Distributor option

[guy5979]

I have never hooked up or used the distributor you are going to buy. I am going to make the assumption it has the module to drive the coil inside it already, and the red wire is battery power, the black wire goes to the coil. If we assume this, then I will use the picture of my setup when I was using the GM HEI module with the DSII distributor. The picture will give you a point of reference.

You will cut the original darkgreen/yellow stripe wire going to the coil, and splice in the black wire from your distributor. point "B" in the picture below. My truck had two darkgreen/yellow wires going to the distributor, because I replaced the distributor connector a couple of years ago.

You will splice the red wire from your distributor (bat +) to the coil + wire. This is shown in the picture as point "A". You will notice it is more of a y connection, since power still needs to feed the coil AND feed the module inside the distributor.

2.8 hei conversion by D Franklin, on Flickr

I did this and now it won’t turn over it has power to the key the radio comes on and the dash lights it won’t even try to turn over

 

[Shran]

I did this and now it won’t turn over it has power to the key the radio comes on and the dash lights it won’t even try to turn over

Sounds to me like you have lost power from the ignition to the starter solenoid. Find the small red/blue wire that clips onto the starter solenoid and see if you have voltage there when trying to crank the engine over. I did a Duraspark swap earlier this year and had the same thing happen, that wire lost its ignition power somewhere during the harness removal and it was a very easy fix to splice a piece back in and get it running.

 

[franklin2]

Yep, sounds like a little too much wiring cleanup went on.

 

[ISX_15]

You do not need another control module like the DSII or the HEI module. This distributor has the module made inside it. Think of it like a pertronix module that replaces the points in a old style points distributor.

Later on i want to replace the coil with something nicer and clean up the bay. Does that harness to the coil look factory? Either way green to coil neg and red to red?

 

[franklin2]

Yes, that looks factory. The TFI module mounted on the distributor drives the coil.

 

[ISX_15]

Yes, that looks factory. The TFI module mounted on the distributor drives the coil.

so when i replace the distro, leave the factory connector to the original distro unplugged and just tapped the green and red?

 

[franklin2]

Yes, tap into the red/green that goes to the coil. That will still supply 12v to the coil, and your tap will supply the same 12v to the new distributor red wire.

There is a darkgreen/yellow dot wire that goes to the negative of the coil. This wire made it's way to the TFI plug originally. Cut it with some length to it, and tie this wire to the new distributor black wire.

 

[ISX_15]

Yes, tap into the red/green that goes to the coil. That will still supply 12v to the coil, and your tap will supply the same 12v to the new distributor red wire.

There is a darkgreen/yellow dot wire that goes to the negative of the coil. This wire made it's way to the TFI plug originally. Cut it with some length to it, and tie this wire to the new distributor black wire.

so closer to the distro those are what im tapping into? Obviously going to do this once i have the new non feedback carb installed. Just making sure i know exactly what im doing. Sorry for all the questions. Once this is done what harnesses can i remove from the engine bay? Vacuum solenoids? Etc..

 

[ISX_15]

 

[ISX_15]

And does anyone recognize what this yellow black harness for? Left unplugged.

 

[franklin2]

View attachment 129765
so closer to the distro those are what im tapping into? Obviously going to do this once i have the new non feedback carb installed. Just making sure i know exactly what im doing. Sorry for all the questions. Once this is done what harnesses can i remove from the engine bay? Vacuum solenoids? Etc..

Yes, that is the spot. But drop back about 6 inches or so away from this connector for the red/green tap. And move 24 inches or more away from this connector and cut the green/yellow dot wire. It will stay plugged into the coil, and the far end of the green/yellow dot you cut will go to the black wire on your new distributor.

Once you do the swap and get it running good, you can get behind the pass side kick panel in the interior, and pull the computer. Unplug the large wiring plug to the computer and pull the computer out.

Then take the computer wires, and push hard where they go through the firewall, there is a large rubber grommet that will push through leaving a large hole. Take the large computer wiring plug, bend it around as tight as you can, and shove it and the wiring through the hole.

Then fish this harness up the fender into the engine compartment. Anything connected to this harness can leave. All those solenoids on a bracket on the pass side fender can leave. And sensor on the engine, carb, etc that is hooked to this harness can leave. Just gently pull on the harness, unplugging things till it is free. You will find a hot wire or two connected to the starter solenoid. You can snip these and tape them, and use them later for power if you need to.

There may be a ground here or there that has to come loose. Once the harness that was hooked to the computer is free, toss it, you are done. If you keep track of the components that the harness was plugged into, those can leave also.

 

[ISX_15]

Yes, that is the spot. But drop back about 6 inches or so away from this connector for the red/green tap. And move 24 inches or more away from this connector and cut the green/yellow dot wire. It will stay plugged into the coil, and the far end of the green/yellow dot you cut will go to the black wire on your new distributor.

Once you do the swap and get it running good, you can get behind the pass side kick panel in the interior, and pull the computer. Unplug the large wiring plug to the computer and pull the computer out.

Then take the computer wires, and push hard where they go through the firewall, there is a large rubber grommet that will push through leaving a large hole. Take the large computer wiring plug, bend it around as tight as you can, and shove it and the wiring through the hole.

Then fish this harness up the fender into the engine compartment. Anything connected to this harness can leave. All those solenoids on a bracket on the pass side fender can leave. And sensor on the engine, carb, etc that is hooked to this harness can leave. Just gently pull on the harness, unplugging things till it is free. You will find a hot wire or two connected to the starter solenoid. You can snip these and tape them, and use them later for power if you need to.

There may be a ground here or there that has to come loose. Once the harness that was hooked to the computer is free, toss it, you are done. If you keep track of the components that the harness was plugged into, those can leave also.

Gotcha thank you. Any idea what harness that is mentioned? Yellow black wire. Is it for my washer fluid or something other?

 

[ISX_15]

Yes, that is the spot. But drop back about 6 inches or so away from this connector for the red/green tap. And move 24 inches or more away from this connector and cut the green/yellow dot wire. It will stay plugged into the coil, and the far end of the green/yellow dot you cut will go to the black wire on your new distributor.

Once you do the swap and get it running good, you can get behind the pass side kick panel in the interior, and pull the computer. Unplug the large wiring plug to the computer and pull the computer out.

Then take the computer wires, and push hard where they go through the firewall, there is a large rubber grommet that will push through leaving a large hole. Take the large computer wiring plug, bend it around as tight as you can, and shove it and the wiring through the hole.

Then fish this harness up the fender into the engine compartment. Anything connected to this harness can leave. All those solenoids on a bracket on the pass side fender can leave. And sensor on the engine, carb, etc that is hooked to this harness can leave. Just gently pull on the harness, unplugging things till it is free. You will find a hot wire or two connected to the starter solenoid. You can snip these and tape them, and use them later for power if you need to.

There may be a ground here or there that has to come loose. Once the harness that was hooked to the computer is free, toss it, you are done. If you keep track of the components that the harness was plugged into, those can leave also.

Can this distro swap be done with feedback carb or is it best to wait on the china non feedback carb? Ive figured out what most of the harnesses are mentioned earlier. Once I get all of the parts I need I will replace the wire harness conduit with techflex.

 

[franklin2]

Can this distro swap be done with feedback carb or is it best to wait on the china non feedback carb? Ive figured out what most of the harnesses are mentioned earlier. Once I get all of the parts I need I will replace the wire harness conduit with techflex.

You can swap the distributor and leave the carb. I ran mine that way, it runs ok. But my fuel mileage improved when I went with the china carb.

Also, you will run into warm-up problems. You may have to nurse it some till it warms up.

1st off, the feedback carb has a electric choke run by a relay. This relay is controlled by the computer. Mine had gone bad long ago, and someone had wired the choke wire to the alternator white/black. This worked fine. If your choke is still hooked to the relay, you will need to move the choke wire to the white/black on the alternator. You can also use this same wire when you get the china carb.

2nd, the choke again. On the feedback carb, they only have one fast idle step on the fast idle choke cam. After that the computer controlled the fast idle till it warmed up fully. I took a file and made another step in my feedback fast idle cam and got by. The china carb will have the conventional fast idle cam with all the different steps in it for warm up.

But it would not surprise me if none of this stuff worked on your feedback carb anyway. Over the years things tend to go bad as you are finding out. It surprised me how much better the fuel mileage was with the conventional china carb. I found one that had 1.14 venturi in it. That is the smallest I could find in those knock-off carbs. The original carb in the late 70's had 1.08 venturi. But it worked fine with the 1.14 venturi.

 

[franklin2]

And does anyone recognize what this yellow black harness for? Left unplugged.

If it's black/yellow (more black than yellow) then it went to the A/C compressor clutch.