Okay wtf is going on.

[DrHax]

I think mine is original too. The car has 188k miles in minnesota no rust (except for two isolated spots in the trunk.) and had original 1980's era wipers on it. Car is all original, except for a few engine parts. Honestly ill see about getting some thermal compound if i can't find it locally ill order the stuff online. Im a computer geek so I think the stuff used for high performance gaming rigs should the trick.

[sly]

I think I actually used some Arctic Ceramic on that one actually. As long as it's not the really cheap stuff, it should be fine.

[DrHax]

Did some tests. Car started up we let it idle till it died. It fluctuated.. It died. Turns out the unit is new.. Looks identical to the one from O'Reilly's which I passed on getting. I have them.ordering in a motorcraft one.

It sounds like the car is starved for fuel said my fiancee's stepfather, but it seem the spark was gone.. I had my fiancee touch the TFI and it was warm.. I have welders hands so me touching it I felt nothing. But it is righ next to the radiator hose almost touching the engine so... Yeah...

[gadget73]

A wonky pickup makes for no spark too. It also makes the fuel pump stop. A bad fuel pump relay will also make the fuel quit. it lives up next to the washer bottle under a plastic cover on the fender. I believe its the green one.

[Tiggie]

Bet they forgot the thermal grease and the new one fried itself.

[DrHax]

My gut says thats what happen. Ill be picking up a motorcraft one today. I got the tool. Wish me luck that is the problem.

[DrHax]

Got fucked today. These last past two days have been shit. Had a stray dog puke and shit in my car.. Then while I was driving back home. It stalls out. No spark.. The dizzy pickup is new. So I doubt it is that. The tfi is warm to the touch... I just replaced it so I have no fucking idea what to do...

[nfldfordltd]

I had spark trouble with an 88 I had years ago. I changed parts, cursed and swore at it for days.
Turned out to be the green wire going to the coil connector was corroded inside the wire insulation. Cut out the part section and replaced that with new wire, no more trouble after that.
Check all your wiring in the ignition system before you go changing parts. The loose connection or bad wire could be making contact enough to start and run sometimes, but gets knocked loose other times leading to the no spark condition. Bad wiring is my biggest peeve with these cars prior to 1990. Apparently the wires were only 30% copper in the 80s.

[gadget73]

yeah the coil connector wires can break right at the connector. Intermittent electrical stuff is a real bastard to find. It always goes away just long enough to make you think its fixed.

I don't know about the 30% copper. I've never seen any particular evidence that it wasn't all copper. The connectors themselves are not at all sealed though, and that seems to be a source of many troubles. It did get better in the 90s.

[VicCrownVic]

To test what nfldfordltd said, disconnect the connectors at the coil and TFI and see what resistance is from TFI connector pin 4 to the positive side of the coil connector, and a TFI pin 5 to coil negative. If the wire colors are the same for '86 as they are for '89 the negative coil connector will be green with yellow stripe but at the TFI it will be white with light blue stripe. The positive wire will be the same color at both ends (red w/green stripe, iirc).
There should be continuity and resistance should be close to zero on for both measurements.

[DrHax]

I replaced the TFI with the old one. Car started right up and drove back to her house..idled for about ten minutes and I was able to drive to s McDonald's drive through no problems at work. Got paranoid by the transmission down shifting and freaking me out but the car got me to work. I may have O'Reilly's test the motorcraft module. Gut says it baked itself. I will be prioritizing installing the relocation kit. I hope there is enough wire for me to move it someplace where there is enough airflow.

[87gtVIC]

I was able to work the harness back to behind the drivers side head lights...now I know you have your coolant/washer reservoir there but it gives you an idea on length.

[gadget73]

Was there thermal paste under the module? If not, it will die very quickly.

Also, if your engine runs hotter than it should, it will kill modules as well. You'd need to install a gauge or use one of those IR temperature gun things to figure that out though. You should see 190-200F if you shoot it at the thermostat neck. If its considerably hotter, fix what ails it.

[DrHax]

Antec thermal paste was under the tfi module. I scrapped off the white grease and put some thermal paste on it instead. Everything seems to be okay.