Ford F834 Posted July 30, 2018 Author Share Posted July 30, 2018 It sounds like the pickup in the spare dizzy is bad. That's about all it could be. And I agree you've not fixed anything, so the problem will come back. However, if you moved a wire that was broken or shorting then it might not come back until you move the wires again. The pickup modules can start failing when they get hot. And from what I've read they quit and then come back again pretty quickly. But it is all or nothing. No bogging down as if running out of fuel. Just on/off. Gary, I should probably replace it just because... it is hard to tell if it’s on/off or not, because it may need to roll start itself after cutting out. I do notice that depressing the clutch and tapping the throttle seems to help it to come back after a stall, but often it happens so quickly that all I know is it died, then started running again. This may be a coincidence, but it seems to happen most often on gradual uphill runs, and seems to happen after a brief stop such as buying fuel or grabbing a coffee. Probably ~not related, but my tach sometimes works sometimes is completely dead, but does not correlate to the stalling. So... if I go to buy a distributor, what would you recommend? I see remanufactured, new, and new with a built in ignition module. Any brand preference or one to stay away from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 Gary, I should probably replace it just because... it is hard to tell if it’s on/off or not, because it may need to roll start itself after cutting out. I do notice that depressing the clutch and tapping the throttle seems to help it to come back after a stall, but often it happens so quickly that all I know is it died, then started running again. This may be a coincidence, but it seems to happen most often on gradual uphill runs, and seems to happen after a brief stop such as buying fuel or grabbing a coffee. Probably ~not related, but my tach sometimes works sometimes is completely dead, but does not correlate to the stalling. So... if I go to buy a distributor, what would you recommend? I see remanufactured, new, and new with a built in ignition module. Any brand preference or one to stay away from? I don't have any experience with distributor brands. But if you are replacing the dizzy I'd go for one that is correct for a truck with whatever EGR setup you'll have. In other words, if you will have EGR then go with the correct one for your truck. But if you won't, drop back to one that doesn't have EGR. That way the advance curve will be close to what you need. As far as with or without a builtin ignition module, one built in would cause you to rewire. Do you want to do that? It would be easiest to leave the current module on the fender. But if your wiring is toast then maybe it would be time to rewire. But another option is to just replace the pickup in the dizzy rather than the whole dizzy. You can do that in situ and not even change the timing - although you should check it as it could change it slightly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1986F150Six Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 It sounds like the pickup in the spare dizzy is bad. That's about all it could be. And I agree you've not fixed anything, so the problem will come back. However, if you moved a wire that was broken or shorting then it might not come back until you move the wires again. The pickup modules can start failing when they get hot. And from what I've read they quit and then come back again pretty quickly. But it is all or nothing. No bogging down as if running out of fuel. Just on/off. Jonathan, you describe the problem as stalling and starving for fuel... what about the sock/filter on the pick-up tube? Maybe under certain conditions [speed/load], sludge blocks the fuel flow??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford F834 Posted July 30, 2018 Author Share Posted July 30, 2018 I don't have any experience with distributor brands. But if you are replacing the dizzy I'd go for one that is correct for a truck with whatever EGR setup you'll have. In other words, if you will have EGR then go with the correct one for your truck. But if you won't, drop back to one that doesn't have EGR. That way the advance curve will be close to what you need. As far as with or without a builtin ignition module, one built in would cause you to rewire. Do you want to do that? It would be easiest to leave the current module on the fender. But if your wiring is toast then maybe it would be time to rewire. But another option is to just replace the pickup in the dizzy rather than the whole dizzy. You can do that in situ and not even change the timing - although you should check it as it could change it slightly. My wiring isn’t too bad... and no, I’m not exactly hoping to re-wire. I just didn’t know if there were some huge advantages to be had by going to a different ignition set up. If no, then I prefer the stock components. David, I was thinking along the lines of a clogged pick-up... especially since I battled random stalling with my 1966 truck. It drove me insane until I finally found the culprit: a 1.5” square piece of a plastic bag that was sucked half way into the uptake tube inside the tank. That was a hard lesson on how a blockage could behave randomly. This is also why one of my last resorts was going to be dropping the tank and having a look inside. I had not given it a lot of priority, since I have had no issues under high demand circumstances (3rd gear pull up a 18 mile stretch of 6% grade with the camper for instance)... but blockages can be fickle and behave in odd ways. That said, the randomness with long periods of “good behavior” is making me think it’s electrical. Time will tell. This may be the first time I actually miss the old points and condenser ignition... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 My wiring isn’t too bad... and no, I’m not exactly hoping to re-wire. I just didn’t know if there were some huge advantages to be had by going to a different ignition set up. If no, then I prefer the stock components. David, I was thinking along the lines of a clogged pick-up... especially since I battled random stalling with my 1966 truck. It drove me insane until I finally found the culprit: a 1.5” square piece of a plastic bag that was sucked half way into the uptake tube inside the tank. That was a hard lesson on how a blockage could behave randomly. This is also why one of my last resorts was going to be dropping the tank and having a look inside. I had not given it a lot of priority, since I have had no issues under high demand circumstances (3rd gear pull up a 18 mile stretch of 6% grade with the camper for instance)... but blockages can be fickle and behave in odd ways. That said, the randomness with long periods of “good behavior” is making me think it’s electrical. Time will tell. This may be the first time I actually miss the old points and condenser ignition... The DS-II system is pretty good, so I don't see a big advantage to changing. I would change out the pickup just for grins since it is about the last bit you've not done. On the fuel line, you can blow the sock off the pickup be putting air into the line looking back at the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford F834 Posted July 30, 2018 Author Share Posted July 30, 2018 On the fuel line, you can blow the sock off the pickup be putting air into the line looking back at the tank. Gary I’m not quite sure what you are saying here... I did blow into the fuel line and heard bubbles come out in the tank. Are you suggesting this forced the screen off and may be causing a problem? It behaved the same before and after blowing into the line... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1986F150Six Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 On the fuel line, you can blow the sock off the pickup be putting air into the line looking back at the tank. Gary I’m not quite sure what you are saying here... I did blow into the fuel line and heard bubbles come out in the tank. Are you suggesting this forced the screen off and may be causing a problem? It behaved the same before and after blowing into the line... What Gary had described is what some Ford Technicians used to do. They used enough pressure [with gas cap off!] to literally blow the sock off. They then put a filter inline between the hard line and the fuel pump. Jonathan, I will give you my distributor which I took off for the NOS one I located [a few months ago]. The one I am offering is the one I have had while driving for all the time we have known each other. It is the one Gary worked on and has been recurved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 On the fuel line, you can blow the sock off the pickup be putting air into the line looking back at the tank. Gary I’m not quite sure what you are saying here... I did blow into the fuel line and heard bubbles come out in the tank. Are you suggesting this forced the screen off and may be causing a problem? It behaved the same before and after blowing into the line... Sorry, had missed that you'd done that. Assuming you have a filter in the line, like David suggested, all should be well on the fuel line. As for the dizzy, David's would be a good match, wouldn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford F834 Posted July 31, 2018 Author Share Posted July 31, 2018 What Gary had described is what some Ford Technicians used to do. They used enough pressure [with gas cap off!] to literally blow the sock off. They then put a filter inline between the hard line and the fuel pump. Jonathan, I will give you my distributor which I took off for the NOS one I located [a few months ago]. The one I am offering is the one I have had while driving for all the time we have known each other. It is the one Gary worked on and has been recurved. So if you have a clogged pickup screen... you are supposed to blow all that crap back into the tank along with a dislodged ‘sock’? after my experience with the plastic bag fragment I think I would take the time to drop the tank and remove the screen manually, or replace it with a new clean screen... but it must work out if that was a standard practice. David, if you are willing to part with your old distributor I may be interested in it if you will let me pay a fair used price for it. I don’t know how much you have invested in it with the recurve etc., but we can talk about it via email. The one question I have is it DSII or does it have its own module? I will probably have to do something in the interim (maybe change the pick up as Gary suggested) since I must haul water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 So if you have a clogged pickup screen... you are supposed to blow all that crap back into the tank along with a dislodged ‘sock’? after my experience with the plastic bag fragment I think I would take the time to drop the tank and remove the screen manually, or replace it with a new clean screen... but it must work out if that was a standard practice. David, if you are willing to part with your old distributor I may be interested in it if you will let me pay a fair used price for it. I don’t know how much you have invested in it with the recurve etc., but we can talk about it via email. The one question I have is it DSII or does it have its own module? I will probably have to do something in the interim (maybe change the pick up as Gary suggested) since I must haul water. Blowing it all back into the tank doesn't sound like a good approach. However, it was done frequently. I'm thinking it was just kicking the can down the road, though. Surely at some point all of that yuk is going to plug a filter or mess up the carb - if not the pump itself. So dropping the tank and cleaning things would be the best approach. But if you don't have the time, and if you don't know that's the problem, then maybe blow air back through the line just to see if that changes the symptoms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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