2.3 died on highway

[kimcrwbr1]

you can test the pickup coil in the distributor but does sound like that could be the problem did you verify a good ground to the distributor base to the ground pin on the TFI while it is together

 

[kimcrwbr1]

to test the pickup coil in the while it is in the distributor from the dist base to the hall effect ground 0.0 ohms hall effect power 12K and pip 13.1K or close stick a jumper wire in the slots if you can`t get your test probe in there. for a remote mount you just run three jumper wires male spade in the distributor and mount the tfi on a solid flat surface with a good ground and put heat sink grease between to disperse the heat away from it. you need to pull the distributor to change the pickup I believe just punch the roll pin out of the gear and it falls apart then make sure you put a new o ring on when you put it back in just note where the rotor was when you took it apart

 

[BogusSVO]

when you have the dizzy cap off.. reach down and try to twist the rotor, it should only move about 1/8 inch, more than that and I would say the teeth on the dizzy and the aux shaft ahve wore and fail.... This has happened to me several times..
if it passes the twist test, spin the engine over on the key and see if the rotor moves smoothly.

the PIP is a PITA to replace, you have to press off the dizzy gear and dissasemble the dizzy, I would say hit the pick and pull and just grab another dizzy, any TFI dizzy from any 2.3 will work, Ranger, mustang...

also the cheapo TFI moduels are junk, get a motocraft, if you did not apply enough dieletric goop to the back of the TFI it will pop in a sec or two,
I would say take both of them to the parts store and have them tested, have them test them about 6 times back to back, sometimes they test good cold, but once they heat up they will fail.

 

[sdw]

The pain in the buttness of changing the PIP is not inspiring me. I was hoping to get it done tomorrow morning before work now I don't know.

And with the best hockey game ever, being played tomorrow I don't want to do it tomorrow afternoon.

Grrrrr

Sean

 

[stackz]

when you have the dizzy cap off.. reach down and try to twist the rotor, it should only move about 1/8 inch, more than that and I would say the teeth on the dizzy and the aux shaft ahve wore and fail.... This has happened to me several times..
if it passes the twist test, spin the engine over on the key and see if the rotor moves smoothly.

this is what I'm thinking the problem is.

 

[sdw]

when you have the dizzy cap off.. reach down and try to twist the rotor, it should only move about 1/8 inch, more than that and I would say the teeth on the dizzy and the aux shaft ahve wore and fail.... This has happened to me several times..
if it passes the twist test, spin the engine over on the key and see if the rotor moves smoothly.

If this is the case wouldn't that mean I still would have a spark just at the wrong time?

In my case I have no spark at the plug but can get spark, through the testing methods, at the coil, and the TFI checks out ok.

Sean

 

[kimcrwbr1]

are you sure you have the right rotor and cap if your getting spark at the coil it should go to the plugs also is there any burn marks on the rotor or cap probes

 

[BogusSVO]

no.. the spark will stop and skip and be at the wrong time... the gears are not meshing like they should...

this is the PIP...

what may have happened is this....

see how the teeth on the gear is missing.... if this happens, the aux shaft will need to be replaced..

beacuse the teeth on the gears are damaged or missing...

if this is the case... you will be better off replacong the dizzy and the aux shaft.

I would get a dizzy from the pick and pull and grab the aux shaft at the same time. It will be cheaper and quicker than trying to find a gear and/or buying a PIP

if it is just the pip.. then the gear has to be pressed off(no a hammer will NOT work, you will mushroom the shafty and the oil pump drive will not fit.

I would say pop the dizzy off and look at the gear.. if the gear is good then to check the PIP, I plg the dizzy back up and pop the cap and wires back on, turn the key of the truck to "run" and watch a spark plug.. then just spin the gear on the dizzy with your fingers. if you get the plug to spark.. the pip is good.. if no spark.. then no good....

 

[sdw]

First thing I'd like to say is I really appreciate all the suggestions everyone gave me. I also have a '91 Supercoupe and this forum is equal to the sccoa and our home forum sccowc in every way.

Here is what I learned.

Like many DIY'rs I looked at the forum and I jumped to some unproven conclusions based on what commonly fails.

Really learn how to use a digital VOM. My skills with this tool improved during this episode. Had I taken some time to really understand the scales It would have saved me time and money.

It is very clear from the forums that the TFI is a common point of failure. My error was not clearly identifying this part as having failed. I immediately went AHA this will be it.

When I went to the auto parts store I did take my VOM with me to test the new part. THat was actually pretty smart. Unfortunately I screwed up on the scales and the new TFI tested just like the old one. I begged off buying it and bought a coil instead.

Big mistake since the new coil didn't fix my problem. So compounding the first error i went back and bought the TFI because I figured it had to be that. Wrong.

Went back to the technical articles took my time and read through the TFI testing pages until i really understood what was happening. I did all the tests just like it said except for the PiP test because I didn't have the correct tool.

Everything in the ignition chain tested out good. I could generate a spark by grounding out terminal 2 in the TFI plug, that left only the PiP.

When I pulled the distributor I found the vanes were hitting the hall switch. I suspect this is what led to the failure.

Thanks to contributions to this thread I was prepared to get the gear pressed off at a machine shop around the corner of my work and replaced the PiP.

Back to the truck after hockey and 30 minutes turned the key to success.

The final score:

TFI $110.00 Not Required
Coil $86.00 Not Required

PiP $38.00 Required
Machine shop $10.00 press off, press on.

Add in three days of using very poor mass transit and missing the Canadians putting the spank on the Russians. It was not a good intro to my new Ranger

On the plus side this forum is great and I look forward to learning lots more about this truck. And now with all new ignition components I'm good for a few years.

Sorry for the long reply but the lesson I learned is don't jump in, sit back, understand all the test procedures and go slow. Had I done that I would have been back in my truck on Monday instead of Thursday.


tks again

Sean

 

[kimcrwbr1]

So it was the pickup coil after all do you know what part of it failed because normally it would be the last thing to fail that is why you test the coil then the TFI then the pickup coil. I learned the hard way also I changed the TFI then the pickup and found out it was the coil like way backwards. But I did not know about TRS and stumbled through the repair manual and not thinking any of the emissions was working I unplugged most everything and ran on limp mode for two years. duh I am so glad to have durasparked it with a real carb now I can tow my boat with no problems now

 

[sdw]

Since the vane was hitting the PIP I suspect that is what caused the failure. Either heat build-up from the tic tic tic or a physical failure.

Sean

 

[BogusSVO]

they just seem to swell every so often.. mine failed about 2 days after I had pressure wased my engine... I wonder, have you recently clean your engine bay.. or drove thu some deep puddles?

 

[sdw]

I had just bought the truck a few days earlier so I'm not sure. I don't think the engine bay had been washed but it does rain a lot up here in Vancouver.

The old PiP did not seem swelled so I am going with the physical failure theory.

Sean

 

[bobbywalter]

but....


i would like to add i have replaced pips on high mile dizzies just to have them fail again within 10 k. so make sure the shaft good and tight.

generally after several experiences of that scenario i replace the dizzy with atleast a reman if it is over 150 k.