thank you autozone......not

[buckin-fronco]

my bronco is now running again, no thanks to the great parts at autozone.

i had been searching through the forums for weeks chasing all the "my truck wont start threads". 1. i had fuel 2. i had spark 3. i had compression. still no start, so i checked a double checked everything. on the same day i was ready to admit defeat and tow it to a shop my brother in law noticed somthing. the #1 spot on the cap(conveinently marked) seemed to not be in the location as the haynes manual depicted. his suggestion was simple, "lets move each wire back one" . so just for shits and giggles we did and guess what!?! yup! my wife gets to park in the garage again. as soon as it warmed up we hit it with the timing gun and it was dead on. So id like to say thank you autozone for a wonderful quality control department, its helped me get a very good understanding of an 85 broncos ignition system.

 

[Hopman]

There's a reason why I have a hard time trusting the "big box" auto parts stores.

Most of the time, I deal with a couple of local shops here in the Concord, NH area. One of the ones I like the most is Sanel's. Most of the guys and gals behind the parts counter have been there 10-15+ years. I believe they know what they're talking about.

 

[r1hatman]

I always swap over my plug wires when I get a new cap by the shape of the cap, I never go by marking on the cap.

 

[MrE_Powers]

I always swap over my plug wires when I get a new cap by the shape of the cap, I never go by marking on the cap.

ditto

 

[Destroyer000]

i had that same problem before with my 85 b2.

 

[Mac]

Thank goodness two of the old guys at the local Ford dealer know their stuff. Most of the good ones come up with hands on experience.
Dave

 

[RangerSVT]

I bet you 10 to 1 the Ford Motorsport cap is labeled the same as AZ's...A very good possibility and probability is that the rotor is one or two teeth off of timing...Just cause the cap is marked the same, it doesn't mean the rotor is pointed to that plug wire. If you would have taken the cap off the distributor, pulled the distributor and dropped it back in a tooth or two back, it would have lined up with the plugs...Also, a common mistake when aligning the distributor is not turning it back far enough, as when the gear teeth make contact til it is fully seated the rotor is not in the same location, it turns as it seats completely due to the fact that the teeth on the distributor gear are not straight...Next time instead of trying to align the wires with the cap, make sure the engine is #1 TDC, pull the cap, and connect #1 plug wire to the terminal that the rotor is pointing to...If it still doesn't run, then your engine is not TDC on compression stroke, its TDC on exhaust stroke, which means your wires are 180* out...Hope this helps
SVT

 

[Jason]

I always swap over my plug wires when I get a new cap by the shape of the cap, I never go by marking on the cap.

As you should. You can rotate the cap 180 degrees and as long as you move the wires, the timing will be right. The distributor is not that complex. you should thank whomever timed it in the past and rotated the distributor enough to change the wire locations.

 

[erocka1982]

i gotta tell ya, once i was that young punk kid at autozone that didnt know what the hell i was doing..lol, now i got 10+ years experience from parts stores and dealers, and now i run the biggest parts store in town with 5 trucks on the road. i like to think of myself as one of the best in town!

 

[Hopman]

Thank goodness two of the old guys at the local Ford dealer know their stuff. Most of the good ones come up with hands on experience.
Dave

Agreed. The best parts shops are the ones who have retired mechanics or guys who've been dealing with parts for years behind the counter. (see above post)

 

[Jason]

It takes a special type of guy to be a mechanic AND understand the parts business. All mechanics think they understand parts until they come work in a store and see how different it is from what they expected. Even once they understand manufacturers and how they cross years and use various designs on one year they still almost never understand the industry as a whole. That's why you get the people who say XYZ is the best and the rest suck. And someone says XYZ sucks but ABC is great. They don't realize that half the time the only difference really is the box.

Hell, I have gotten many parts from autozone that even though they were in a duralast box, still had the Motorcraft or Ford OE part stickers right on them.

 

[adsm08]

Hell, I have gotten many parts from autozone that even though they were in a duralast box, still had the Motorcraft or Ford OE part stickers right on them.

I get that a lot too. My last 2 "new napa" water pumps both at the Ford logo stamped on them.

 

[buckin-fronco]

I bet you 10 to 1 the Ford Motorsport cap is labeled the same as AZ's...A very good possibility and probability is that the rotor is one or two teeth off of timing...Just cause the cap is marked the same, it doesn't mean the rotor is pointed to that plug wire. If you would have taken the cap off the distributor, pulled the distributor and dropped it back in a tooth or two back, it would have lined up with the plugs...Also, a common mistake when aligning the distributor is not turning it back far enough, as when the gear teeth make contact til it is fully seated the rotor is not in the same location, it turns as it seats completely due to the fact that the teeth on the distributor gear are not straight...Next time instead of trying to align the wires with the cap, make sure the engine is #1 TDC, pull the cap, and connect #1 plug wire to the terminal that the rotor is pointing to...If it still doesn't run, then your engine is not TDC on compression stroke, its TDC on exhaust stroke, which means your wires are 180* out...Hope this helps
SVT

the guy i bought the truck from works as a mechanic at a local ford dealership. this is the reason i assumed that the dizzy was set corectly. really wish i saved the old cap.

 

[LittleHorse]

that 1 really does mean cylinder 1?

I've got two bronco II's, both with the 1 in the same place, and it's one spot off on both.

I saw that it didn't go to cylinder 1 on mine before I took all the wires off, so I paid no attention to it.

 

[RangerSVT]

the guy i bought the truck from works as a mechanic at a local ford dealership. this is the reason i assumed that the dizzy was set corectly...

Everyone makes mistakes...When I diagnose something, I take what the owner states he did or intitial complaint, and first thing is double check their claims...But at least you found your problem
SVT