to perfect timing. 10° BTDC with SPOUT unplugged. AFAIK: This applies to 1975-86 EFI.
I guess it is important to install the distributor in a particular orientation, not like a carbuerated vehicle....
It's the same as a carbed vehicle, except you need to unplug the SPOUT connector like was mentioned in the previous post, and set it to 10 degrees. Plug the SPOUT back in afterwards to give control back to the computer.
Thanks for the tips on setting the timing, thats a convenient feature. This is the 1st ford i've ever wrenched on, so it's nice to pick up on these little tricks.
Thanks Franklin, that helps me understand the spout connection.
What I meant about being different than a carbed engine, is that with a carbed engine you can select any one of the distributor towers and call it #1, as long as the rotor points at it when #1 is at TDC compression, but since the EFI uses a sensor in the distributor to determine the crankshaft position, I assume you need to use the standard #1 position on the distributor cap.....
Thanks Franklin, that helps me understand the spout connection.
What I meant about being different than a carbed engine, is that with a carbed engine you can select any one of the distributor towers and call it #1, as long as the rotor points at it when #1 is at TDC compression, but since the EFI uses a sensor in the distributor to determine the crankshaft position, I assume you need to use the standard #1 position on the distributor cap.....
Your ignition is the same, you can pick any tower. The ignition is fired by the pickup underneath the rotor, it doesn't know what cylinder it's firing. When the rotor points to a tower, it is fired, that is all it knows. The only thing you have to worry about is positioning the distributor so you can adjust it to 10 BTDC without the wires and the module hitting something on the engine.
Even with the fuel injected trucks later on, it's the same because they are what they call "batch fire" fuel injection. The only time you may have to worry about distributor position is with a sequential fuel injection found on the mustangs and a few others. One of the pickup windows is a different width underneath the rotor and the computer uses this as a reference to know when #1 cylinder is firing. It fires the injectors in sequential order.
Thanks for the tips on setting the timing, thats a convenient feature. This is the 1st ford i've ever wrenched on, so it's nice to pick up on these little tricks.
I don't know that this 'trick' applies to any but our EFI models.
Ah yeah, now I get it, thanks for the explanation. Now I know that installing a distributor on a EFI car is no different than any other car with a distributor (unless it is sequential fire). I appreciate you sharing your knowledge.
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