Ignition module

[FestYboy]

Why do u say it sucks. And I got quoted only 55 for a new one from autozone

it sucketh for 2 reasons: 1) your car isn't performing as it should and therefore you can't enjoy driving it as you should, and 2) this issue may run you arround in circles without proper and thurough diagnosis (which takes time).

[FB71]

look above this thread in the Stickies. Find my thread on "EFI Distributor tester"

less than $5 of parts.

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22235&highlight=tester

[Pu241]

What FB71 said, check link below:

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22235

[Dragonhealer]

Tester

look above this thread in the Stickies. Find my thread on "EFI Distributor tester"

less than $5 of parts.

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/sh...ghlight=tester

Holy Cow FB71 !, That works GREAT !!!:wav:

[Festivachuck90]

Ok I will and today when it runs bad when I pull the battery it dies usually it can run with out the battery and the Volts only drop like 1 when it's running bad. Also when I flip the headlights on it seems to idle alittle better

[FestYboy]

WHY WHY!!!!???? are you taking the battery out of circuit with the engine running!?!?!!

i immagine you like replacing the ALT and electronics?

and just so you know why i'm flipping out on you about this: when you rempve the battery from the charging circuit, you cause the alt to go "full field" which can cause the electrical system to see more than 17vDC and they aren't designed for that. ALSO, while full fielded, the alt can produce AC voltage as well and push that through the system. a healthy charging system will see .035vAC, pulling the battery out of circuit can allow the alt to put out over 5vAC in a system that shouldnt see more than 0.5vAC.

moral of this story: DON'T DO THAT!!!

[Festivachuck90]

Went to autozone and tested the icm like 12-15 times it was heated up and it still passed

[Festivachuck90]

Ha oops my bad about the battery. Well Chevy trucks u can pull the battery and run it so I was just curious about the car and I just thought maybe the alt was bad or something not producing enough power so I tried it Won't do it again

[FestYboy]

you should never do that to ANY charging system with an alternator, you CAN do it to systems with a GENERATOR, but those aren't used in modern vehicles (late 60s to present)

[Festivachuck90]

Ok. So any ideas on what else it could be

[FestYboy]

you had the coil tested? or swapped? if the module is passing a stress test, the next part of the system that sees alot of stress is the coil. then after that is the pickup coil.

[Festivachuck90]

I was gonna just swap my coil off my 89 festiva tht doesn't run but it's not the same. So I will get the coil tested nxt. What's the pickup coil?

[Christ]

Even if the coil isn't the same, it's the same.

They all basically operate on the same principal - constant 12V power source, switched tower lead.

The only real difference is whether it's body grounded or external ground. Most canister coils are external. Ours are generally external.

Try what I told you before to test the coil. Just get a canister coil off just about anything and hook it up direct to the battery, but don't leave it powered without using it for more than a few mins.

Edit - I guess it wasn't you that I told that... Oh, well... try it anyway.

[Festivachuck90]

No I believe u did say something like tht on another of my threads I had. I just havent focused on the coil yet so I didn't remember. The old one is a cylinder type and the one in my car is square and has the square looking metal piece around the outside. So tht one would work? And what about why it idles alittle better when I put my head lights on lol?

[FestYboy]

hmmm do you have access to a DVOM (digital multimeter)?






this is what i did and it works very well.