TFI questions.

[DrHax]

Hey I am just starting up this thread to just gather up some information on the TFI, or rather people's personal issues they have had with them. Mine crapped out. I think its obvious because our temperature dropped and the car started up with ease after sitting for over 24 hours. I was able to drive it out of the garage like nothing like nothing was wrong. Opened up the hood radiator hose was stone dead cold. So I think mine is dead.

I was told to only use a ford one (My car came with an aftermarket one.. and its dead.. and it was new.. Go figure.) So I have a Motorcraft one coming.

Here were my symptoms. Car would periodically stall and almost seem like a mule kicking, Until one day my car just stopped... I let it sit for like 10 minutes.. got it going. Drove it for about 20 minutes.. it died.. I let it sit, and i was able to get it home. I replaced the fuel pump and the fuel filter.. Issue still occurred.

So any information that can be placed here might help other people. I know if I knew it was this I would have replaced it first thing. So what symptoms have you guys had when yours hit the shitter, Or what experiences have you lot had with them. I want to learn from other people's mistakes It's safer on my wallet that way!

[DerekTheGreat]

Yup, sounds like a dying & nearly completely dead TFI. VicCrownVic is working on relocating his by using a distributor from a 302 F series truck. Main thing that kills 'em is heat. I think both are starting to die in our cars; sometimes after driving and a brief shut-down followed by a restart results in a car that runs rough for a second then dies. Fire it back up it's perfect. That says fuel or spark issue to me. If you're questioning the fuel side you can always check the pressure, there's a schrader valve on the passenger side fuel rail, with the engine running it should be 30-35psi. Should also hold this pressure for ~10 minutes after you shut it down IIRC.

My '85 would randomly stall out despite it running perfectly, VCV's Grand Marq would do the same thing, very common symptoms. Be careful when replacing them; I swapped out Ashley's with a JY unit about a year ago and wasn't paying attention to the rotor on the dizzy and ended up missing it by a tooth- scratching my head as to why it wouldn't move and left the car out of commission for a week before the fine folks on here insisted that I check the timing. I also only use Motorcraft parts when it comes to crap like this, have had nothing but bad luck with anything aftermarket.

[DrHax]

Did a bit of google searching, and found this http://fatfoxx.com

They have a relecation kit with a harness and such. I could make one, but the end result probably wouldn't be as nice. Also my time is extremely limited.

[VicCrownVic]

Cheapest way to relocate the TFI (I think) would be to use your stock distributor and the stock distributor-mounted TFI with the heat sink from a stock remote mount TFI car (early '90s Cougar/T-Bird I think is what I picked up). I've looked at the wiring diagrams a bit for distributor-mounted vs factory remote mounted TFI systems and it looks like a pretty simple swap but you have added cost of a distributor.
I have the harness made up and everything ready to go in but I've been chasing a problem where my car has been running stupid when up to operating temp and I don't want to swap ignition parts until I know the car is running right. That way if there is a problem with the swap I know I can swap back and the problem should go away. I think I got the issue with my car sorted out, so far it's running better, so I might go ahead with the swap soon (or eventually)


One thing that I believe has been noted by others is that the failing pickup can cause the same kind of issues a failing TFI can. The last time I had an issue that I thought was TFI I think it was actually the pickup. I swapped TFIs on the side of the road when it died due to heat last summer and didn't get far before died again. I finally fixed that issue when I swapped a whole distributor with TFI from a JY TC that was in much better shape than my car.

I did have a TFI, aftermarket JY part, that would consistently cause miss-firing (I think that's what it was, engine would sputter and buck) at high RPMs. I know that was the TFI because the problem went away after I swapped another one on, and it came back when I put that one back on just for S&Gs. Honestly that's the only case that I can say for sure was the TFI, but my experience is limited to my own cars.

[DrHax]

Here's the kit I purchased 62 dollars shipped. I.view this as a much simpler (and cheaper for me) option of relocating the TFI, comes with instructions, thermal paste, and the heatsink is made to mount directly to the stock one. It comes with.everything required to do the job.

When it comes in I will document the install taking many pictures. It was made for mustangs but Im sure it would work fine for our boxes!

Just hope the shipping is fast.

[87gtVIC]

I relocated mine just to prevent this from ever happening.

http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthre...l=1#post706832

[DrHax]

I relocated mine just to prevent this from ever happening.

http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthre...l=1#post706832

Exactly, i've learned with my other things a few lessons. When I got this car I said I was going to try something. Get the best parts, don't fuck around and do things the right way. It will cost less in the long run.

I've worked on rigged vw's and neglected saturns. It sticks with you.

So a relocation kit is insurance even if the part fails every 20k miles its worth the extra money for peace of mind.

[gadget73]

I'll say it again, a bad pickup can act like a bad module.

I've been running the same cheap Napa module on my car for years, mounted to the distributor. Runs absolutely fine. You can relocate them, and its not a bad idea at all but I really think that the stock module system has an undeserved reputation for failure. They do fry if the engine runs too hot, which of course you'll never know until its too late if you don't add gauges to it.