ESC to non ESC help - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

mhorning · 02-20-2004, 04:26 PM

Well I finally bought an edelbrock 1904 carb and I'm about to change out my quadrajet. I was reading the directions on the 73-87 site and I see that it says that there are four wires on the ignition module. I looked at my truck (86 k10) and see that my distributor has only three wires going into the module. Now when I bought the truck someone replaced the engine, do you guys think that they may have also replaced the distributor? Or does the 86 k10 only have three wires? If so what should I cut to make the conversion?

Mike

Slonaker · 02-20-2004, 05:27 PM

If you have an ESC distributor, it will have a giant plug (1.5 inches or so across) hanging off the passenger side of the distributor that goes, I believe, to a hole in the firewall.

There was a pic on 73-87.com that showed which wires to cut that would let you know what the giant plug looks like, but the link seems to be dead.

Slonaker

Slonaker · 02-20-2004, 05:48 PM

Here it is. It is almost this big, too.

mhorning · 02-20-2004, 06:04 PM

slonaker,

so this isn't the wires that come out from the distributor and plug into the bottom of the distributor cap (the one's to the coil).

Slonaker · 02-20-2004, 06:30 PM

No, the ESC plug is a separate plug. The plug you see above hangs off the side of the distributor. If you unplug it from the harness, the plug still hangs several inches off the distributor by the wires you see in the photo. This is in addition to the wires that plug into the distributor cap from the bottom. Those are on all HEIs, and don't leave wires dangling if you pop the wires loose.

If you still had it, you would probably know it. It is so big that you can't miss it.

I hope this makes sense. It is hard to describe without a pic of an ESC distributor pulled from the vehicle. If you need a pic of an ESC distributor installed, I can probably take one of mine.

Slonaker

beaterC10 · 02-20-2004, 06:33 PM

I had the ESC on an 83 and 84. Those trucks had an extra connector that plugged into the distributor along with the power lead. I replaced the distributor with a non-ESC and left the extra plug disconnected.

Slonaker · 02-20-2004, 06:37 PM

I found this photo of an ESC distributor on the internet:

The giant plug on the left identifies it as an ESC distributor.

Slonaker

mhorning · 02-20-2004, 09:53 PM

Well,

I found the plug coming out of the firewall. It is dangling in mid air. Always wondered what it went to. It looks like my distributor is a non-esc. It doesn't have the second plug that you indicated. I'm guessing the previous owner must have made the switch. I stuck the new edelbrock carb on and it runs great. This actually explains a lot. My old carb was the M4Med with the electronic mixture solenoid thing on the the top of the carb. Now I'm wondering if it ran like crap because someone had tried to run it without the original ESC connected. Would that affect it, especially at cold temps? Anyway looks like another mystery has been solved with my truck. I can't believe how much better it runs with the edelbrock. Thanks for the info.

Mike

**swervin ervin** · 02-21-2004, 12:04 AM

The M4MED is not a computer controlled carb, so no mixture control solenoid. The thing you are speaking of is the dual capacity pump solenoid. So, no, the distributor had nothing to do with the carb. But, if the solenoid was not hooked up, it was in dual capacity accelerator pump mode all the time, instead of only when cold. This for sure won't help gas mileage and would probably make it run crappy.

02-20-2004, 04:26 PM	#1
mhorning Registered User Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Corning, NY Posts: 158	ESC to non ESC help Well I finally bought an edelbrock 1904 carb and I'm about to change out my quadrajet. I was reading the directions on the 73-87 site and I see that it says that there are four wires on the ignition module. I looked at my truck (86 k10) and see that my distributor has only three wires going into the module. Now when I bought the truck someone replaced the engine, do you guys think that they may have also replaced the distributor? Or does the 86 k10 only have three wires? If so what should I cut to make the conversion? Mike __________________ 63 Chevy C10 86 Chevy K10

02-20-2004, 05:27 PM	#2
Slonaker Insert Witty Text Here Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 3,415	If you have an ESC distributor, it will have a giant plug (1.5 inches or so across) hanging off the passenger side of the distributor that goes, I believe, to a hole in the firewall. There was a pic on 73-87.com that showed which wires to cut that would let you know what the giant plug looks like, but the link seems to be dead. Slonaker __________________ '86 Chevy C10 (Sold 04/19/13 ) Stock '01 Silverado

02-20-2004, 05:48 PM	#3
Slonaker Insert Witty Text Here Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 3,415	Here it is. It is almost this big, too. Attached Images __________________ '86 Chevy C10 (Sold 04/19/13 ) Stock '01 Silverado

02-20-2004, 06:04 PM	#4
mhorning Registered User Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Corning, NY Posts: 158	slonaker, so this isn't the wires that come out from the distributor and plug into the bottom of the distributor cap (the one's to the coil). __________________ 63 Chevy C10 86 Chevy K10

02-20-2004, 06:30 PM	#5
Slonaker Insert Witty Text Here Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 3,415	No, the ESC plug is a separate plug. The plug you see above hangs off the side of the distributor. If you unplug it from the harness, the plug still hangs several inches off the distributor by the wires you see in the photo. This is in addition to the wires that plug into the distributor cap from the bottom. Those are on all HEIs, and don't leave wires dangling if you pop the wires loose. If you still had it, you would probably know it. It is so big that you can't miss it. I hope this makes sense. It is hard to describe without a pic of an ESC distributor pulled from the vehicle. If you need a pic of an ESC distributor installed, I can probably take one of mine. Slonaker __________________ '86 Chevy C10 (Sold 04/19/13 ) Stock '01 Silverado

02-20-2004, 06:33 PM	#6
beaterC10 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 1,277	I had the ESC on an 83 and 84. Those trucks had an extra connector that plugged into the distributor along with the power lead. I replaced the distributor with a non-ESC and left the extra plug disconnected.

02-20-2004, 06:37 PM	#7
Slonaker Insert Witty Text Here Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 3,415	I found this photo of an ESC distributor on the internet: The giant plug on the left identifies it as an ESC distributor. Slonaker Attached Images __________________ '86 Chevy C10 (Sold 04/19/13 ) Stock '01 Silverado

02-20-2004, 09:53 PM	#8
mhorning Registered User Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Corning, NY Posts: 158	Well, I found the plug coming out of the firewall. It is dangling in mid air. Always wondered what it went to. It looks like my distributor is a non-esc. It doesn't have the second plug that you indicated. I'm guessing the previous owner must have made the switch. I stuck the new edelbrock carb on and it runs great. This actually explains a lot. My old carb was the M4Med with the electronic mixture solenoid thing on the the top of the carb. Now I'm wondering if it ran like crap because someone had tried to run it without the original ESC connected. Would that affect it, especially at cold temps? Anyway looks like another mystery has been solved with my truck. I can't believe how much better it runs with the edelbrock. Thanks for the info. Mike __________________ 63 Chevy C10 86 Chevy K10

02-21-2004, 12:04 AM	#9
swervin ervin You get what you pay for Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Cherryville, NC Posts: 4,798	The M4MED is not a computer controlled carb, so no mixture control solenoid. The thing you are speaking of is the dual capacity pump solenoid. So, no, the distributor had nothing to do with the carb. But, if the solenoid was not hooked up, it was in dual capacity accelerator pump mode all the time, instead of only when cold. This for sure won't help gas mileage and would probably make it run crappy. __________________ Mike 1985 Chevy C-10



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