ok i upgraded my dist in my 84 from the tfi to the ds2 dist. well,i got thedist out of a 78 xlt with the same engine and everything i orderd the dist,no problem,made sure when i got the dist all the mesurements were the same so i turned in the dist i got off the 78 in for core,got home went to slide it in, engine at tdc and it will slide in,but only to the point where the seal is like a 1/4 from going all the way in,wuts the deal,wut do i have to do to get this thing in,thx yall

 

Replace the Oil pump hex drive rod, this is not engaging the oil pump gear.

 

i took the old oil pump hex thing from the old dist,i mean the tfi one,and still didnt work,should i still buy one? thx

 

Mine did this at first when I put a ds2 dist. in my 85 block. Keep pushing it in while a partner rotates the crank with the big nut on the front.

 

i rotated the rotor on the dist,is this the same effect?

 

Havi is on the right track. What you are trying to do that you can't see is the alignment of both the oil pump ingagement hex drive and the timeing gear to the cam. You will not have to turn the crank far, just e-nuf to align both pump and timeing. It should be real close now so don't move it far.

 

When ur turning it, don't always put pressure down on it, try liftin and kinda smackin it back down, this will allow the dist to turn a bit without accidently taking the oil pump with it.

 

there i got it in now i have another problem,i have like 12 volts to the ignition box and like 12 volts to the coil and like 12 volts to the cap and like no spark,um,any idea's oh the 12 volt stuff is while the engine isn't cranking thx ya'll

 

Does it start? Does a Test light blink on the - side of the coil while cranking?

 

no... it doesnt start, and ill have to use a test light thx,wut if there is no blinking? and wut if there is blinking?

 

Had the same problem myself. You need 12V when the engine is cranking to fire off the ignition. I found both 9V and 12V. I used the 12V. My first go around, I thought I had a good 12V hot, did a nice wiring job, and the motor would not start. I got a nice backfire thru a brand new, "lots of bucks" carb. The only time I got spark and fire was when the key was getting turned off or on. Some system devote total power to the cranking of the motor and ignition. I am sure you have seen some rigs lights dim when you crank the motor over. I used a test light and found a 12V hot when the motor is being cranked over. It almost explodes to life now. I also think some systems are designed to crank over a few seconds before firing up to get the oil pumped up into the bearings. So a quick to fire motor is not always a good thing.

 

but i still dont have spark,lol

 

Did you install the entire DS2 system (coil and module ) or just the distributor?? How did you know where to hook it up. The DS2 system uses a start bypass system to bypass the coil ballast resistor, that is taken care of by the DS2 ignition switch. It gives full voltage 12-14 to the coil when cranking. When the engine is running the voltage is less as it goes through the ballast resistor, the start voltage goes away when the key is in run ( at least that is what Haynes says). I am not sure if the 84 ignition switch has this provision, and this may be your problem (no start voltage) . You may have 12v at all the places you checked -BUT - the ignition modules and the like turn on and off the grounds (-) they don't switch the +12 signals, so you will most likely see 12volts with the key on. You can't just swap distributors ( physically the dists are the same and will swap). The two systems are different DS2 and TFI-IV. Where did you get the information to perform this swap?? Did you consult a wiring diagram??? Each year has its own wiring quirks, yes it may be DS2 or TFI-IV but with modifications or changes for different years. The TFI-IV in my 90 will be different than the TFI-IV in your 84. Do you have any kind of manual?
The Haynes manual for 1980-1996 is the one I am looking at, and there are all sorts of checks to preform to check both types of systems. Your question is hard to answer as your level of experience is not known. It seems to me you got a little over your head. Mix and match is not easy and if you have no knowlege of the subject it is impossible. Sorry in advance if I am wrong. Besides TFI- IV is a good system, why did you swap it out.

stractor

 

i swapped it out cause i was sick of goin threough moduals every three hundred miles,plus i got rid of the eec, i got the info to do the swap from ya'll and i have a haynes manual also the same one u speek of and i have many many wire diagrams for this swap many that i have acualy drawn up my self considering i have done this swap on many of my older vehicles and on this truck i have run into a problem and i jus need to know where to put the resister and where to hook up the red wire from the modual after that,thx

 

You know, I did the same thing as you on my 86 but for different reasons, I needed vacuum advance for the carb. So I took a system from a 77, but no wires connected, so I got my power to the box on red I believe and start on white, now red had to be resisted, so I got it all hooked up and then it burned up the box in a few minutes, so something was wrong, well I think for some reason the resistor went after the box then to the coil which didn't seem right to me, but it worked for about a month until it fried the box agian, so I found and original motercraft heavy duty one, and that worked until for some reason the system would only spark in the run postion, not in the start which made it hard to start, and I checked grounds everywhere, switched boxes, tried a different stator and got it working agian, but same problem off and on. So after a few months of it being moody and unreilable and no one having any ideas I hadn't thought of the HEI went in it with it's own switch and that was the end of my problem, I've never been more fed up with anything in my life then that system, there's a whole 7 wires and I could not find the problem. So good luck with that, hope it turns out better then my experience.