Gary Lewis

My understanding is that typically an HEI setup runs full battery voltage to the coil and the module sinks it. Not sure what the E-coil does to that in this situation, so I may be wrong there. But the typical use gives a hotter spark - from what I've read. However, I've not done it.

Yes, it can be made to retard, but you have to build a circuit to do it. DS-II does it on its own. But, HEI gives a hotter spark. So, is it worth it? I dunno. But a heat sink is probably needed. You have lots of current going in, which is good. But it creates heat.

Ok, I'l make plans to change the trans fluid then. Thanks Gary. I might just swap the output seal anyway if I can get the driveshaft out. I might try to get the thing up one some blocks...maybe some 2x8's or something, at least gain another couple inches of clearance...going to need it for the diff cover. Blocks? Not concrete blocks I hope? I'm sure you'll do it safely. On the ATF, get the opinion of others as well. You just got mine. But, my experience includes the Jeep my SiL bought. I rode with him one day and he had to gun it to get the reverse clutch to come in, and even then it slipped the whole way out of the driveway. I asked him if it always did that and he said yes. I suggested we stop at the parts store, but not to park downhill in a parking place. We got a bottle of the additive and put it in and drove home. The next morning it backed right out of the driveway like a new one. And shifted better - for about a month. I'd told him that would happen and that he'd need to have the fluid changed. So he took it to two different places that told him it would ruin the transmission. I told him to take it to a third one and NEVER go back to those two places. He did, they changed the fluid, and it performed perfectly the rest of the time he had it, which was probably two or three years. My understanding is that ATF contains a component that causes seals to remain pliable and actually swell a bit. But that over time it looses its ability to keep the seals soft and pliable, so they stiffen and leak. Some of those are internal and some external. The internal ones cause poor shifting, and the external ones cause leaks. I don't know what the parameters are that cause it to loose its potency, but I always assumed that it is time and heat. So, when buying a used vehicle I change all fluids, and especially ATF. More so on big, heavy vehicles that might have caused the fluid to get hot when the torque converter isn't locked up. Ask Bill about the EEC's propensity to unlock the E4OD's clutch. And, while you are at it, ask him to compare that torque converter's slippage with a C6's converter. He'll tell you the E4's converter has a much higher slippage, which creates lots of heat. Which is why his EEC is programmed to not unlock until 80% throttle. So, do you know of a heavy vehicle? Do you know how it was driven? And it was used for towing? How often the fluids have been changed?

The HEI modules need a lot of current and really should have at least a #12 wire run to them, and preferably a #10. Which means there should be a relay brought in by a key-on signal. Given that much current there's got to be quite a bit of heat. So you might want to provide some kind of heat sink for the module. That's where the DS-module's case could come in handy. Or mount it on some aluminum or sheet metal. There have been reports of better performance and MPG with the HEI module, usually associated with larger plug gaps. But one downside is that there's no retard function when starting like the DS-II has, which my previous 460 certainly needed.

Congrat's!!! Good job. That must be a huge relief. As for the E4OD, I'd for sure change the fluid, which might fix the leak. My experience is that the seal swell additive in ATF fails after a while, and new fluid revives that. And if you can get to the diff, I'd change that as well. You never know how much water might be in there. Wheelbase - no clue.

Are you saying you put the HEI module in a Duraspark housing? If not, where did you mount it?

Today I added 9 pages to the site, all provided in Documentation/Literature/ by the following: Shaun/salans7: Miscellaneous/1995 F-Series Brochure Miscellaneous/1996 F-Series Brochure Clifton/Cliftonk: 1980/1980 Interior & Exterior Colors 1982/1982 Exterior Colors 1984/1984 Exterior Colors 1985/1985 Exterior Colors 1986/1986 Exterior Colors Edward Michael: 1981/The 21 MPG Pickup 1981/21 MPG & 2530 Load Clifton - The '84 brochure is too large for my scanner so I'll take it to my friendly scanning people, soon. Thanks, guys!

I typically shy away from additives, aka snake oil. But I do use certain additives for specific problems, like Seafoam for transmissions that have gummed up. Or seal sweller for transmissions that leak and you just don't have time to change the fluid. But it is hard to deny that guy's experience. I've watched several of his videos and he is usually pretty scientific in his approach. So I believe it happened. However, you have to think about what the problems might have been for an additive to work. I'm guessing that the rings were stuck and the additive somehow broke them loose. In other words, it happened to work for that engine, but I seriously doubt it would for one that was completely worn out or had broken rings. So, I think I can say that the right additives can work for certain specific situations.

I'm pretty sure no one sells them new. But did you not see David's post a few minutes ago? http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Automatic-shift-indicator-non-overdrive-used-td60415.html

I've seen them for sale before, though I know not where. But they are listed in the MPC:

It is a good question to ask, for sure. Hopefully someone will come along that knows, soon. And the weather does look delightful. Glad you had it for that roofing job, which looks like you've done quite well.

Yep! Been there, done that. Literally at the age of two. Was standing beside Dad as he drove and I turned the key off. He reached up and turned it back on. BAM! He said it blew the exhaust right off of it.

So that's what you want for an avatar?

Cory - The '79 Mustang fits, so I'll bet that's what it was. But I think a good blue-grommet one with the retard function will work well for you. David - I can see how that would work. But you'd have to be careful and not crank long w/o ignition or you could flood it.

If it is under load at part throttle then it is probably too much initial advance. But, has someone disabled the EGR system?

Our page on ignition (Documentation/Electrical/Ignition) doesn't list the white grommet box, but it has a link to Bob's Garage Library which does. It gives it as: Part # D9FZ 12A199-A ID # D9EE-12A244-A1A /A2A Motorcraft # DY-250 And there are links on that page to something called FTE. Oddly enough, there's a guy on there called Rusty_S. I think this may be Groundhog Day. Anyway, I assume you found this page: https://bzerob.com/library/ford/ford-DS2morenotes.html It does say 14 degrees and "very early 80's carb 2.3t". But the "D9" suggests its usage started in '79.

Afternoon! Hope your weather is better than ours here in Okiehoma. It feels like we are on Old Blighty - it is 50F and rainy. Anyway, let me see if I understand the question. You want to change to 16" wheels, but are planning to change to a larger tire? Otherwise why not go back with the stock offset? As for measuring, I can't 'cause my F250 has a different front axle and different wheels from stock. But maybe someone else can?

Welcome!!! Looks like Jim and Cory have you pointed in the right direction. Around here we like to use factory documentation instead of aftermarket. While there can be errors in the factory docs, there are far fewer of them since the Ford techs were to work from them. Having said that, sometimes the factory documentation assumes a level of understanding that might not be there, and the aftermarket publications provide. As the guys have said, the blue grommet box is the standard DS-II box. And unless your truck was built to be sold in California or at a high altitude that's what it should have had on it. And no MCU. So timing is simple - pull and plug the vacuum advance, loosen the lock bolt on the distributor, and with the timing light showing the marks on the balancer against the timing pointer turn the distributor to get the correct timing. However, tell us more about the popping. Under what conditions? Going up a hill or coming down? I ask because if it is under load, like going up a hill, it may be a breakdown in the plug wires, or a bad plug. If it is coming down hill it is more likely due to carburetion.

Pretty truck! I see why you want to paint yours like that.

Excellent!

I'll take "Runs good now" to mean the problem appears to be solved. Right? If so, yippee!

Yes, I think 24' might be the max. I'll have to measure the boat & trailer, but the boat itself is 25'. It hangs off the back of the trailer at least 2' and the tongue extends past the bow by maybe 2'. So it is probably 29' from ball to prop. And I'd not want to turn either set of kids loose with that w/o several hours of driving instructions. But with brakes on both axles it stops well. And the electronics on Blue that gives sway control sure helps. Had a couple of times on the trip when a semi went by us rapidly and there was just a touch of sway. But the system brought the trailer brakes on just a touch and took the sway out immediately. (It wasn't going to be a problem as I wasn't about to back off since I saw him coming, but it was comforting that it was there in case I had.)

Ahh! Yes! That's something I can't fix as it is deep within Nabble. But, I'll offer to create avatars for people that need them. Send me the pic and describe what of it you want in an avatar. Better yet, post it on here and I'll get it from the post.

Glad the process worked. On the pics, have you read about how to include them? Bullnose Forum/Forum FAQ's.

That's what I was thinking - too high.