Well, I have a 83 F150, with that ever so crazy EEC-III system on it. It ceased firing at all, we can't figure out why. So we had the brainstorm to put in a REAL distributor (with the magnetic pickup inside, unlike the crank pos. sensor). But we ran into a problem. The oil pump drive is longer on the old distributor than this replacement witch is suppose to be for a 351W. BTW, we're putting in a MSD-6AL to bypass the stock ignition..

My question is.... Is this distributor something special to the '83 engine, can we find a replacement that has the mag pickup, or are we screwed untill we figure out the stock (hopeless) ignition?

Thanks,
Matt

 

My '82 F150 w/351W uses a factory distributor that has the reluctor and magnetic pickup inside the distributor. Is the magnetic crank trigger something that is aftermarket? It sounds to me like you either have the wrong distributor (maybe for the 302), or the the distributor has seated against the camshaft gear.

'82 F150 2WD w/351W (orig 300 I6)
Slik

 

Also, what type of "REAL" distributor do you have? MSD makes a great drop in that includes the vacuum advance and would complement your MSD 6AL (excellent choice, by the way). Could it be that the gear on your cam shaft is somehow gone or worn flat somehow so there is nothing for your replacement distribur can look for?

'82 F150 2WD w/351W (orig 300 I6)
Slik

 

We just did some 'guestimations' and put the new distributor in. Stuck some grease in the oil pump drive to make sure the shaft actually went into it, which was or main concern, and yes, it did. Our 'real' distributor is just a stock replacement, but with a magnetic pickup and mechanical/vacuum advance in it.
In 83 they had some funky designs, and no the crank position sensor thing is completely stock. The EEC-III system used the distributor for nothing more than to distribute spark, it had to advance (mech. or vacuum), had no pickup assembly (used the crank pos. sensor), and the EEC-III processor did all the firing tasks as far as timing... very crazy indeed. We put the new distributor in, wired it up in 351W fashion (which is wrong we believe..but it ran good enough to move it), wired up the 6AL (I have a 6T in my 78 F150), plugged in the 3000RPM module (hehe..the guy that drives it is kinda a numbskull, wondering how long it'll be till he figures this out)

I wish more people out there knew about the EEC-III system, it REALLY sucks! I mean REALLY sucks. Nobody we knew knew anything about it as far as trouble shooting, and this is from 5 differing ASE masters, a couple at ford dealerships, my tech school shop teacher, and just an old freind. The repair books (Chiltons/Haynes) don't even mention anything as far as it. It was a real POS.

Matt

 

We thought we had the wrong distributor for a night, becuase the old one was so worn that when we held the 2 next to each other to compare, the shaft dropped a half an inch out of the body of the distributor. So we thought the gears werent aligned. But we rechecked and they are. There IS an extra 1/2" extention in the oil pump drive on the distributor shaft, which we can'te figure out what it is suppose to be for. The pump drive shaft meshed with the distributor drive, so what the hell you know?

Matt

 

I had the same problem on my 83' f-150,it just stop firing...dead.Well i traced it back to the crank position sensor,put a new one in and it works fine.Always keep a spare sensor in my truck tho.

 

>I had the same problem on
>my 83' f-150,it just stop
>firing...dead.Well i traced it back
>to the crank position
>sensor,put a new one in
>and it works fine.Always keep
>a spare sensor in my
>truck tho.


We tried it.. A relay also went out thatwe had to bypass, it was on the pass. side fender on top of the evap. canister.. There was no power to anything without bypassing this relay.. No idea what it was though.

All this doesn't matter much anyways, as soon as the owner actually drove it last night, he launched the rear u-joint and had to drive home 6 blocks on the front end.. (with the rear driveshaft removed of course).

Matt

 

I unfortunately also have a 1983 351w with the EEC III (POS) system.....I was wondering if you ever found someone that knows about this system...I'm sure it's not a mystery...I would like to do something else with mine...thanks

 

I have a book that has some info on it. But I recommend getting rid of it like the other guys did. It has a computer that controls the timing plus a couple of other things.

 

I unfortunatley HAD a 83 with the same kind of system on it aswell. But no darn more. I yanked all that sh-t out and put a points dist in for the time being. I thought I was the only one that had this POS, but it looks like others have been cursed aswell. I mean it got so bad, I put new plugs and wires on mine one time, I didn't think it I needed to write down the firing order, I mean heck it's a 351W right, WRONG! Look in all my manuals no help, call up the local Ford Dealer still no help, go to the local parts house pull out a rotor button for my truck, inside the box was a piece of paper with the Mystery firing order. I mean COME AWwn. What a POS! Finally get it running about 6 months later it starts acting up by losing fire just randomnly. Driving down the road and it would just quit. Called up the wife to come get me, left it for the night come back the next morning fires up just fine, it did this once more then finally everything just quit. That's when I junked all that crap and put in the points dist that's been about 3 wks ago. Haven't regretted it since.

 

I have a 1982 351w that had a vv carb and a EcmIII which I believe has three plugs on brain box connections.I have 1 connection jumped out and the other two connected to the remaining two plugs,a eairlier setup...a ecmII duraspark I think.They have differant color leads on the one with four pins....but it runs,Thought I'd just share this info to see if i may be helpfull to someone else.

 

 

WANT TO FIX YOUR PROBLEM FOR GOOD? 140,000 Miles ago, my 83' 351 started giving me problems - sensors - "variable venturi" etc! After several expensive visits to the Uptown mechanic, (back in 1990),I junked the whole system, went down to the local junk-yard, and for $25 each, got a early 1970's 2-BB carb, and the good-ole-standard point-type distributor, bolted them in place, and...Wha-la... END OF PROBLEM!!! I've since driven this truck many a more mile, with NO MORE PROBLEMS (atleast engine wise). Oh, and, being an ole farm kid, -no, dont worry about hooking up the spark advance!!!! If it pings up hill, back off the timing a little! More questions? Bronco Billy 83 has 240,000 miles, still pretty, and VERY reliable!

 

My '82 had the EEC-III system and right before I bought it the guy completely replaced it with a Duraspark II system. Took me awhile to figure it out (he didn't tell me it had been changed) but has worked for 40,000 miles with no trouble. Also the box on driver's side fenders will just go out for no apparent reason. I always keep a spare!!

 

check and make sure you have a 351 dist.
289-302 has a shorter deck,351's have a different
(longer)distributor