1988 chassis

416Ford · January 10, 2020, 07:48:41 AM

What you are describing sounds a lot like the reason I run carburetors and a distributor.

Good luck with the search.

kb426 · January 10, 2020, 06:16:18 PM

I worked on this for a few hours today. I'm at the point of doing research to verify what it appears the computer has to do. Everything I did today pointed to a failure in the computer. I plugged the original unit in that wouldn't activate the fuel pump and got the same result. I don't think it's probable to have 2 computers with the same fault. Thinking time ahead.

Crosley.In.AZ · January 10, 2020, 09:10:44 PM

Yes, I agree. Complete failure is better than one that comes & goes... then some.

I had a GMC truck 1973 with intermentant electrical problem : No run or stuttering - then quitting... I crawled into the engine bay one evening with the engine runnin (454) .. I started pulling, moving , shaking wire harnesses. Found it. Harness than ran across the firewall. It had rubbed thru in a couple spots , shorting out power , but not blowing fuses.

kb426 · January 19, 2020, 06:13:17 PM

I spent several hours working on the engine harness this afternoon. I put the harness on a large table to have straight runs to trace. I went over every circuit on the engine and found nothing. Next, I'm going to run power through each 12v. circuit with out the computer plugged in to see if there's something that I can't see with eyesight. The brain is tired so I quit for the day.

kb426 · January 20, 2020, 03:40:40 PM

FINALLY!

Crosley.In.AZ · January 21, 2020, 09:47:10 PM

Quote from: "kb426"FINALLY!

I am guessing . You found a problem in the harness or ecm?

enjenjo · January 21, 2020, 10:11:42 PM

Quote from: "Crosley"
Quote from: "kb426"FINALLY!

I am guessing . You found a problem in the harness or ecm?

He's one of those guys Tony, he's not gonna tell us.

kb426 · January 21, 2020, 10:23:05 PM

Harness. After running it a little, I got curious and plugged in the original ecu. It will now run the pump circuit. This caused me to be more curious. I went and got the original distributor that had the tfi unit I had replaced. I put the original unit in and it started instantly and worked properly. I looked at the instrument panel and had no oil pressure. I pull the distributor to check the drive shaft and it's as it should be. I install the unit and start it up. No oil pressure again. I twist the connector on the sender and have a reading. I probably should have checked that 1st but because I had just pulled the distributor, I thought I may have screwed up, again. LOL I swept up almost 1/2 gallon of dirt that came out of the harness. I had to wash most wires to see what color they were.

I'm not sure the adventure is finished.

kb426 · January 21, 2020, 10:39:24 PM

Frank posted while I was typing. Not a fast process. Not too many secrets in my world. I screw up all the time and with all the pics I put up, everyone knows it.

idrivejunk · January 21, 2020, 10:45:34 PM

Quote from: "kb426"Frank posted while I was typing. Not a fast process. Not too many secrets in my world. I screw up all the time and with all the pics I put up, everyone knows it.

Hey I resemble that remark!

Its alive. I smell victory.

chimp koose · January 21, 2020, 11:16:08 PM

try not to use any mustang parts !

kb426 · January 24, 2020, 05:54:51 PM

Ladies & Gentlemen, the adventure continues!

Nothing fits. If you are surprised, go to the back of the room and be quiet.

I have 4 areas that I'm aware of that need machining. The manifold won't clear valve covers. It's not machined properly to fall into the valley to allow bolting up. The fuel lines are too close to the distributor to clear fittings at this point. For those of you that remember, this had the fuel rails on the outside. I converted it to the inside to get rid of ugly.

I'm not sure what the answer is for that, yet. The next time I heat the shop, I will disassemble the unit and stick it in the mill to correct the deficiencies. I think this could be a fight at every step of the process.

idrivejunk · January 24, 2020, 08:57:32 PM

Great Googly Moogly! :!:

);b(

348tripower · January 25, 2020, 06:55:58 AM

That sure is pretty !!!!!!

kb426 · January 25, 2020, 06:24:34 PM

One step closer today. It takes way too long to disassemble this mess.

The statement I made about fighting all the way is coming true. I had to remove the way cover from the mill to have enough room to machine the sides. Due to no memory, I'm numbering parts in order on this.

The base is bolted on. I'm going to have to get hex head studs for the center 4 fasteners. I had cut that area as much as I dared when I worked on this the 1st time. I can get 12 point bolts in but can't get a wrench on them. More thinking tomorrow dealing with the fuel lines.