1978 Ford F-150 4WD, 351M - stock, 4-speed.

Yesterday, I was getting ready to pick up a trailer about 50 miles away, letting the truck idle while I put some things in the bed. As I was about to leaving, walking around the front of the truck to get in, it was idling a 700 rpm, then it just died, exactly like someone turned the ignition off - no sputtering, just died. Then it wouldn't start - it would crank but never hit.

Went to get the trailer in another truck, got back home 6 hours later (had some trouble with the trailer), decided to see if the '78 would start - fired up immediately, ran great for 10 minutes, then just died suddenly exactly like it did in the morning. I tried to start it, started perfectly, ran perfectly for about a minute, died, wouldn't run the rest of the day.

This morning, started perfectly, ran perfectly. I didn't have time to let it run long, but I'm sure that it would die randomly again. At least, there's no reason that it wouldn't. As it is now, I'm afraid to go anywhere in it.

It has gas, I pulled the coil wire and checked the connection, then put back on, tapped the ignition module, checked connections, took of the distributor cap and looked at the pickup. Everything appears good.

I have no idea where to start. Please give me some ideas. Thank you.

 

Sounds like the classic ignition control module going bad scenario.

 

My '79 with a 351m used to die when the ign module got hot, usually running down the highway at 55mph, pull over and wait 5-10 mins and it would crank up and run fine, I changed my ign module and it solved it.

 

Can these be tested? If not, I'll just buy one. Looking at O'Reilly's, I can get an unfamiliar brand for $33 (Limited Lifetime Warranty), a BWD for $71 (Limited Lifetime Warranty), and a Motorcraft for $85 (1-year Warranty). I'm leaning toward the BWD for $71 - I've always been told that you get what you pay for, and it seems to be most of the time. What do you think?

 

The cheap one is, most likely, a Wells - I've been running one of those for about a year now and haven't had any problem - I still have my old one available, though, just in case...

I've run BWD stuff before - can't really tell a significant difference in quality between it and other brands I've tried... The Borg-Warner Select series seems to be of somewhat higher quality, though...

 

+1, what I was thinking based upon the thread title before I ever opened the thread.


PS: The BWD will serve you well.

 

I had a starter solenoid doing the same thing in my truck. I think it was why I was able to buy it as cheaply as I did.

 

I recommend STANDARD PLUS brand, that's the brand I use in all electrical parts, iginition coil, pick-up coil and ignition module.

 

Thanks. I'm about to go pick up a module. Is there anything that can make the module go bad?

 

Heat seems to be it's biggest enemy, however all componest are on a time line based upon time, use, and conditions (hot/cold/wet/dry etc).

 

I have had a lot of these go on my trucks also. What I ended up doing years ago was mounting a second one right next to the one already in the truck. Then when I was out of town or somewhere not near a parts store and one went bad, I just unhooked the quick connect from one and plugged it into the other. No tools needed and a 2 min fix on the side of the road at 3 am in a snow storm. The only other random cut out I can remember is when I had a bad plug on the distributor wires. Just a few inches off the distr, there is a few wires that go into a quick connect. The quick connect got worn out and it took me a few days and some embarassing stalls to find it. I eventually replaced both ends of the connection but in the meantime I wrapped a ziptie around the connection to hold the two pieces together/

 

Got a BWD Select, CBE7, tonight. I plan to put it on tomorrow and see if it fixes it. Thanks.

 

Let us know how you make out!

 

my buddy had an old chevy with almost the exact problems your having and it turned out to be a stopped up cadilitic(no clue of correct spelling) converter. we cut the converter off and it ran like a champion. i dont even know if these trucks have converters or not tho.....

 

That would be CATALYTIC, but don't feel bad we all do that, and I have yet to see a spelling bee champ on here.