i am have a hell of a time finding the plug that goes to my new distributor, the OE distributor had the same plug so i know it had to be there at some time, my question is could the person who owned this car before me grounded these wires to the back of the intake manifold (there are about five wires grounded to the back of the intake) and would this work?

 

OH, boy. You're in deep weeds.

I freaking HATE hacked up wiring harnesses! There one of those things that makes me see red.

No, you will never get the distributor working correctly without all the wires hooked up. Your 84 has a computer controlled distributor that works like a standard distributor in many respects but the timing is all computer controlled. Unless the wires are all hooked up to the ECM like they are supposed to be you stand a good chance that that the timing will remain at 0 degrees all the time. Power and mileage will be noexistant.

Find a same-year same-engine car as yours and yank the wiring harness. Install on your car or at least study it to find out which wires were cut and reconnect them.

Posting a picture or good description of WHICH connector is not there would be helpful, too.



[This message has been edited by Damon (edited May 10, 2001).]

 

thanks damon, its a vacuum advance distributor i'm trying to install, the three prong plug is the one i'm missing, my OE distributor had the same plug so i know its supposed to connect. i found the four prong computer plug with no problem, too bad i don't need it! its a red, tan and black wire going top the distributor. i would really hate to pull the tranny out and still not see it.

 

The 3-prong plug is part of the distributor body so to speak, it goes to the module inside there, and it plugs into the cap in the same general area as where the BATT and TACH leads plug into it. It is not part of the car.

------------------
"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

there should be another clip that plugs into it if the computer controlled dist. had it too right? there has to be something in the wiring harness that plugs into it

 

RB got it right- that plug comes from the base part of the distributor (the module inside) up to the top of the cap where it plugs in behind the 12V+ power wire. You can get it off most any other HEI distributor you may have laying around.

I din't know you were ditching the computer.

 

i think we have a little bit of a misunderstanding, the plug for the distributor is there, it came with it attached to it. the plug from the wiring harness is the one i'm not finding. the OE distributor had the same plug in, so I know that it was on the wiring harness at one time, just wondering if these wires that are ground to the back of my intake could have been it at one time. it doesn't make sense to me though because if it connects to the module like RB said the distributor would not function correct? I really hate people who rig stuff it just makes things twice as bad when you actually try to fix it right. if i can find the colors of the wires that plug into the distributor maybe i can fabricate another clip to plug into it. any ideas?

 

I don't think you've quite understood it yet.

There is no plug in the wiring harness that hooks up to that 3-pin thing. Stop looking for it, because it doesn't exist.

The 3-pin plug with a black, tan, and pink or red wire that comes out of the distributor body, plugs into the distributor cap right next to where the BATT and TACH leads plug into the distributor cap.

------------------
"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

opps i goofed on that first post, i should have said plugs into my new distributor instead of goes to. sorry for the miswording

 

oh my god i'm am an idiot, thank god for people like you rb and damon. i'm gonna go bang my head against the wall and scream stupid, stupid, stupid