distrib problems

[madracingalley]

Howdy,
My 85 Dodge W-150 runs Great until you jam the acceleration down in 3rd.
I looked through my service manuel on timing and it said it should be 12 deg. It was set at 12 deg but then when you rev it up it should go to about 30deg but it only moves 4 deg.so i looked through my manual again (dodge 1987) andit shows in the diagram for the distributor and found that the timing is electronic and there is suppose to be 2 plugs in the distributor, but I only have one. I have the female end off the harness but no male on the distributor can anyone tell me whats going on or whatt they guess is going on

[Speed Dragon]

Does it have a Spark Control box on the side of the air cleaner?

[madracingalley]

i dont know as the past owners took off alot of emissions crap and my air cleaner is aftermarket

[Speed Dragon]

Is there a black box anywhere under the hood, w/ two plugs going to it?

[madracingalley]

no but i found 2 plugs unplugged on the harness

[Mopower79]

Do yo have one of these on the fire wall???
http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/dcc-4120505.jpg

[madracingalley]

no i dont

[bherder]

Do yo have one of these on the fire wall???
http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/dcc-4120505.jpg

Or it could be on the fender-well... ;)

I'm starting to wonder if he still doesn't have the 'lean-burn' ignition and someone replaced the dual-pickup dist with a single pickup at one time?
Could the ignition system have been reverted retro-half-assed?

On the other hand, mad, does your dist have a vacuum advance?
If so, pull the dist cap off and suck on the rubber tube that goes to it. You should see the dist plate crank towards you. If not, the advance is not working...

[madracingalley]

well me and my dad figured it out. I found the black box under the fender well and i found the hose going to it was sucked into itself by the carb so we took out a section and it ran better not perfect but better than was. we also found that my truck was equipped with a single spark sender and a carberated vaccum advance

[bherder]

Cool!

(Word of advice...)

Buy about 6-8 ft. each of whatever sizes vacuum lines you need. Just replace them all (About every 5 years) and be done with it.
It's SO much easier to spend the 1/2 hour to replace them every so often and not worry about it, than try and figure out whats wrong when things like that go wrong ;) ;) ;)

[Speed Dragon]

So it does have ESC. I don't know about replacing them every year, but I would definitely replace and properly route all the vacuum lines now. What 2 plugs on the firewall were unplugged?

[madracingalley]

not sure but they were right behind the engine and they are clip style

[Speed Dragon]

Can you take a pic or two?

[madracingalley]

ill hav'm tuhmarra'

[bherder]

So it does have ESC. I don't know about replacing them every year,

Me either, but every 5 years, is a good idea, don't you think? :D

but I would definitely replace and properly route all the vacuum lines now.

Never hurts, and very cheap insurance... ;)

What 2 plugs on the firewall were unplugged?

[Speed Dragon]

Me either, but every 5 years, is a good idea, don't you think? :D Doh! :crazy: I thought you said 1, my bad.:D

[madracingalley]

these are the two plugs can anyone tell me what they are :help:
Location:right behind valvw cover on slant six mounted on the wireing harness close to the firewall

[madracingalley]

here it is again

[DiverDwnPowrRam]

Judging by the lack of inlet and exit tubes (heater core) coming from that oval on the firewall I would say you have no A/C. One of those connectors is for the ac connector. To save money Dodge plants used the same wiring harnesses regardless of what was used or not. I do think there were some differences between S6 and V 8 lines however so I could not guess on what the second connector could be.

[Speed Dragon]

Yeah, looks like unused plugs for options you don't have.

[madracingalley]

yes i have no a/c as it is a Custom built for the coast guard and is plain jane

BTW what is this a picture of. i took it but i have no clue what it is. it look likes a relay of some sort.but i have no clue. its located on the passenger side inner fender

[WARLOCK]

do you have a tack?
temp gauge, not a idiot light?

[madracingalley]

nope

[Speed Dragon]

yes i have no a/c as it is a Custom built for the coast guard and is plain jane

BTW what is this a picture of. i took it but i have no clue what it is. it look likes a relay of some sort.but i have no clue. its located on the passenger side inner fenderThose are emissions solenoids.

[NeDodgeguy]

Wow I'm glad the 72 has none of this. (ESC and emissions that is)

[Speed Dragon]

Wow I'm glad the 72 has none of this. (ESC and emissions that is)+1 :cool:

[madracingalley]

well my dad took out the ESC and that is the hundred dollar problem

[87Dodgeman]

I have the same question about the odd looking 'solenoids' on the passenger inner fender. Does anyone know what they actually control, or do?

I now know that one of the solenoids is for the charcoal canister = purge solenoid, and the other one is for the smog pump. But which is which???

[madracingalley]

herein is the needed part

[Speed Dragon]

Good ol' Electronic Spark Control :)

87Dodgeman, just follow the vacuum lines from the solenoids and see where they go ;)