Bronco Won't Start

[gr8scott]

Yes, according to the schematic I posted above, green is distributor negative, red is positive, and brown is ground. I see the two wires now, was the angle of the dangle

 

[Kristachio]

****Updated***** I swapped the coil out and it fired right up. I let it run for 10 mins, turned it off then started it 10 mins later. Hopped in and drove it around my block twice with no problems. Decided to take a longer drive to see what would happen and it died again 4 miles down the road. Now, when I try to start it the engine will turn over but at random times sputter a few times like it wants to turn over but it won’t.

Took the air filter off, held the gas to the floor and turned the ignition. It fired up. Pulled black cable off the battery while it was running and it died 50- seconds later. Is the alternator bad? Also why will it fire up with the air filter off but now while it’s on?

 

[rydog1130]

One other thing you can check is to see if your fuel system is vented properly. If your gas cap is too tight it may be the issue. Try running it with out the cap on or loosely on. I wouldn't drive it that way but just run it in your drive way and see if that makes any changes....good luck

 

[DirtDonk]

While on that subject. Would you recommend the MSD BLASTER 2 coil the parts store suggested I buy?

I would not use it unless that .7 ohms rating is compatible with your distributor. More thinking by those that know would be in order. Seems a bit low to me, but I don't know what the ACCEL stuff can handle.

2. Any idea what this is or if it should be connected to anything? (Photo below)

Didn't see the photo. Did I miss it?

7. Any idea why the shop would keep this on? And not do exactly what you mentioned above?

Just the usual reasons. Too busy to bother, or not important enough to bother, or maybe they just didn't know.
And since it wasn't causing any trouble they could determine, it wasn't something they wanted to have to bill you for.

I’m thinking maybe since I don’t have spark with the coil, starting there with a new one. Will the msd one work that I purchased? Then move to replacing the electronic ignition module piece inside the the distributor???

Don't start with a new coil until the old one has tested bad, or near bad during the normal testing procedures done with an ohm-meter.
It's hard to tell by testing whether it's going to go bad once it gets hot of course, but you can at least get the normal parameters out of the way and have reasonable confidence in it.
Since you already got a new one and still have an intermittent issue, keep the old one just in case. Is the new one you chose the MSD coil you showed before? If so, unless ACCEL says it's ok to use a low ohm coil, that could be another aspect of the problem that you just introduced.

I'm not sure about your wiring. Can you lay out which wires are going where on the coil? If all three wires are from the distributor, then where is the power coming from when you turn on the key? See if you can dig in there a little bit more and give us a rundown of what goes where.

And if that Brown wire is from the distributor, it does not go to either of the coil terminals. It goes to a good ground only. Should just be the Red to positive and the Green to negative, plus one more wire coming from the vehicle's wiring harness.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Oh, and even though coils do fail, yours is pretty new and I'd generally suspect an electronic trigger in the distributor before I'd suspect a coil.

And the coils are easier to test...
You can not only test them by the ohm-meter method mentioned, but by applying voltage to the positive and an intermittent ground to the negative. Every time you touch the ground wire to a good ground and then remove it, you should see (and hear!) a big fat healthy spark coming out of the coil's high-voltage wire in the center.
But this test should be done carefully for a couple of reasons. One is you don't want to leave the 12v to the coil for more than the time it takes to test (it could overheat otherwise) and two is that you don't want big sparks anywhere near the distributor module if you can avoid it.
So best to test a coil first with an ohm-meter.

Five bucks at Harbor Freight if you don't have one. Twenty to thirty for a really decent one at most other sources.
You don't need a $100 volt-meter for the type of work we do, but if you're a real tool hound, they can be cool to have too!

Paul

 

[jckkys]

This does sound like an over heating issue that occurs after running for some time and recovering after being shut down for a while. If the coil can be ruled out, the next suspect is the transistor amplifier. Where Accel put that, I don't know.
I want to add that the stock fuel filter is plenty adequate and typically lasts for decades. The clear plastic is always a bad idea. But putting it in contact with the distributor, where the rotor arcs 8 times per rotation, increases the fire hazard.

 

[Kristachio]

This does sound like an over heating issue that occurs after running for some time and recovering after being shut down for a while. If the coil can be ruled out, the next suspect is the transistor amplifier. Where Accel put that, I don't know.
I want to add that the stock fuel filter is plenty adequate and typically lasts for decades. The clear plastic is always a bad idea. But putting it in contact with the distributor, where the rotor arcs 8 times per rotation, increases the fire hazard.

****Update****

I replaced the coil, distributor/ignition and spark plug wires. It fires up on the first crack. Today I drove it 15 miles to work with no issues. I'm praying I don't end up stuck in the turn lane on my way home again. I guess we'll see if it's an overheating problem, as its supposed to be high 80's. Driving home on a hot day last time is when it died.