2.9L Reality Check: Highway capable?

[rusty ol ranger]

great topic for 'round the campfires this summer ... "well, you see, there's this thing Ford botched called a TFI, and..."

I personally dont think it was so much ford, yes it was stupid putting it where they did, but all the cheap, half assed chinese built TFIs around nowadays make the problem 100x worse

 

[19Walt93]

Yeah, TFI modules react weird to heat. Autozone and some other parts stores used to be able to test them and I was always told to run the tests until the module got warm to the touch, which was usually 3-4 times. I also learned to test new ones. Some would work fine the first 2-3 tests then fail miserably. Let it cool and it works fine again. I believe the only one of my trucks that still has one on the distributor is my 88 Bronco II and I’ll probably remote mount it when I get that truck back together.

Autozone's "testing" is about the same quality as their parts, you're better off having a witch doctor test it. I worked at the dealer from 1975 through 2017 so I saw TFI's whole life span and we did have to replace quite a few. I owned several TFI Fords and the only one that ever failed was on the 89 F150 I owned for just over a decade. There are 2 keys to extending the modules life- only buy Motorcraft and use the dielectric grease on the backside where it mates to the distributor body to help with heat transfer.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

When i worked at autozone 15 yrs ago the screen on the alternator machine would ask you if it was a duralast/valucraft alternator or "other".

Guess which ones read "fail" 9/10 times?