Duraspark madness in an 85!

[85b2]

Alright, im freakin out. Ive never stared at something so long and just been worked. Ive been tryin to get this 85 bronco 2 working with the duraspark. So far i have bought a duraspark module, a ford motorcraft carb with 1.08 venturis and #50 jets and rebuilt it. Now, the wiring. Im stuck with this mess of wires and like four that i actually need out of it. What do i do with the mass of wires, just cut them all? Pull the computer? I dont know. The instructions say to get rid of them? Just unsure how to isolate the temp, alt, choke and oil press sensor wires. Stuck. Any help would be awesome

 

[kimcrwbr1]

At the 8 wire connector by the coil strip the harness back to the alternator you will see what wires to save and what to eliminate Basically you only need to cut one or two wires to eliminate the computer harness. I started at the computer and pulled the plate where it goes thru the firewall and cut the plate loose and filled the hole with black rtv silicone and put it back into the firewall.pull all the computer wires loose back to the alternator and take the solenoids and vacuum stuff out. There is a 8 wire connector by the coil strip it back to the alternator as I said only one or two wires went to the computer cut those wires long for future use and save the oil pressure, water temp 1 wire and alternator wires keep the coil connected you can use it with the duraspark setup. You can use the computer power wire for the module red wire same wire as for the coil pos. The white wire from the module you can hook direct to the start wire on the start solenoid small terminal. Then you just hook the three wires from the dizzy to the module black is ground the other two dont matter then hook the green from the module to coil neg. I found running smaller jets helps alot on both performance and economy right now I`m running #43 jets and have alot more power on the upper end just adjust the idle air for the highest rpm/vacuum pressure possible at 10 DBTDC on the timing. Installing a new carb spacer felpro # 60529 surface the cab base good and flat and a new gasket between the spacer and the carb will make life alot easier. GL

 

[76spit]

I have to admit when I Durasparked I was a bit freaked out also. I followed the tech article instructions, pulled out the wires for the dist., temp and oil gauge, layed the rest over the fender and cut everything else. I figured some how I'd lose my reverse lights or something but low and behold everything worked. The ran a wire for the choke off the s terminal of the alternator. Remove the brain and all the vac/elec solenoids. The instructions in the article were dead on.

 

[85b2]

Alright, im going to give it a shot tnight. Thank u so much for your help. Hopefully i can get this thing running.

 

[85b2]

getting somewhere...hopefully

Ok, so i think im getting there. I got the computer and all the wires out but i still am a bit perplexed. Im probably just being a newbie to a car with only a handful of wires, but what do i do with the oil and temp wires? Also i have two wires off the coil im a little unsure about. In the picture its the green wire with a capacitor on it (i think) and the other is the red one with a connector that used to be hooked up to some emissions crap. Im asssuming this one is no longer used, but correct me if im wrong. In the second pic, ive shown where the computer was hooked up and this is where I am now drawing power for the coil and everything else that hooks into that. Im just making sure I don't blow something up. Red wires scare me

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Did you cut the wires going to the water temp and oil pressure no one said to do that. The second pic red wire is hot all the time if you connected the coil pos to it disconnect it you will drain the battery and the engine will not shut off. Remember I said any wires you cut from the 8 wire connector long how are you gonna hook anything to the connector now. One of those wires is key on hot for the coil pos and module red wire. The green wire from the coil is direct connection to green on the module nothing inbetween. It should run alright without the white wire connected to the module you can hook that up later if need be. Once you have hot to the coil and the module key on hot just hook the three wires to the dizzy your module wire may be different color than the dizzy just connect the black to black and the other two dont matter if they are reversed the are just for the reluctor coil or (pickup coil).

 

[85b2]

Oh man, yea i cut those wires. I thought i had to remove the computer and those wires ran to the computer so i seperated them out and cut them about six inches from the computer along with everything else and removed all the wires and left the oil and temp connected to the sensors. Do i have to reinstall the computer and hook those back up, but leave all the other wires cut? Kim, i found a post you had on another thread where you wrote out a wiring diagram for using the stock coil. So, what i have is the red/lt green from the eight connector to the red coil pos and the red module (and to my hot always wire i need to remove). Then i have the red/lt blue from female connector going to white module, then green coil to lt green module and the rest is for the dizzy. Get wednesday. I also left the alt wires that are at the eight wire connector. Now is the red/lt blue wire my key on power? And if so, do i not need power from another source? Thanks in advance. Im definitely kicking my own ass n this one

 

[kimcrwbr1]

If you use the second color wiring diagram in the tech library for the duraspark conversion that is for the 85 BII and ranger and be kind of confusing. Your goal is key on hot for the module and coil posative that comes right off the 8 wire connector. The two wires for the oil pressure and water temp also went to the 8 wire connector you will probably have to cut them from the other side of the connector and put them back together I believe they are color to color. For the white wire on the module the easiest way is to just hook it to the starter side of the start solenoid that way it only gets power when the starter is running. That will retard the timing for a quick start. Do you have overdrive the easiest way to switch it is manually with a light to tell you it is on the tech library will tell you your other options also.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/2_8Duraspark.html heres the link to the duraspark conversion

 

[85b2]

So it's been kind of a headache with this bronco ii. I got a new module at autozone, redid all my wiring following the forum instructions regarding the duraspark conversion, but I think I must be missing something. I can't seem to get spark out of it. I have checked voltage to the coil with the key on and it was getting something like 11.8 volts, which may be a little low because of the battery, but I figured it should be enough to get some spark. Is there a good way to check the condition of the coil? I would think it is fine because the truck ran before I went got into this duraspark conversion. Also, is there any fuses that may have blown when I wired it improperly, or possibly some ground for the distributor I'm missing? Thanks for advice

 

[kimcrwbr1]

To check the coil put a spark plug in the coil wire to the dizzy and set it on a good ground. Turn the key on and with a jumper wire short coil neg terminal to engine ground quick touches it should fire the plug every time you touch it to ground. If it fires the coil is good. Keep the plug on the engine ground and crank on the starter if it fires hook the wire back to the dizzy and put your timing light on #1 plug wire and see if you can see your timing mark while cranking the engine. If not keep putting the timing light on different plug wires until you see your timing mark. Use that tower for #1 plug wire and set your firing order from there. the engine should run.

 

[magganrchy]

Old Carb?

I have a Bronco 2 named Pete.

I'm kinda new at this stuff, mostly done a lot of brake jobs and fuel pump swaps on family cars. Armed with a Haynes manual, a few beers, and a bunch of spare time I set out to get Him running and I did. Unfortunately Pete tends to eat exhaust valves, blow through Exhaust manifold gaskets, and run unfortunately weak. He also gets about 11 mpg.

I recently noticed that the Ignition timing stays at 10 deg BTDC through the entire RPM range. The Wire Harness is a mess of splices and ugliness and I would prefer to switch to a mechanical solution (Duraspark 2). My funds are limited and Pete is my daily driver (22 miles to work and back round trip, farm roads no highways).

Would I run into any major troubles if I Alter the Ignition system today (Distributer, coil, module, yada yada) and the Carb after a paycheck?

I fully intend to do the whole conversion but My main question is Will he be drivable with the stock feedback carb, and the duraspark 2 igniton system for a week or so.

I was an engineer student till funds ran out and I understand the basic principals of heat and air pressure, it seems to me that a late timing would cause a lot of heat energy to go unused in the power stroke and cook my exhaust system in the exhaust stroke... therefore I dont want to run him like this (with no spark advance) for longer than I have to.

Thanks