1987 F-150 Electrical Problem

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Oct 30, 1999 | 04:43 PM

Dave S.

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1987 F-150 Electrical Problem

My 1987 F-150XLT Laret w/straight 6 engine wouldn't stay running the other day after work..it would start and then imeadiatly die..when i came back the next day it would start and run for a while but when you got it up to about 1/2 throttle it would sputter, spit, sound like it was missing time and die. The dealership ran a code check and it came back saying check the following systems
1.Ignition Control Module
2.Ignition "Hall Effects" type sensor located in the distributer.
3.Ignition Switch in steering collum.
4.Throttle body gasket

Of theses parts which would you think would be mostly to be causing this problem...im not paying the Ford dealership to do trial and error mechanics at the tune of $550.00 to replace all these parts...I know all parts did not go out at the same time...at least logic would dictate......Someone please, give me some advice on this problem....Thanks Dave

Oct 31, 1999 | 05:10 PM

Mark H.

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1987 F-150 Electrical Problem

You could replace the gasket your self,it really isn't that hard. It is also the cheaest thing you have listed. I really doubt it is your problem but it should be fixed anyway ( it sucks dirt in and willmake the engine run lean, which could cause detonation).

I doubt it is the switch on the collum because it does run (for a while)

SoI would say it must be one of the first two things you mentioned. To be honest I doubt it is any of the things mentioned but most likly some little problem (of course no shop would tell you that) but I find it hard to belive that any of the parts failed (maybe the gasket), but unless you can figer it out your self you will have to pay the dealer to fix it.
Sorry I can't help more,
Mark-

Nov 3, 1999 | 02:27 PM

Trev W.

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1987 F-150 Electrical Problem

I had a very similar situation with my '85 302.
It ended up being that when the "Hall Effect" (aka Pick-up coil) got hot, or out of range, of sorts, it shorted and the truck would sputter and die.
It would restart a few times, until it finally died and left me stranded. Check and make sure that your distributor isn't pulling oil up into the body. This will quickly foul the pick-up coil. Hope it helps...

Nov 4, 1999 | 02:22 AM

Trev

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1987 F-150 Electrical Problem

Ok, first of all thanks for responding to my problem...Sincerly! I think I have the problem fixed though...I replaced the Ignition Module located on the side of the distributor and the truck runs fine though...how ever..for what ever it might be worth..my friends did is a mechanic at one of the local ford dealerships and he said that I should also replace the "Hall Effect" sensor..because in his experience if you replace on and not the other..the other will also go bad very soon!...now I don't know if he's right..however I'm not taking any chances!!!Im going to replace it asap!!!...incidently the ford dealership that I originally took the truck to to run code checks on quoted me an outragous price of $550.00 to repair all the stuff I listed originally, and they couldn't or wouldn't try what they thought the obvious problem was....they wanted to "rape me" on parts and labor!!! The Ignition module cost me $26.00 and took me 5-minutes to install...they wanted to charge me twice that amount as well as 1.3hours labor to put it in....lesson to be learned there!!!!NEVER TAKE YOU CAR TO A DEALERSHIP...AT LEAST NOT TO FIX THE ACTUAL PROBLEM...MAY BE TO TROUBLE SHOOT IT...BUT NEVER...WELL YOU KNOW! Again Trev. thanks for responding!!!!Sincerely Dave S.