Update! Sorry for the delay, for anyone that may be following...
(where the heck did all the members of this board go?? It used to be super
active, and now only the original diehards?? Weird!!)
Anyway... The update...
So pickup coil, or ignition coil?? Tried a used coil I had... No spark...
Tried original coil again.. Spark!! And It ran again for one minute...
Must be pickup coil??
Didn't have a spare pickup coil!!
Ordered one from Rock Auto... Express shipping to get it to Canada in two days!!
Part came in totally wrong!! Right box, wrong part...
It would take over a week or two for them to fix their mistake...
So I ordered a lesser brand locally and only had two days to wait...
In the meantime... I read a few Ford forums about Duraspark systems
and a few mentioned the ignition feed passing thru the starter solenoid, and
possible internal shorting in the solenoid causing problems, so while
I was waiting for parts, I decided to swap out the solenoid for the heck of it since
I had a spare!
I'll be dambed if the car didn't run like a dream!!!
I was too scared to take it out for a test drive on that dark, snowy night, but I ran
it for over a half hour in the garage without so much as a hiccup!!
Next day, I got the new pickup coil, and decided to swap that in to rule it out as
a possibility, and I once again got no spark!!! WTF??
Crappy made in China parts?? The air gap DID seem a bit excessive!
So I swapped the original pickup coil back in, and STILL no spark!!
Swapped in an old OEM ignition module I found in the basement, and got spark!!
And then didn't!!! WTF??
Then, (like I should have in the very first place) I started going through the diagnosis
charts in the TSM!! LOL!! Yes... I'm a dumass, but WAS working alone at times
without a helper to turn the key while I was checking stuff under the hood!!
Anyway... The diagnoses led to either a failed ICM, faulty ignition resistance wire,
or bad coil...
So I tried a new coil and once again got spark!!! YES!!!
Mounted up the new coil in its bracket all permanent like, and got no spark again!!
Wha??
Turns out in the end... The ground/green wire in the horseshoe connector feeding
the coil was broken-ish/intermittent!!
So now... I'm not sure what caused the initial failure, the intermittent failure or what
parts were faulty!!
Many of the parts are now new, but not sure if they were even needed in the first place!!
I think the coil wire probably fatigued from removing and replacing the coil connector
about a hundred times that weekend, so I'm not convinced that it was the original source of the problem!!
The coil (an Accel high performance coil that I installed when I did the big cap upgrade)
tested 200 ohms less than the low spec for the coil in the TSM...
I can't imagine that 200 ohms would make a huge difference when the spec is between
7500 and 10,500 or some such thing??
Not sure if the starter solenoid might have over volted the ICM or coil and overheated
one or the other?? Or if that's even possible?? A few Ford guys swear it's happened!!
Anyway... With a new starter solenoid, stock coil, an OEM AMC stickered 30 year-ish old ICM I drove
it to work for a week, and it worked okay, but seemed to sputter every now and then,
and didn't start nearly as quickly as it used to!!
Remembering that I probably gapped the plugs larger than stock when I installed
the hotter coil, I pulled them and found them pretty well worn with a gap of almost .050"!!!
So I replaced them with new, gapped to .035" and she purrs like a kitten again!!!