I recently acquired a 95' F150 auto 5.8L, it ran great at first, past emissions with flying colors, all maintenance has been performed since I bought it about a month ago. But I have been having intermittent ignition issues for the past week or so and haven't been able to find the problem. Issue is two fold, first part is that on cold starts, after the truck has been sitting overnight I get no spark, if I crank it for 2-3 minutes then the spark will pick up, the truck will start and run fine. Other issue is that spark will randomly cut out and kill the engine while I'm driving, this has happened 4 times over the course of a week, seems to happen more when its hot out but it happened once when the truck wasn't even fully warmed up. If I pull over and put it in park it will start right back up and run fine. These issues both started within 1-2 days of each other so I have to assume its the same thing causing both of them. At this point I have done the following:

-cleaned every plug/ground and checked every connection on the wiring harness
-cleaned all corrosion off of all of the ignition components
-replaced plugs, wires, cap, rotor, coil, tfi module and ignition switch

The only other things I can think to try is replacing the distributor and engine computer, both of which are pricey. Any help will be much appreciated.

 

Welcome to FTE damesta,
Our Ford trucks like Motorcraft brand replacement parts -
This era trucks prefer MC copper core sparkplugs, MC wires, MSD caps, MSDrotors and MSD coils - this information is for future reference only.

The computer could be suspect, also check the alternator output and for proper function.

 

Did you replace the coil before or after the issue arose?

 

All of the stuff listed was after this issue arose in an attempt to fix the problem, I did some maintenance when I first got the truck but not recently and I hadn't done anything to the ignition system before these problems arose.

 

Thanks, I hadn't considered the alt because the battery voltage is good and staying charged. I don't see how an alt issue could cause it to randomly stop sparking like this.

 

Any other ideas? Other than the dizzy or computer?

 

Would not think the computer could cause this problem.
If it happens and you have no spark pull out the SPOUT jumper and if you now get spark then yes it might be the computer.
I would think you either have a bad plug on the coil or PIP sensor in the distributor.

 

Thanks, I will try that with the SPOUT. I was thinking about replacing the distributor because the PIP/stator is the last thing, other than the computer, that seems like it could be causing this. I thought about just getting a new stator but everywhere I've read says to just get a remanufactured distributor and not bother replacing it because of the problems people have with the rebuild.

 

If you have a press and the knowledge and can do the work yourself it is not hard to replace the stator. Just make sure you mark the position of the gear on the shaft so it goes back on in the same position.
It seems when they rebuild the distributor they do not replace the stator if it test good.
Others have reported on here that they had to take the distributor back up to four times to get a good one.
To me the hardest part is taking the distributor out and putting it back in. I take them apart all the time with no problem, that is the easy part for me.

If you unplug the computer and crank the engine and at any time you do not get spark then it is NOT the computer causing no spark. The only way the computer can cause no spark is if it is shorting one of the wires to ground that is going to the Ignition system.
The Computer only monitors the Ignition system and changes the spark advance and the dwell on the 94-96 F-series.

Make sure you check that push on plug with the two small wires on the Ignition Coil as it can cause your problem also.

 

I have checked that plug more than once. I went ahead and pulled apart the distributor and installed a new PIP, you were right, took about 20 minutes total, 15 of which were spent getting the gear off. Reset the timing and it feels good, hasn't died yet but I'm not convinced it's fixed just yet either, have to wait a few days and see if it does it anymore.

 

Let us know if it works out OK in the long run.