Happy New Years and ignition wiring questions

[dirtymac]

The wires coming off the distributor seem ok as does the plug attached the to them.  Same thing for the Duraspark module -- its wires and plugs seem ok.  Everything between the two, including the coil adapter is either falling apart or almost there.  The pre-built harness is a bit more expensive, but it would save me a lot of time and hassle.  I also don't know that I trust my crimping skills that much.

I did find more of the plugs with the links you sent me.  I also found them a few other places cheaper.  Napa just wants a fortune for what appears to be the same thing.

[ArdWrknTrk]

What "pre-built" harness are you talking about?
To the best of my knowledge Painless only offers a KIT.
Because they would have to make different ones for 300, 400/351M, 460, 302+351W and the odd little V-6 (I forgot it's displacement).

[dirtymac]

Sorry about that, the kit is what I was referring to.

[ArdWrknTrk]

No need to be sorry. 🙂

I just didn't want you to think that you were getting a harness, that didn't need crimping, and all the rest of it.

[dirtymac]

Right.  I gathered from their product image there would be crimping involved.  As soon as I get the time, I.m going to open the current bundle of wires up and clean everything so I can see what is what.  I'm sure there are places online where I can order whatever color wire I need, which could be an option.  I'd love to keep the colors the same as the factory ones to make diagnosing future issues easier, but I'm not even sure how helpful that would be.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I was just acknowledging that you don't trust your crimping skills....
Keeping the loom colours correct definitely helps identifying things at a glance.

Buying a (good) dedicated crimper goes a long way to making a solid connection.
It doesn't have to cost a small fortune.

[dirtymac]

My crimping skills probably are not as bad as I think they are.  Until recently, I used the same crimper I got from a blister pack at Autozone in the 90's.  The new pair I have is a bit bulky but it does work well.  I forget that I have it sometimes and still have nightmares of the old one.

[BigBrother-84]

Sorry, I was away.

I read that the thread is pointing to the "entire harness" replacement solution, am I right?

Anyway, even if not relevant, I confirm that, when I replaced the stator, I also replaced the harness connector.  All NAPA purchases.


I crimped using waterproof heat joints PLUS a shrinkable sleeve over each one.



I did the same for the new ignition module (also replaced the harness connectors).

Plus electrical water repellent grease in the connectors.

Not a new harness, but at least the connections are clean and water protected.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Jeff, do you have a number for that NAPA harness connector?

That's the one plug I haven't been able to identify (and it's not available in the Motorcraft pigtail catalog)

[BigBrother-84]

Jim, I'll verify in my bills (I keep all of them).  Should be able to find it.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Thanks!  

It could be useful for others in the future, reading this thread.

[dirtymac]

I haven't made a definite decision yet.  I was leading toward the kit but I'm still open to doing the wires and pigtails if I can find the pigtails.  The distributor side plug is ok.  The other side is bare wire.

I appreciate the info and pictures!

[dirtymac]

I had another look at the Duraspark II Ignition Harness from Painless.  They have a downloadable manual.  From what I can tell, it does seem like it's mostly made up.  The plugs all seem connected already.  They do provide some connectors but some of that is for the included resister, which I don't think I would need.

I emailed them for additional information.  Here is a link to the manual:

https://www.painlessperformance.com/Manuals/30812.pdf

[85lebaront2]

If you have the factory resistance wire then you won't need the resistor, it is primarily for the coil.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Thanks for that!
I haven't looked in probably two decades.

The more you know! 🌠

[dirtymac]

I looked through the diagram Jim sent and then I looked through the truck and didn't see an actual resister.  At least not anything like what comes with the Painless harness.  I'm not sure where it would have been mounted, but i looked all over the firewall and fenders.

[85lebaront2]

It is in the dash portion of the harness and once the EFI 5.0L engines were introduced, Ford was building a "universal" gas engine front harness in the Bullnose trucks. The left (driver's) side plugs were set up so the resistance wire was there for none EFI engines but when the EFI engine harness was plugged in provided 12V in both start and run to the TFI ignition system.

[ArdWrknTrk]

It's a thick pink/red wire w/ green stripe in the upper left under the dash cover.
Matt Wood* has pictures of it here on the Forum.

https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Pre-Emptive-FIRE-tp58908.html

[dirtymac]

I ordered the Painless harness and it arrived this week.  I won't be installing it for a little while, but thought I would share some pictures of it and some comments.

The build quality seems really nice.  It appears that each wire is labeled.  The print is tiny, but so are the wires.  All of the connections to the sockets have heat shrink.  Everything is bundled together like the factory harness.

The two sockets on the Duraspark side are sealed up like the factory sockets.  The distributor socket is not and I'm not sure if the factory version is.  All three sockets look like they are pretty durable but they're definitely lighter than the factory versions.  Same for the coil adapter.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Will.  Those do look good.  Maybe Painless is the one to talk to about a 3G harness.