Coil or Ignition Control Module Bad?
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New User
Joined: Jul 2010
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From: Bay City, TX
Coil or Ignition Control Module Bad?
Hello Everyone,
I just purchased a 1974 F100 in Price, UT with only 18,400 original miles! I drove it all the way home to Bay City, TX stopping in Arapahoe, CO at my father in laws to swap out the points to a petronix electronic ignition with a flamethrower coil. In the first 80 miles the truck died 4 times and would start right back up after I pushed the wire on the coil. Once I reached Oakley, KS the truck never died again until I reached south Oklahoma. Then the truck kept dying right away and I put the old coil back on and it made it home fine. Anyways the truck ran rough around 60 mph and it was really hot on the trip. Could this be a case of a bad coil or is the early signs of a ignition control module going bad? Thanks in advance for everyones help.
I just purchased a 1974 F100 in Price, UT with only 18,400 original miles! I drove it all the way home to Bay City, TX stopping in Arapahoe, CO at my father in laws to swap out the points to a petronix electronic ignition with a flamethrower coil. In the first 80 miles the truck died 4 times and would start right back up after I pushed the wire on the coil. Once I reached Oakley, KS the truck never died again until I reached south Oklahoma. Then the truck kept dying right away and I put the old coil back on and it made it home fine. Anyways the truck ran rough around 60 mph and it was really hot on the trip. Could this be a case of a bad coil or is the early signs of a ignition control module going bad? Thanks in advance for everyones help.
Junior User
Joined: Feb 2010
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In my experience, pertronix ignition systems do not take to heat well. I'm assuming you have an ignitor or ignitor 2. I have had them both and both times I had to swap back to points. They would be fine for a while, then after they got older they would get sensitive to long periods of driving. When you turn off the truck or the truck dies, the module seems to cool down long enough to fire back up and drive for a while longer. You could hear it missing more and more the longer you drove. Could have been a bad coil though too. Ignition systems are usually trial and error as far as swapping parts out to fix the problem. Each part can cause the same symptoms.
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Joined: Apr 2007
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all you need to do is install the duraspark electronic ignition that came on the trucks in the later 70s....it puts out a ton of power, is reliable as all hell, and available for practically free from any junkyard. Grab the distrib and control module and the harness that goes between the control box and dist. The box gets 12v switched on from the car itself, so I wouldn't worry about fishing out the entire underdash harness...just cut off the cable end that goes into the cab, then connect a 12v key on to it when you get it home.
EDIT: the later years are the 351m/400. I'm not sure what engine you have.....they put duraspark on other units...the 80s 351's and 302's had the duraspark that you can grab a dist from. If you have a 460 then you're cool too...not sure about any other engines
EDIT: the later years are the 351m/400. I'm not sure what engine you have.....they put duraspark on other units...the 80s 351's and 302's had the duraspark that you can grab a dist from. If you have a 460 then you're cool too...not sure about any other engines
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Joined: Feb 2010
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I feel your pain. I'm stationed in Louisiana right now and it's like walking on the surface of the sun. I've had good luck with points, just have to keep them maintained. I do have an MSD box hooked up to them though lol (temp fix for now.)
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New User
Joined: Jul 2010
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From: Bay City, TX
My truck has a 360. My gut is telling me that it is probably the ignition module. Everything on the truck is 36 years old and I am expecting to do a lot of this over the next few months. I love these trucks because you don't have to be a genius to work on them and they can do just about anything.
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