North American Turbocoupe Organization



TFI replacement and Coil
SK 88 T-Bird Offline
Member
#1
Hey everybody, looking to replace my TFI and coil on my '88 TC. I've searched this site for many days and came across different ones, not sure which is better than the next or who has had the best luck from one to another. Looking for suggestions not only what to get, but where to get these parts and part numbers. I've looked at Rock Auto, but for some reason, can't find motorcraft. Someone posted about DY1284 TFI at rock auto which shows it as a motorcraft, but I am not certain it can be used on my TC. Others had mentioned a KEM brand, but not sure what part number or where to buy one. Could someone shed some light on what is out there today and places to buy with p/n's? If I keep the TFI installed on the dist., which for now, I probably will, I do have that white heat sink paste, which was used on the last time I replaced my TFI a few years ago, keeping in mind, the car hasn't been driven a lot. This miss was barely noticeable a while back, but has become more noticeable within the past several weeks. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Not sure if I am doing anything right or not, now that I got my ECT sensor problem fixed I have that noticeable miss at idle, cruise etc... more noticeable after warm up than cold. With my timing light, I went to each plug wire to watch for spark. All showed a hesitant miss at idle and again with a little power added, which you could feel the engine miss when the light didn't flash at that moment. This would happen on all 4 wires, number 1 cyl being the best working one of all with very little to no miss at all. My exhaust has that awful smell. I will do that test this weekend to determine if I have a bad coil or TFI/PIP and check with a test light off the TFI plug to the negative wire for the coil, if it blinks while cranking, that tells me the TFI and PIP should be working ok, the coil would be considered bad and then the other tests with an LED test light. (I did try another motorcraft cap and rotor with the same exact results)


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88TC, T3/T4, .63AR, Walbro 255 pump, Ranger Roller cam, Kirban AFPR, 120 3G ALT, K&N Cone filter, Boost press set to 17PSI, Timing 10deg
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SK 88 T-Bird Offline
Member
#2
I stand corrected, the hesitant miss is also noticeable during cold start up as well. I did the test light check for the coil and found I get a good continuous flashing of the test light for the negative wire to the coil while cranking. This leads me to the coil is breaking down. Where is a good place and brand/part number to obtain a coil that all of you have been happy with?? Keeping in mind a TFI for the future as well. Thanks
88TC, T3/T4, .63AR, Walbro 255 pump, Ranger Roller cam, Kirban AFPR, 120 3G ALT, K&N Cone filter, Boost press set to 17PSI, Timing 10deg
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Pete D Offline
Administrator
#3
I've had good luck with the stock coil, in several different cars, pretty much used in all Fords of the era and compatible with TFIs
Pete Dunham


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SK 88 T-Bird Offline
Member
#4
Pete,
Do you know if the TFI P/N DY1284 at rock auto which shows it as a motorcraft will work on our cars? I would like to add one to my order as well to keep in trunk
88TC, T3/T4, .63AR, Walbro 255 pump, Ranger Roller cam, Kirban AFPR, 120 3G ALT, K&N Cone filter, Boost press set to 17PSI, Timing 10deg
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Jeff K Offline
Administrator
#5
Yes, that is the correct TFI part number.
Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 24 psi, forced air IC, water injection, BPV, Ranger cam, subframes, etc., etc.
86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP N2O, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.
11 Crown Vic Interceptor
14 Toyota Camry (wifes car)
95 Taurus GL Vulcan winter beater
67 Honda 450 Super Sport - completely customized
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boboli Offline
Member
#6
If you put that motorcraft # into the rock part # search it also comes up with a tfi from Spectra. Hopefully they aren't the ones making them for ford, since that one doesn't even say motorcraft on it. When I had to buy a tfi I went with the top of the line standard motor products one, lx218. It's $58 on rock but I've had cars with flakey tfi's, and I'm willing to spend a bit more to not be stuck pushing my car out of traffic
1988 turbo tbird, 5spd, 140k, all stock except boost control valve.
1986 dodge omni glh turbo, 111k, my money pit.
1989 mustang Lx 5.0 convertible, tropical yellow/ tan interior, 1of only 144 made, 164k, aod, all stock including overheating TFI!
89 Jaguar XJS convertible, LT1 conversion, now fighting the prince of darkness (aka Lucas electronics)
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SK 88 T-Bird Offline
Member
#7
I had to get a new TFI, got it from rock auto, which is the Motorcraft brand DY1284. The miss is now gone. Working on the TFI remote mount. Searched this site for different conversions, style and placement without going crazy with cutting wires to reach the passenger side. I'm using a heat sink that is attached to the TFI right now, which is not the heat sink shown in pictures many of you have found and used, didn't have the ability to find one like that. Jumper wires going to the distributor, which I plan to cover the opening around the wires with dielectric sealant, not grease, this should keep things clean and dry. Finding a way to secure this to the left fender isn't going to be easy, a lot of stuff is in the way. I thought about moving the coil and bracket to another location and putting the heat sink in its location, but trying to put the coil in a different location won't be easy either.

** Here's a quick note regarding the coil I bought that was motorcraft brand. I took the car for a test drive with new TFI and coil installed. The car ran great for the first 2 miles. When I was turning into my plan, the car just shut down, unable to start it again. Opened the hood to look for loose connections etc... all looked good. Tried to start again, cranks, but no start. After looking at the coil connection, I noticed the coil wire didn't seem to be sitting on the lug all the way. Pulled the coil wire to see if maybe I bent the terminal inside the coil wire. What I found, the lug on the coil had pulled itself right out of the coil. The lug was stuck up inside the coil wire. Luckily, I had the old coil in the trunk of my car, plugged it in and she started right up with no further problems.

The miss is now gone and I don't have the engine RPM's dropping off when coming to a stop. The idle would want to drop very low to almost shutting the car off, but recover every time I came to a stop. As of now, it's working great!! Thanks again for all your support with helping me along the way with this problem. I'll be real happy when I can figure a way to mount this TFI/heat sink mod
88TC, T3/T4, .63AR, Walbro 255 pump, Ranger Roller cam, Kirban AFPR, 120 3G ALT, K&N Cone filter, Boost press set to 17PSI, Timing 10deg
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Pete D Offline
Administrator
#8
Congratulations
Pete Dunham


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