team rush upgrade didnt go right

[stevr59]

hey all i just did a team rush upgrade today and now my jeep will not idle on its own and run really rough not sure what i did wroung but after doing the upgrade i replace all the part with the old parts and its still doing the samething it ran just fine before i replace the parts. after i installing the new cap adaptor and cap and rotor and new set of autolite plug wires.. i fire it up and it didnt want to start and it back fired so i recheck and i had the wires wroung so i whent back and hook all the wires the way there suppose to be. now she will run but it idle fine for a few seconds then it get really rough and will not run unless you ride the gas. i didn't change the timing so whast do you guys think i messed up?

 

[IOPort51]

look at the vacuum hoses very carefully.
Did you re gap the plugs??

hey all i just did a team rush upgrade today and now my jeep will not idle on its own and run really rough not sure what i did wroung but after doing the upgrade i replace all the part with the old parts and its still doing the samething it ran just fine before i replace the parts. after i installing the new cap adaptor and cap and rotor and new set of autolite plug wires.. i fire it up and it didnt want to start and it back fired so i recheck and i had the wires wroung so i whent back and hook all the wires the way there suppose to be. now she will run but it idle fine for a few seconds then it get really rough and will not run unless you ride the gas. i didn't change the timing so whast do you guys think i messed up?

 

[Cheepjeep85]

look at the vacuum hoses very carefully.
Did you re gap the plugs??

x2 sounds like you might have forgot to reconnect a vacuum line

 

[dave123]

I just did this upgrade myself.

Assuming your timing and vacuum are correct:
Do you have a heat sink on the module? Mine was initially getting hot, and it would only run a couple minutes, then start running rough and die. I put a bigger heat sink on it, and now it is fine.

Some other tips, the trigger wires from the module to the distributer should be wound together (twisted) and kept at least 3-4 inches from spark plug wires. Also make sure you have 8mm wires.

 

[stevr59]

yes i gap the plugs to 45 my vacuum hose is connected. i tryed tio adjust the timing but that's does not help every thing i can tell is right on... now is it possible my ecm went out?

 

[IOPort51]

I didn't say you didn't connect the vacuum hose, it may have come loose some place else or it may have cracked when you were under the hood. It soulds like you have a vacuum leak.
I think if the ECM went out it would not run at all. did you replace the coil??

yes i gap the plugs to 45 my vacuum hose is connected. i tryed tio adjust the timing but that's does not help every thing i can tell is right on... now is it possible my ecm went out?

 

[stevr59]

I didn't say you didn't connect the vacuum hose, it may have come loose some place else or it may have cracked when you were under the hood. It soulds like you have a vacuum leak.
I think if the ECM went out it would not run at all. did you replace the coil??

i check the vacum houses again in the morn as for the coil no its the same stock coil for now. only thing i did was change out the dist cap and rotor and new plug wires and re gap the plugs.. bad part is the old parts do the same thing but before i took it all a part it ran just fine. i check to make sure the rotor was pointing to tdc so thats right.. got the wires in the right place on the cap so that's right. so right now i am stumped..
(update) ok i went out to shut the hood for the nite and took a peak at the carb i found a uncapped port that did have a cap on it and the cap is gone so think ur right about a vacum leak i cap it back off and test it in the morn and now got to re set the timing now any idea on how to do it with just a timing lite i don't have any way to know what the rpm are.

 

[IOPort51]

The idle speed you can set by ear, the timing needs to be by the light.

i check the vacum houses again in the morn as for the coil no its the same stock coil for now. only thing i did was change out the dist cap and rotor and new plug wires and re gap the plugs.. bad part is the old parts do the same thing but before i took it all a part it ran just fine. i check to make sure the rotor was pointing to tdc so thats right.. got the wires in the right place on the cap so that's right. so right now i am stumped..
(update) ok i went out to shut the hood for the nite and took a peak at the carb i found a uncapped port that did have a cap on it and the cap is gone so think ur right about a vacum leak i cap it back off and test it in the morn and now got to re set the timing now any idea on how to do it with just a timing lite i don't have any way to know what the rpm are.

 

[Cheepjeep85]

wouldn't you need the tfi coil before you regap the plugs? otherwise all you've done is a simple tune up with slightly different parts, and the plugs would still need to be set at the factory gap

 

[IOPort51]

that is a good point.

wouldn't you need the tfi coil before you regap the plugs? otherwise all you've done is a simple tune up with slightly different parts, and the plugs would still need to be set at the factory gap

 

[Sasquach]

I did the TFI but no coil and regaped the existing plugs to 40 and it ran very well.

 

[Cheepjeep85]

i dont quite understand how replacing the stock dist. cap with a different type, and not replacing anything else but plugs and wires is any better than the stock setup. i mean i understand it if you put the higher energy coil and a better controller on there. but if you are just changing the cap and rotor aren't you moving the same spark energy as before, but through a different cap? does anyone else understand what i'm getting at? if you have a weak spark coming from the coil and ignition module, how does a different cap and rotor get you more spark from the coil and module.

every body knows that the motorcraft ign. setup is because of the weak little coil and mod. i don't know maybe i'm talkin out of my rearend

 

[Cheepjeep85]

I did the TFI but no coil and regaped the existing plugs to 40 and it ran very well.

you basically done a slightly more expensive stock tune-up, correct? i don't mean to sound sacrcastic or anything but a new stock cap, rotor button, plugs, and wires probably would have netted you the same results. and the only way i can think of to test this theory would be to replace what you just put on there with new factory tune up parts and then compare mpgs and seat of the pants horsepower. i'm just curios about this

 

[mylittlecj5]

i dont quite understand how replacing the stock dist. cap with a different type, and not replacing anything else but plugs and wires is any better than the stock setup. i mean i understand it if you put the higher energy coil and a better controller on there. but if you are just changing the cap and rotor aren't you moving the same spark energy as before, but through a different cap? does anyone else understand what i'm getting at? if you have a weak spark coming from the coil and ignition module, how does a different cap and rotor get you more spark from the coil and module.

every body knows that the motorcraft ign. setup is because of the weak little coil and mod. i don't know maybe i'm talkin out of my rearend

In most ways you are right. But the idea behind changing the cap and rotor is to get the wires separated enough to keep them from cross-firing. The Ford TFI cap is a much larger diameter than a stock Jeep cap, so it physically spreads the plug wires away from each other.
Might not help all that much with the stock ignition system still in place (although one place I can think it helping would be a water crossing), but with a CDI box like I have, it needs that separation to keep the wires from cross-arcing. The TFI coil really adds to the available energy at the plugs also.
Jeephammer over on Jeepforum.com has a great write-up on how the TR upgrade works and the theory behind it.

 

[stevr59]

just plug the open vacum port under the carb and it fire up and ran just like it did now waiting to finish my coffee and let it warm out side a lil bit and i go re set the timing, from what i can tell happen was when i had the wires hooked up wrong it back fire and blew the pluged hose off it was rotten any ways and needed to be replaced. now any ideas on what coil should i go with that be my next upgrade

 

[IOPort51]

you can go with a ford tfi coil or an MSD TFI. You have to build a mount for it so you can mount it to something. I think you can find a ford coil for about $30 or the MSD is about $50. The coil is from an 84 f-AMC 150 V8 ford.

just plug the open vacum port under the carb and it fire up and ran just like it did now waiting to finish my coffee and let it warm out side a lil bit and i go re set the timing, from what i can tell happen was when i had the wires hooked up wrong it back fire and blew the pluged hose off it was rotten any ways and needed to be replaced. now any ideas on what coil should i go with that be my next upgrade

 

[Sasquach]

just plug the open vacum port under the carb and it fire up and ran just like it did now waiting to finish my coffee and let it warm out side a lil bit and i go re set the timing, from what i can tell happen was when i had the wires hooked up wrong it back fire and blew the pluged hose off it was rotten any ways and needed to be replaced. now any ideas on what coil should i go with that be my next upgrade

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but read that you should not do the coil unless you do the module also.

 

[mylittlecj5]

you can go with a ford tfi coil or an MSD TFI. You have to build a mount for it so you can mount it to something. I think you can find a ford coil for about $30 or the MSD is about $50. The coil is from an 84 f-AMC 150 V8 ford.

A junkyard is a good cheap place for a TFI coil and mount, also. Most any later model Ford truck (mid-80's era I think) will have them.

 

[IOPort51]

I have not heard this, do you have a source of reference? I am not questioning you, I would like to know a bit more about the why. I have been running the TFI on the truck for a few years with the motor craft module. Perhaps this is suggesting the prestolite module be replaced on the 77-78?

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but read that you should not do the coil unless you do the module also.

 

[stevr59]

you can go with a ford tfi coil or an MSD TFI. You have to build a mount for it so you can mount it to something. I think you can find a ford coil for about $30 or the MSD is about $50. The coil is from an 84 f-AMC 150 V8 ford.

or i could go strip it off my 86 ford f AMC 150 lol