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How far and how much can I tow?

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    #16
    I drive the shit out of my '88. It has taken us from Northern Michigan to Florida and to Arizona so far with no issues. Make sure you've got tires under 10 years old and a spare dizzy in the trunk. I've never needed the dizzy but it makes me feel good to take that and some tools along. I don't know about towing though.
    1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
    1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

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      #17
      Originally posted by BoulevardRide View Post
      Hi Tom, thanks for the info. Yep 88 TC, it is tan. trailer is white. There is a pic in the first post Didn't you have a 75 or so LTD or Marquis? How is that running?
      I sold the 75 LTD about a month ago. I had owned it since 1991. Buyer was so happy as I told him everything about the car, gave him all documentation and spare parts. I got a text two days after the sale. He sent me an extra $200 because he was so happy. Don't have that happen every day.

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        #18
        I appreciate the help. Looks like i am down to sourcing ignition spares for a road trip. No panther junkyards near me so have to buy new. will start with wrenches for distributor clamp and tfi screws but need some help finding actual parts.

        am thinking to carry a spare tfi but found conflicting info in research. can someone recommend a decent brand currently available. right now it is down to a cheap napa $45 or a cheap Standard from oreilley's $65. New motorcraft looks like expensive chinese junk in research so far.

        As for distributor... some are cheaper than just the icm but harder for me to change out roadside, takes up more space in the trunk, potential breakage bouncing around, etc. rock has a cast gear distributor for $69, Spectra brand. although if i need one on the road same part goes for a hundred bucks at oreilleys. Is this a good brand? $69 distributor

        reason i am on the fence about buying new parts, last year i had an idle/racing/dying problem, bought a new hitachi iac "same as motorcraft but better," turned out that cleaning/lubing the original iac made it run better than the new replacement. so now i have a spare iac i really don't need inferior to the original. trying to avoid that with ignition parts.

        thanks for any input
        96 MGM
        sigpic
        Cruisin up and down the road...

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          #19
          Originally posted by Mustang Eddie View Post
          [ATTACH=CONFIG]53268[/ATTACH]
          Pretty good reaction times Eddie, that 3rd race looks real close, looks like you got him on the tree... and superior horsepower.
          Are you running a c4/8.8 in your Mustang?
          96 MGM
          sigpic
          Cruisin up and down the road...

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            #20
            Dizzy doesn't bounce around if you keep it in it's box and pack it in tightly with everything else. I have a complete unit so I could cut down on downtime should it happen. Don't need much to change it out either. Pack a timing light too.
            1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
            1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

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              #21
              Anybody know if this is a reputable brand of distributor? 70 bucks at rock or 100 at o'reilleys.
              https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...&jsn=12&jsn=12

              Also can someone recommend a good current source for a cheap but valid tfi module.. thank you.
              96 MGM
              sigpic
              Cruisin up and down the road...

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                #22
                I'm running one of those Spectra Premium models. IIRC, some were manufactured in Taiwan and some in China, and while one wouldn't think it would make much of a difference, the Taiwan made one was better built. Also, I strongly do recommend removing the TFI module from those and making sure there's enough heat sink compound between the distributor and module. Neither of the ones I saw had a suitable amount, so I doubt they'd last long term. Also, since you have a '88, you want a distributor with a steel gear, not cast iron. Cast iron is for the older, flat tappet cars.

                TFI module wise, I've got a Motorcraft unit on mine right now and I have the generic one from the Spectra unit in my glovebox along with the tool. I also have used BWD/Standard Ignition and found it to be fine. Just avoid the cheap, no-name modules and you should be fine.
                Last edited by Kodachrome Wolf; 12-21-2019, 12:14 PM.


                My Cars:
                -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
                -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
                -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
                -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

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                  #23
                  What ever you do get a Motorcraft TFI Module not some cheap one as advised by KWolf, just read my saga of what misery I went through with an Advanced Auto dizzy.

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                    #24
                    Good luck finding a Motorcraft module though. Almost always a special order item. I've had good luck with the parts store brands from Autozone and Oreilly's. Also, as with all brands made any more, bad out of box happens more often than it should.

                    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
                    rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)
                    Originally posted by gadget73
                    ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.
                    Originally posted by dmccaig
                    Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

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                      #25
                      I've had the same Napa one on my car for years now.
                      86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                      5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                      91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                      1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                      Originally posted by phayzer5
                      I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

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                        #26
                        Originally posted by BoulevardRide View Post
                        Pretty good reaction times Eddie, that 3rd race looks real close, looks like you got him on the tree... and superior horsepower.
                        Are you running a c4/8.8 in your Mustang?
                        Has an 8.8 with 5.13's, spool & 33 spline axles.Trans is a tremec TKO 5spd stick

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                          #27
                          So I acquired some tools to replace the tfi
                          Click image for larger version

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                          20 bucks all in, delivered, and the wrench is a snap-on which i thought was pretty cool. already tried it out on the bolt.
                          Am holding off on buying a spare tfi until i can figure out a current, decent brand on the cheap. don't really want to buy a whole distributor + timing light at this point... just not a fan of carrying a lot of stuff in the trunk. thanks for the help
                          96 MGM
                          sigpic
                          Cruisin up and down the road...

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                            #28
                            Rock Auto sell the TFI in various cheapies from 18 bucks up to Motorcraft at $72 and a Standard at $80.

                            I've found a few things with the TFI over the years:
                            1. Back in the day, they WERE pretty marginal and could go bad in many different ways.
                            2. They were blamed for everything from actual ignition problems, to unrelated problems including sunspots and the flu.
                            3. Newer TFI modules are better, and this improvement happened in the late 80s-early 90s or so? Except for the cheapest of the cheap, a TFI module is better made now than when TFI cars were being built new.
                            4. The things that kill TFI modules are HEAT, VIBRATION, and WIRING PROBLEMS.

                            So, in light of #4, if you're reasonably sure you have a bad TFI, I wouldn't hesitate to use ANY newer TFI to at least figure out if that's it. But first make sure your car isn't overheating and has airflow through the engine bay, the motor mounts are solid and the engine isn't knocking to pieces, and that there's no short/open circuits or anything that could fry the TFI in the ignition wiring. Poor wiring connections can cause heat in the TFI itself, especially if there's no heat transfer grease between the TFI module and the body of the distributor.

                            When changing a TFI module, make sure you use the heat transfer paste. Putting a TFI on dry (or with the wrong paste--seen people use regular grease!) is a great way to cook it. Decent brands come with a little packet, and you don't need a lot, just enough to make a thin layer between the distributor and the module. One of those packets in the picture above should be plenty.

                            I keep a spare Motorcraft TFI because I know I want a Motorcraft TFI in my car. I'm just picky. I also keep a cheapo (WVE or whatever $20 got me years ago) because I want to troubleshoot with a cheapo, in case my problem killed off my TFI and not the other way around.
                            In your case, I'd buy the cheapo to get you from the side of the road to your destination, and then you can worry about the better one later. Even a crummy TFI SHOULD last a few weeks / a few thousand miles and that would get you across the US and back. You're going on vacation, not traveling to the moon--I am pretty sure there's an auto parts store in Florida.

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