by Woodscaper » Wed Jun 08, 2022 7:28 pm
For those of you who may in counter the same issue I just experienced, I hope this will save you from chasing your tail for a few days!
I was on a test drive after doing some suspension upgrades when my Bronco suddenly died. Nothing I did would get it to start again just so I could get it home. So I call the wife and requested she grab my truck and come tow me home, only a few blocks thankfully, she was not stoked to be doing this….blah, blah, blah.
Anyway, I start poking around and testing stuff like the coil, fuel pressure, fuses and so on. I decide I’m not getting any spark from the coil so I go buy a new one and plug it in, no dice. I then decide to swap out the TFI module with a couple I had as spares, no dice again. I jump online and start looking up diagnostic tutorials and perform several tests that point me to the PIP sensor, on my set up it’s inside the distributor, no problem I say to myself, I’ve done this repair on a ‘96 Bronco I used to have. Track down a new PIP sensor and get swapped in and continue to hook everything back up. Feeling relief that I finally got this little gremlin tracked down, I go to start it up and celebrate. WELL, NO DICE AGAIN. I say a few choice words and go stomping off back the IPad to look up more internet mechanics tips on what to look for and different ways to test them…..on and on, I test and check every thing two or three times all the while thinking the G D PIP sensor was eliminated from the equation because I had already changed it with a new part. I proceeded to remove the heater box from under the dash so I could pull the computer in order to check the capacitors for signs of failure. By this time I’m beside myself, I’ve been working at for 3 days. FINALLY, I’ve had enough and I decide there’s no way it could be anything but the PIP sensor. I track down another one (not that readily available it turns out) and put in AGAIN. The Bronco fired up immediately, for figure. The lesson here is don’t be hardheaded and assume a new part is going to be good right of the box, sometimes you will get a lemon.