plow truck wont stay running????
 

88 ford f150, 4.9 straight 6. it wont stay running with the COIL WIRE PLUGGED IN, IF I LET THE COIL WIRE JUST REST NEAR THE TERMINAL ON THE CAP,OR NEAR THE COIL IT STARTS AND RUNS PERFECT, BUT WHEN I TRY TO CONNECT IT EVEN WHEN RUNNING IT DIES/OR WONT START.
I REPLACED THE CAP/ROTOR, IT STILL DOES IT. INSTALLED DIFFERENT COIL/AND WIRE STILL DOES IT.
Anybody have an idea ???????

Re: plow truck wont stay running????
 

Wow, that's a pretty odd ball sounding problem there...can't say I've ever seen it, and I used to be a wrench in a Ford dealership (for years). :crazy:

Nevertheless, taking a guess I'd have to say to check grounds on this deal...a bad ground can cause some strange behavior.

Re: plow truck wont stay running????
 

ya, it makes no sence to me. plugged in wont start or stay running, loose it runs/starts perfect.im lost what to try now.

Re: plow truck wont stay running????
 

When you have weak spark, holding the wire away from the terminal will build up resistance and make the spark stonger.

I hauled in a tractor once that the previous owner rigged up wire clips to hold each spark plug wire about an inch off of each plug. Sure would have been easier to do a tune up!

I'd look for a loose connection/ bad ground. Does it have an old style coil? If so do you have the wire from the battery attached to the positive side of the coil, and the negative attached to the distributer?

Re: plow truck wont stay running????
 

oem,coil and wiring, square coil mounted on side of block,factory connecters, never been messed with. i tried an MSD BLASTER 2 COIL, and it still did it. but ill check all wires/grounds thow. I DID NOT TRY THE FACTORY RESISTOR/CONDENSER THAT IS WIRED IN SERIES WITH IT.MAYBE THAT???

Re: plow truck wont stay running????
 

I'd check that for sure.

Re: plow truck wont stay running????
 

I`m not at all familiar with these trucks,but my thought was condensor or whatever serves that purpose.

Re: plow truck wont stay running????
 

if in doubt about a ford go to www.fordtruckenthusiasts.com they know as much about fords as we do chevys

Re: plow truck wont stay running????
 

thanks for the ford site, but so far they dont know either. Everything they mention ive tried allready. still nothing. im ready to call a junkyard.

Re: plow truck wont stay running????
 

Im curious how this one ends.LOL
Like "Bus Ted Knuckle" stated Ive seen plugs that would'nt fire unless the wire was having to jump the gap, but all 6? Id still change the plugs and then the wires if that didnt fix it.

Re: plow truck wont stay running????
 

One of the Corvairs I've had had that very same problem once. Replaced everything possible in a normal tune-up. Never did figure it out. Someone said something about the key switch causing that. Might try to hot wire the darn thing, by-passing the key switch. Also try to connect a jumper cable from the block to the frame, as a test to make sure a ground strap isn't loose or broken. Please keep us posted if you find out. I'd love to know...