ok I just got the engine pulled from my truck and there was a 4 pin connector. does it have to be plugged into anything or is all i need a hot wire to my coil?

 

it will run with just the hot wire connected,but the
timing will be fixed at wherever the timing is set-
there will be no advance,that is controlled by the ECM,
or on many early-80s pickups,by a spark control module through the 4 pin connector

 

so can i leave it unhooked and everything run ok? or should i get a module and hook up to it?

 

bump

 

might run halfway decent with no spark advance,but
will be down on power,especially at higher rpm.
you could also swap out the electronic distributor for an
earlier one with mechanical advance and vacume canister (pre-81 cars and pickups,many pickups through
'86 also had non-computer distributor,these will have
the cone shaped vacume advance canister)

 

I think that I have figured out what to do after searching around some. I can take the green and black wires from the plug and cross them and then retard the timing some and that should work