1983 bronco making me go nuts

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HellBoundHood

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Just picked up this 83 new to the duraspark ignition , mostly worked on chevys b4, the guy i picked up the bronco decided to give it a tune up screwed up th efiring order , the vin # says its a 351w motor , the previous owner thought it was a 302, couldnt get it started so i was told to change the dura spark box,not sure what to do next, i still cant get it started anyone have any advice.

 

Seabronc

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Just picked up this 83 new to the duraspark ignition , mostly worked on chevys b4, the guy i picked up the bronco decided to give it a tune up screwed up th efiring order , the vin # says its a 351w motor , the previous owner thought it was a 302, couldnt get it started so i was told to change the dura spark box,not sure what to do next, i still cant get it started anyone have any advice.
351 firing order

Good luck,

:)>-

351_firing_order.jpg

 

Broncobill78

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Just picked up this 83 new to the duraspark ignition , mostly worked on chevys b4, the guy i picked up the bronco decided to give it a tune up screwed up th efiring order , the vin # says its a 351w motor , the previous owner thought it was a 302, couldnt get it started so i was told to change the dura spark box,not sure what to do next, i still cant get it started anyone have any advice.
I'm a litle unclear on the post, have you corrected the firing order and it *still* won't start or were you looking for the correct firing order (which by the way should be cast into the intake manifold). Does it have spark ? You need air, fuel & spark for it to fire so if it isn't then you're missing one of those three. Chances are you're getting air so it's probably a fuel or spark issue. Pull off the air-cleaner & look into the venturi while giving the accelerator a twist to see if you're getting fuel (you should see it squirting or at least smell it). If you have fuel then check to see if you have spark (*after* correcting the firing order). One of the two has GOT to be missing. If there's no spark then I'd look to the ignition module or the distributor.

 
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HellBoundHood

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I'm a litle unclear on the post, have you corrected the firing order and it *still* won't start or were you looking for the correct firing order (which by the way should be cast into the intake manifold). Does it have spark ? You need air, fuel & spark for it to fire so if it isn't then you're missing one of those three. Chances are you're getting air so it's probably a fuel or spark issue. Pull off the air-cleaner & look into the venturi while giving the accelerator a twist to see if you're getting fuel (you should see it squirting or at least smell it). If you have fuel then check to see if you have spark (*after* correcting the firing order). One of the two has GOT to be missing. If there's no spark then I'd look to the ignition module or the distributor.
i have a weak spark coming from the coil when i first crank , but no spark coming out of the distributor the the spark plugs

 

Broncobill78

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i have a weak spark coming from the coil when i first crank , but no spark coming out of the distributor the the spark plugs
Ah, well then the firing order really doesn't matter if there's no damn spark coming out of the distributor then does it ? Well, yes of course we know the order counts but right now that's not your issue. Work the problem one step at a time.

You have a diagram of the correct firing order (and as I mentioned it's cast into one of the intake runners as well) so I'm going to dismiss that as a problem unless you post something else about it. You need to adress the spark issue. You can always take the shotgun approach and replace everything related to the spark but then once it's fixed you'll never really know just what you did to fix it and THEN what have you learned ? It's an 83 so lucky for you it's not nearly as complicated as it could be. I'd start by replacing the ignition module mounted on the inner fender. For an 83' it should be reasonably cheap (less than $20) and it's a 10 min job to replace it. Swap it out and check your spark. A coil would be what I changed next (also less than $20) and then I suppose I'd grab at the whole cap & rotor straw before dropping the bux on a new dizzy. Honestly a coil is dirt cheap so maybe you want to start there just as a matter of economics but work it one part at a time otherwise you don't learn Jack and you never know what really solved the problem.

 
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HellBoundHood

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Ah, well then the firing order really doesn't matter if there's no damn spark coming out of the distributor then does it ? Well, yes of course we know the order counts but right now that's not your issue. Work the problem one step at a time.
You have a diagram of the correct firing order (and as I mentioned it's cast into one of the intake runners as well) so I'm going to dismiss that as a problem unless you post something else about it. You need to adress the spark issue. You can always take the shotgun approach and replace everything related to the spark but then once it's fixed you'll never really know just what you did to fix it and THEN what have you learned ? It's an 83 so lucky for you it's not nearly as complicated as it could be. I'd start by replacing the ignition module mounted on the inner fender. For an 83' it should be reasonably cheap (less than $20) and it's a 10 min job to replace it. Swap it out and check your spark. A coil would be what I changed next (also less than $20) and then I suppose I'd grab at the whole cap & rotor straw before dropping the bux on a new dizzy. Honestly a coil is dirt cheap so maybe you want to start there just as a matter of economics but work it one part at a time otherwise you don't learn Jack and you never know what really solved the problem.
ignition module was 50, didnt solve the problem, cap and rotor was about 28 still didnt solve it , i will buy the coil after i get off of work hopefuly that should do it , i wanted to thank everyone for the help and sugestions

 

harley

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i had same problem and it turned out to be ignition switch located on the shaft of the steering column under the dash. i replaced everything just like u have. good luck.

 

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