Engine Skip & Peristent Rough Idle

[DerekTheGreat]

That's what it seems to be with these, if they've got the symptoms you've described. I have a spare ready to drop in should my car start flaking.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Sigh, here we go again. I think I got hit with a dose a Chinesium quality parts. The wagon was behaving fine about halfway through its test drive (super smooth), then a hesitation reappeared at low RPM under load. Got home and the idle was stupid again. Unplugged the SPOUT and it behaves like the old one did. Keep SPOUT in, runs crappy like the old one did. I got a Spectra Premium, fwiw. Not what I really wanted, but was available short notice. I'll try warranty swapping it and seeing where it goes.

It's funny, it was running spot on immediately after the swap, just like it did before I went to PA. I doubt the pickup is anything really high quality since everything is branded as MADE IN CHINA.

[gadget73]

I've been told you can swap the pickup if you remove the spider from the top and then fish the pickup out. I've never tried it, but maybe worth a shot. The only one I've had to do personally I took apart by the book, using a press to remove and install the gear after knocking the pin out of it. Kind of a pain in the ass honestly, if you don't get it lined up exactly right you have to remove it and try again.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Yesterday I put in the Motorcraft copper plugs and today I tossed in the replacement distributor. I slapped a Motorcraft TFI module on it and used heat sink compound. I re-used the BWD cap and rotor since I wasn't a fan of the new distributor's stuff.

After managing to have a few failed starts because 1.) I forgot to put the coil wire on, and 2.) Didn't plug the TFI in well , I got it started. Idle settled down easily and I did not have the excessively rich fuel smell. Couldn't detect any misses, so it went on a road test with the SPOUT in. I experienced no studdering into the OD engagement and light throttle applications resulted in smooth acceleration.

The only time there's a slight bucking is when the car engages 3rd gear at 25 MPH with low throttle (like in a neighborhood). I think that's just the engine being lugged at low RPM, because once you get to 30 MPH, it's smooth.


If you're wondering how much fuel it was wasting with a pooched PIP, it managed 13 MPG. The worst mileage I'd had previously was 14.3 MPG flogging it down the interstate around 80-85 MPH.