I would first do a primary/secondary test on the coil(s) that you have. Chilton's or Haynes or Autozone online repair manuals should have the procedure. You may also want to think about undoing your fuel pump modification to see if that's why it was backfiring, etc. You may want to also check the fuel pump relay to see if it's the reason why you're not getting normal powerage to your pump(s) from the ECC. I don't think the pumps run all the time(?). I'm sort of baffled myself as to why it's acting so badly.

EDIT:

IF/When you dropped the tank, did you clean it out completely? I'm now beginning to wonder if there is junk in the tank (or sugar or something)..... you may want to think about flushing the tank and the entire fuel delivery system, etc.

 

well im going to change the pick up coil on it, if that doesnt work im sending it off to get looked at

 

Yeah... not sure if that issue was already addressed, or should I say possible issue. Without physically having the truck here to tinker around with, it's hard to tell just exactly what is going on, somewhat. Hopefully you get it figured out and don't end up sending it to someone who's going to charge you a lot of $$$ to fix something that may end up being stupidly simple and less expensive if done yourself!

 

yeah thats true...well heres my progress...lastnight i took the intake off, and while doing so i noticed the bolts on the intake (6) were like finger tight (can this make a difference or...) and i took the distributor out but i cant seem to figure out how to get the pick up coil out of there...is there a special way or..? and how would you know if the pick up coil is gone... is it just when the wires are broke that its toast or..?

 

1) which bolts on the intake? The ones that hold the upper intake to the lower intake? The ones that hold the lower intake to the heads/block? The ones that hold the fuel rail in place? Just curious -- any way you go about it, if the bolts aren't properly torqued down and you're sucking air in where you shouldn't, it will affect how the engine / vehicle runs.

2)Distributor /TFI testing, removal and installation, etc. <-- click here for info on distributor stuff.

 

the bolts that hold the upper intake (the one with the 2.9L fuel injection text on it) to the block (those 6 bolts were finger tight) fuel rail has slight movement in it (small jiggle but ill tighten em up)....also when i changed the coil to a new one we got longer running from the system...

 

Sounds like you may also have vacuum issues... probably need to think about replacing all the gaskets for the intake and torquing everything down to the proper torque (or at least using some sealant with the existing gaskets). There shouldn't be much movement on your fuel rails, with everything installed, that I know of. The O-rings do seal under pressure -- might want to think about putting new O-rings in as well. Any leaks between the throttle body and heads is bad, and any fuel delivery or ignition issues aren't helping the situation either. I know it's probably frustrating as heck, but keep at it and you'll eventually get 'er back up and running like a champ. I'm still wondering how running through a puddle started all of this, unless something shorted out.... because if that's the main issue that caused this snowball... then mine should have quit running the first year we had it....

 

hmmmm....it seems like everytime i replace a part or something the vehicule seems to get a boost of energy...i wish i didnt have to work this week because i would go to the wrecker alot sooner and grab another distributor...the one i grabbed is the wrong one (guy said it would fit) but ill just do a swap and replace type deal...im also going to try and changing the sensor on the upper intake....having the upper intake off until saturday will give me a good solid few days to take all the tape/covering off and to give them a solid check...Also having a faulty inertia switch..what could that cause??

heres a re-cap of whats been replaced in the past month

Low Volume in tank Pump (brand new)
Clip of wires that goes onto the top of the gas tank
High Volump pump (frame rail)
Big Black cannister filter (frame rail)
Bigger Steel filter (further up on the rail)
Fixed Power wire from high vol pump - low vol pump
Fuel Pressure Regulator x2
Fuel Relays
Fixed wiring to O2 sensor on exhaust
Distributor Cap
Rotor
Coil Pack and wire and condenser
Thick Film Ignition
EEC-IV
Idle Air Control Valve
Spark Plugs
Hard Wired up High Volume pump to a toggle switch (with a 15a fuseable link)


Things that IM going to do...

Replace Inertia switch
Swap Distributors
Burn it!!!!!

 

The fact that ... what, about 10% of those are brand new from the parts store and the rest are junkyard specials probably doesn't help matters much. Not to mention, the high-volume pump doesn't run all the time, so that may not be helping, either. *shrug* I dunno what to tell you.

 

hmmm....im not sure what else to say either...i am very very thankful for all the help you've been giving me there Kernel. the pump wont be like this forever, i was just trying it out to see if it was the problem, obviously not. well this week i will replace the inertia switch, oxy sensor on the upper intake, and the distributor. those are my final things to switch. if it doesnt work then shes getting sent off to someone to peek at whats going on

 

i guess i could of paid more attention, or read my haynes book better...i read about pulling codes and jumping the tester etc... tonight im going to put the intake, hoses, air duct, distributor, wires, cap etc back in place...ill even re wire up the high vol pump like it should be. im going to try and run the codes tonight or tomorrow...my assumption will be that ill pull up alot, and this will help out alot more with the trouble shooting...ill keep you guys posted

 

Hopefully, that helps. I think one thing that I don't like about pulling codes is you do it with the engine warm -- which pulls the constant memory (CM) codes, but sometimes, those quirky cold-start things may not show up in CM. Let us know what you find.

 

heres the update guys...lastnight i threw everything back together, tightened the upper intake to my liking, triple made sure everything was good to go, took all the connectors apart and sprayed them with cleaner, checked all the vac lines, everything you can name i checked it. started it lastnight and it ran for a few minutes. today i started it and let it run for another 5 minutes (no problems) threw the hood back on brought it outside, started it and took it for a ride..no problems so im so excited, my dad layed a 30ft patch with the thing too i was impressed haha...so maybe it was getting bad connections..or this might just be a tease to get my hopes up. tomorrow im going to re-wire the high vol pump back to its normality and hopefully she keeps runnin good like this.


Quick Question....i took my inertia switch out and the vehicule is still running..is that normal or is it supposed to shut off the low vol pump or...

 

The inertia switch is in-line between the fuel pump relay and the fuel pump(s). Both high- and low-pressure pumps are fed by the same relay/circuit through the inertia switch. You may want to get a new inertia switch or double-check / re-install it to see if it was part of the problem. I wouldn't leave it bypassed like that, because in the event you have a wreck or rollover, the pumps won't be disabled and you may end up with a nasty fire on your hands.

I hope the gremlins are gone for good this time

 

may of found the actual problem??

so my bronco's been running w/o an inertia switch for the past few days and i really havent paid attention to it, so today i went out to start it but i put the switch back in, go to turn the key over i hear the back pump prime like usual, turn my high vol pump on and started her up. Within a minute it died, i was like oh no, come on, started it again died. So then i thought ill try it w/o the inertia switch in, i unplugged it went to turn the key over never heard the back pump, my high vol was on and the bronco ran great w/o the inertia switch. So i decided to try something, i plugged in the switch, started it up, as soon as it started to die i unplugged the switch and the vehicule then stopped coughing, and brought its rpm's back up to normal and it continued to run fine...so maybe this could of been the problem?