1984 D250, 360.

I am replacing the duel pickup distributor with a single pickup distributor and have a few questions. I’ve replaced a points ignition with a electronic ignition on a 1968 318. I have a little experience but have never dealt with a duel pickup. I think I have the wiring schematics figured out but have a couple of random questions.

First question. Is it normal for the coating on the power wires to become brittle and chip off?




Second question. The red wire to the alternator is melted. Any idea? Wrong alternator?



Third question. What is this thing? The top three wires are connected to the duel pickup plugs. The bottom two wires go into the bulkhead connector.


Last question! The red wire coming out of the old ECU plug is a heavier gauge then the other wires. On the new harness a blue wire is in the place of the red wire and the gauge is smaller. I know the blue wire connects to the ignition feed and then to the ballast resistor. Will the smaller garage wire be a problem?




Ok one more question... What is this plug? It is next to the distributor.

 

With years of heat and age they can but i think it has to do with question #2.

There was a short somewhere that caused the wires to heat up.

Lean burn ignition, It used the two pickups one for start and one for run.

oil pressure sender/switch.

I am assuming you are putting on a MP ignition?

 

Thanks for the help! I have a few follow up questions.


The wiring is a hot mess throughout. I will replace all the wiring this winter but for now I’ll replace all of the exposed wire to ensure not short.


Can I eliminate when going to a single pickup or is there some other purpose for it?

What is it used for other then maybe the dash light? Do I need it if the emissions system is inoperable?

Yes you are correct! The emissions system is not working. A bunch of the vacuum lines are plugged off, etc... I plan to remove the rest of the system this winter but want to get the truck running for the rest of the summer. The truck was running but poorly. I ended up destroying a few of the plug wires when checking the spark plugs so I decided to replace the plugs, wires, ignition coil, and distributor / ECU since I already had a new one. The duel pickup distributor caught me off guard.

Any words of wisdom going from the duel pick to single pickup system?

 

Just go buy the instructions in the kit. You need 12v+ from the ignition switch(key on) and another for start(see diagram below). I would hook up the oil pressure switch, With it not operating you have no idea if the engine has oil pressure. You can get rid of the relay but will need to use one of the wires for (start) to hook up the MP unit.

 

Thanks. I got it running this morning. Had to turn it over a couple of times but once it started it sounded good. I forgot to hook up the timing light so I shut it down and hooked up the light. I tried starting it back up, but no go.

It has spark and fuel. Any ideas? Bad ground? I had to leave but want to work on it when I get back home.

 

The wires on my 72 power wagon were worse than that. I removed the bulkhead connector, soldered and heat shrunk all the wires. Put an updated fuse box in, removed the amp gauge. The melted wire was due to Dodge factory routing. I ran a battery cable to the battery, put in a good frame ground put in several mega fuses.

 

Make sure that your ignition has juice in start and run.