Remote TFI Tutorial from RangerStation

[zxr250cc]

Hi all,
This makes this job fairly easy with full details:

https://www.therangerstation.com/tech/r ... on-module/

Cheers

[DPDISXR4Ti]

I recently did this to my '91 F-150. The interesting twist with that platform is that the factory went to the remote TFI on the trucks starting in 1992, so you can just use the closed-bowl distributor and harness from a later truck donor rather than DIY.

But yea, great mod that's easier than doing the full DIS conversion.

[my8950]

This has always been in the back of my mind to do...

[zxr250cc]

Hi all,

I told my friend in MO where I store the car that I wished I could mount the TFI inside the airbox so it had cool air flowing over it all the time. Too bad that is too much trouble. It should have been there from the factory.

Cheers

[thesameguy]

There is a car that does this... Maybe Volvo?

Edit - it's Audi. The heatsink is mounted to the air box so the fins extend into fresh air, and the module itself mounts externally.

Looks like this:

[zxr250cc]

Hi all,

That is excellent placement and a good lead to follow. Too bad our airbox is the other side of the engine bay from the distributor. I am mounting mine on the fender near the washer bottle where no heat source is near it. Should work well. Good photo of a good design...

Cheers

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Neat idea to mount it in/on the airbox, but the biggest gain is made by simply remote mounting it on the AL factory remote heat sync just about anywhere away from the engine. On my truck I mounted it to the inside of the wheel well splash shield. They're much beefier on the trucks since the liner essentially IS the inner fender.

[thesameguy]

Yeah, I don't think it's practical to do this on the XR4Ti, but it's an interesting bit of engineering.

[zxr250cc]

Hi all,

The article mentions filing down the terminals to match the ones in width on the TFI body. I matched them with 3/16th inch male slide on connectors from Standard (HP 1580) and they are the same width as the TFI module pins without filing them. I am soldering these on the ends for the distributor side and using female slide on connectors for the new remote TFI output pin connections and using 14 gauge wire for the fabricated loom. I'm using one stripped wire as a grounding wire to be attached to the heat sink for ground and tightly wrapped the four wire set with aluminum foil before putting it inside plastic loom like the cars came with stock on the firewall.

I plan to use a 6x15 mm bolt mounted into the side of the distributor to allow me to zip tie the loom to it and hold it in place and to plug the red, white and blue color coded wires into the distributor direct without the old TFI body. This should be good to go and less trouble than soldering inside the old TFI. I will use blue thread lock on the bolt to keep it in place. It will be good finishing this modification and removing a worry about hot weather running.

Cheers

[zxr250cc]

Hi all,

I finished making the remote loom for the TFI and it looks 'like factory' to my friend where I store the car. With all set to go I decided to make a bracket to hold the TFI off the fender to allow air behind it as well as in all other sides. That is next trip. I drove the car around a little and it is running great in '80's weather without heating issues.

I invested my weekend time Saturday and Sunday working with my friend to clean up the fuel system, replace the clutch and brake master cylinders, change out the cooling hoses and remount the radiator after changing the water pump in his Twin Cam MGA that is in storage in the same building. We got it running in early afternoon Sunday and it was a very special moment for me as I had never seen that car run even though he has had it since the '80's. I invested the time in working on it as payment for help with my Merk plus a real desire to see that car running for him. There is a meet in Garnett, Kansas in Ocotober I think where former cars that raced there are back for a visit. I want him to drive it there and back as it raced there in the '60' with a different owner.

It is great to have friends, eh?

Cheers

[my8950]

Nice!
Yes, it is always exciting when the key is first turned and engine starts, either from a rebuild, or just a long vacation.
My dad does a lot of classic restorations, and many times these old cars get a rebuild.
It never gets old, straight 8's from the 30's, 40's or 50's, import stuff, all sorts of classics from probably 1890 up to the 70's muscle cars.
Interesting to see how things we done way back and what changes were made in later engines.

[milehighXR]

He references using another wiring diagram to use the other TFI module(the one the came with the heat sink). I have a TFI, and heatsink from an F-150 with the 300 I-6. I have not mounted anything yet, but since I am chasing what seems like an intermittent ignition issue, I thought that maybe I'd kill 2 birds with one stone. Remote mount it, and maybe use the other TFI if possible.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

He references using another wiring diagram to use the other TFI module(the one the came with the heat sink). I have a TFI, and heatsink from an F-150 with the 300 I-6.

Just make sure it's a gray remote TFI and not the black one.

[Ed Lijewski]

Do you know the difference between the black and grey TFIs (I do)?

YMMV

[milehighXR]

Just learned yesterday actually. Most E8 and later TFIs are CCD type, utilizing both sides of the Hall effect square wave IIRC. Are vehicle with those TFIs still able to be push started if they had a manual trans?