Question: [EG] "Has anyone got or know where to get a harness to tie the duraspark unit to the distributor."

Answers:

[RO] "Ford sells the connections, but not the complete harness. You will need to make the connections yourself but, the plugs are not cheap. I think about 30 clams for the pair, with no color coded wires. just black."

[5L] "I've made my own harnesses by locating "donors" in a wrecking yard. Tons of em there. I've also made a harness to go between the MSD and Duraspark distributor...looks OEM."

[EG] "I got my wiring diagram out. Hell, im going to cut the plugs off, spice wire, put it in a cover and run it. will look better anyhow.

would not mind having one of the plugs so the distributor can be removed without cutting wires."

[MDR] "...use the male to female connectors and you will be able to remove the dist. w/out cuting wires. I also used the duraspark system and made my own harness."

[CW] "If using an MSD ignition module with the Ford Duraspark distributor, MSD markets an adapter cable, PN 8869. CarPartsOnSale.com sells them for less than $12.00."

[EG] "you can also get a connector called a std 4 wire trailor connector. If the big end is under the rubber boot and the 4 colored wires are inside a cover, no one would know the difference. 3-4 bucks."

[DV] "Scenario:
Old 302 all rebuilt with "point distributor", upgraded yesterday with OEM electronic. Runs great. Here's the problem: Under wide open load the tab inside the rotor, that fits into the dist. shaft is breaking. Ok, it wasn't down tight-replaced with new and same problem.

Checked shaft, and it's not bent, checked the roll pin -no problem, rotor and shaft are not moving up under load. Measured the base cap and dist. cap, all the same height.

Now here's the kicker, inspection of the posts inside the cap and the contact on the rotor, neither show any signs of "hard" contact, not so much as a ding or a scratch, just the normal "burn" marks on the posts.

What am I missing? I have never even heard of this problem before!"

Comments:

[DS] "One of two things may be happening, the shaft may not be exactly true and at higher rpms the wobble is great enough to cause shear OR the gear has some sheared or missing teeth which will cause the same problem. Had a similar problem on a Barracuda with a 6 pack some years ago."

[DV] "Great tips, but we have already done a "run-out" on the shaft and it is fine, the gear is new and shows no sign of abnormally. Remember.. there is no sign of "contact" between the rotor and the cap! This is crazy!"

[RB] "It would be nice if you had one of them old distributor machines! The kind we use to use to set the springs and dwell with on the old mechanical adv. distributors. You could then spin it at speed and see if it was doing anything strange.

You have tried a different distributor complete with cap, etc?"

[DS] "If the gear and shaft are ok, then examine the undersurface of your cap for any abnormalities.... chance are you wont find one. Try spraying the undersurface of the cap with a powder spray deodorant like Arid or Arm & Hammer. Wipe the contacts clean and gently blow the remaining powder residue that's free, off. Start the engine and high rev. If the shaft or any part of the mechanism is hitting at any time, it will leave a scrape mark in the powder. The shaft has to be elevating in order to cause shear, it's just hitting a bind/blind spot that you can't see!"

[DV] "I'm going to spill the beans...sort of!
The rotor was moving up, but within specs.. it was the back side of the rotor catching a slot cut into the ribs of the cap. The ribs are notched at the vent. Contact was absolutely minimal, and impossible to see in 15 degree temps at 4 am!

Here's your information - see who can solve the problem! 

THE "Boy", (yes, I have one of those too!) changed out his distributor and installed the first rotor. When it snapped the inside hub, under full load, he replaced the rotor.

Car started and ran just fine. Back to the 4 lane dragstrip. Nailed it and POW blew another rotor. Same break as before - the hub / knob what ever its called, inside the rotor that fits into the shaft.

I will tell you this: ALL measurements from run-out, to Dist. gear where checked and came out just fine. All attaching hardware fell within specs. So... why did it blow two rotors?"

[DS] "When the shaft was installed and fixed, the ring or bolt that secures the distributor was either not in place properly or too loose allowing the shaft to move upward due to centrifugal force with higher rpms. The old ball at the end of the string theory!"

[DV] "But, you Sir are on the right track!

The distributor was installed and mounted correctly.

A major hint: The second broken rotor was directly related in the breakage of rotor #1. Now this should be easy....hmmmmm"

[WC] "There was still a piece of #1 stuck in/on the shaft before the installation of #2!"

[DS] "I have to go along with Wade on this one. Either there was a piece left in the cap or it was the WRONG rotor. The only remaining possibility would be a defective cap that had a lowered contact point inside the cap which would cause a high point, especially after pushing down on the plug wire."

[DV] "After another 2 hours of scrutiny under the hood, I pulled the Distributor again. We checked all the things that you should check, again, still finding nothing. Keeping in mind this was a new Distributor and all greased up, including the felt gasket inside the shaft where the rotor fits. I start fiddeling around with it trying to see if there was anything there that might keep the rotor from dropping all the way down.

Lo and behold, with my trusty little pocket knife, but what do I find buried in the grease? A bright red chunk of plastic from the first rotor! Broken Rotor #2. SHOOT THE BOY! A small piece, but none the less a piece. He now admits, or at least is almost positive that he simply did not have the first rotor down tight...Broken rotor #1. Being cold as all get out and in the early wee hours of the morning, he overlooked all the broken pieces.

ME: "Boy, did you get all the pieces out of the Distributor before putting in the new rotor?"

BOY: "Of course Dad!" In that all knowing typical sarcastic voice."

When it came in, it took a small distributor cap. I was expecting it to take a large. But, what the heck?? Did not think much about it. Just bought the cap and button to fit.

I was trying to get it to seat in the hole a few minutes ago. It will not. Upon closer examination, the shaft is about 1/2 inch shorter than the 89 dist that came out of the car. Also, the end of the shaft is a few thousands larger than the original one, which i guess is the reason that it will not seat. Glad it wont seat, it would probably not turn the oil pump because its too short.

any ideas on what autozone has sold me??? It has the duraspark, pointless setup.

I like the folks at Autozone, but their computerized lookup methods leave a lot to be desired."

Comments:

[WP] "Take a 1/4" 6-point socket, tape it to an extension (sucks when they fall off) and turn the pumpshaft down in the hole 1/8 turn and try to re-install the dist, some times the shaft doesn't line up with the when the shaft rotates as it engages the cam gear."

[t50] "Auto Zone has sold you a piece of junk is what you have. Never NEVER NEVER buy stuff like that at auto ZONE. I've never seen the right one yet, Except from ford. The 85 dist was made in one year and only on 5 sp cars, IE very very rare and hard to find. IF it didn't come out of a ford box, from a ford dealer, and a ford part, DON'T USE IT. PERIOD. 85 carb dist are gold if you can find one used and auto zone don't care about your engine. I bet the gear isn't steel either, as the 86 and newer dist they sell aren't. All their parts are junk junk junk. SO bite the bullet, go to your ford dealer, and order it else you re in for big troubles."

[EG] "The gear looks like steel. Its gray?? Weren't the others bronze?? I don't actually have one of the pre roller gears to compare to.

I'm afraid you are correct. I was surprised when they actually said they had it in the first place. Had to go back to a 79 to get a cap that would fit it.

I've still got the gear that came off my 89. I had assumed i would have to put that gear on an 84 distributor to get right.

Why is the damned thing shorter than my 89 distributor??

but the NEW distributor is 1/2 inch shorter than the 89 but "fatter" on the bottom end. I'm not trying to time it yet, so i stuck it in in may different ways. Never did go in. I'm afraid the next guy (third post) is correct. THEY SOLD ME JUNK.

It would SEEM to me that my new distributor would have to be identical below the O-ring to work.

BTW, I can stick the 89 back in and it immediately seats. NO PROBLEM"

[t50] "go to ford go to ford goto ford. The Grey gear is iron and the short shaft is an older dist. prob from a 78 or 79 granada. They get cores, from junkyards , bead blast them put them in a box , and then sell them to you. how many 85 roller motors do you think are in junkyards anyway? ill tell you the answer, none. I worked at one, hahahh. the correct steel gear should be very smooth and caramel colored and have a yellow paint mark on it. I'm sure your old original one is this way, take a look. Then order a new one from ford, it s the only way to get the right part. IF its still available. good luck STEVE PS there is no bronze gear, its to soft and will chew up.

about the extra length on the oil drive end of the dist. Its to pickup the oil pump drive before the gear meshes with the cam, for easier installation. Why they never did this 30 yrs ago is beyond me. It eliminates "bumping over" the engine to get the dist in all the way. you can pull the dist up a little out of the block and turn the thing one tooth with out loosing the oil drive. Its hard to engage the gear and the drive at the same time. DO you understand? Its for the assembly line engine builders and us mechanics to give us less gray hairs."

[Au] "I got mine from NAPA and they had to order it from their Atlanta warehouse. I doubt that anyone has a 1985 dizzy in stock. I would take the autozone part back and order from a NAPA store(I paid $53.95 plus core charge)"

[EG] "Went to Ford, Went to Ford, Went to Ford.

It was discontinued in Aug of 97. The parts man is going to see if there is one in the system. I doubt it."

[M3] "While you're on the subject of distributors, I bought one for my 351W (I told the AutoZoning guys the application was an '88 F150 5.8L) from AZ. What kind of problems can I expect? What aspect of the rebuilt units makes them junk? Gear material, bearings, machining tolerances? How's this thing gonna break? Application is the FFR used mostly for commuting with some occasional road racing and autoxing thrown in for fun."

[t50] "if you have a roller cam you are in trouble, you need the steel gear. If not, then it will probably work, its just a cheap rebuild and i know where they get the things and how they are handled in the process like being thrown into barrels and sandblasted and then the id factor. where do they get the cores and such and how do they identify them. Once they are out of the motor, who knows what it really is? I have just seen too much Junk biding sold thru these discount auto parts stores its depressing. Who wants a warranted for life starter if you have to change it every other week because it goes bad all the time. Ever wonder why a brand new cars stuff all lasts so long and then when you replace it the replacement only lasts six months?"

[ms] "if you go get a 302 rebuilt dist 39 bucks exchange and then order a steel gear from ford racing or mustangs unlimited 42 bucks for a roller cam like you have. then also order the pertronics electronic drop in module that replaces points 60 bucks and also get the pertronic high voltage coil 28 bucks. A ford racing teck and mustang tecks said it would work just find. i am about to do the same as i am also going to a carb on a 91 gt 302. you will then use a older style cap and have no big boxes to contend with"

[EG] "I dropped by autozone at lunch. They had a distributor just like mine with a cast gear. I could not tell the diff.

I am assuming the gear from my 89 computer distributor is steel. I can see mill marks on it. Do the cast gears have ANY mill marks. It would help if they had a number.

The steel gears, are there any surfaces that are not machined?? Like the Collar where the rolled pin goes thru??

I am afraid I'm getting more confused here on this subject, not less

The new distributor is not fatter than the old one. its the same. Its just that the 89 (that came out of my computer donor car) has about 1/2 inch extra end to it below the machined area. Will the shorter one turn the oil pump, If i can get it to seat???."

[2414] "When i bought my 85 duraspark dist. from our local auto parts joint (Murrays) i asked for an 85 carb 5 speed dist, the guy asked if it needed a cast or steel gear, i said steel, ordered it and on the next day it was in my hands. Correct plugs, correct gear, nice solid reman distributor, and it fits. So if you got the wrong part, which happens, take it back, tell them its wrong, have them order one until its correct. Yea its a hassle but so is this whole non donor route. I've got junk from the dealer too."

Mounting the Ignition Module

Q: Where should I mount my ignition box?

Comments:

[ac] "Mounting in the engine compartment is ok but the best place to mount it is on the passenger inside top footbox panel or behind the dash on the firewall panel. Keeping it cool and dry is the best thing for it."

[pm] "Mine is mounted between the dash and firewall over the passenger side; away from heat."

[RT] "I've never had a problem with it mounted on the drivers side F panel, driven on long trips which included rain."

- Click to enlarge -

[SB] "I mounted my MSD box on top of the pass footbox covering FFR's hole for the lg wiring harness (firewall) grommet and relocated those wires through the pass side (firewall) dash area. I could never understand why one would want to route the bulky harness into the pass footbox and then have to bend it upward behind the dash when it just makes more sense to put the grommet thru the firewall. One of the many times I strayed from the build manual!"

[HR] "the best place to mount your MSD is someplace inside the cockpit. However,if you take this route you may want to cut the main hard wired leads which will be routed through your firewall till death do you part. Upon severing these wires, attach some high quality weather-pac connectors, soldering all joints of course. This will allow you a fairly painless removal and re-installation of the new unit when you find this one crapping out on you right out of the box. Along with leaving those perfectly loomed and run wires in their original resting place."

How to test a MSD blaster 2 coil

Question: [st] "I am trouble shooting the MSD ignition in FFR 2202 and have a problem. (no spark). I have tested the input to the msd box and have both battery power and ignition power. How can I test the coil. The manual says that I can't put a meter across the coil with the MSD box attached but can I ohm out the coil to see if it is defective?"

Comments:

[ka] "Are you using an MSD ignition box? Such as 6A or 6AL? If so, there is a white wire used for a points type distributor. The MSD ignition box instructions say that you should place the end of the white wire near a ground while turning during startup to see if there is a spark produced. If there is no spark, then your problem is b4 the coil."

[ca] "Short of touching your tongue (don't do that!) to the wires the best bet is to reconnect the coil to the efi harness and bi-pass the msd box. I ended up going through 2 6al's which according to the msd guys were defects in the boxes and they graciously replaced them. After the second box blew I replaced the computer and distributor as well and no probs since. I don't know what was to blame but it was a great excuse to upgrade the EFI and TFI systems."

[RT] "

[1775] "www.msdignition.com website includes a troubleshooting manual section. Also a local race shop may help. My box was tested on a hand held computerized MSD tester which electronically revved my 6AL to 10,000 rpm.
The tester hummed as the box revved. It tested the spark output capacity at all rpms."

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