Skip to main content
Topic: TFI modules (Read 1450 times) previous topic - next topic

TFI modules

Now that Motorcraft TFI modules seem to be outsourced , what TFI modules are you guys having the best success with?
It's Gumby's fault.

TFI modules

Reply #1
Quote from: Tbird232ci;462626
Now that Motorcraft TFI modules seem to be outsourced , what TFI modules are you guys having the best success with?
I dunno are aftermarket performance modules still available??

The only way to make one last is install it on a remote heat sink...

I have one on my '72 Comet 306 that I'm triggering with a set of points.. That one was in my junk box, says Made in Hong Kong... Been running now since April hasn't skipped a beat in a little over 700 miles...

TFI modules

Reply #2
The only tfi module I've had fail on me was a msd...


I got a spare motorcraft along with the whole dizzy just in case. Had it about 10 years, never needed it.
Quote from: jcassity
I honestly dont think you could exceed the cost of a new car buy installing new *stock* parts everywhere in your coug our tbird. Its just plain impossible. You could revamp the entire drivetrain/engine/suspenstion and still come out ahead.
Hooligans! 
1988 Crown Vic wagon. 120K California car. Wifes grocery getter. (junked)
1987 Ford Thunderbird LX. 5.0. s.o., sn-95 t-5 and an f-150 clutch. Driven daily and going strong.
1986 cougar.
lilsammywasapunkrocker@yahoo.com

TFI modules

Reply #3
The half motors seem to be hard on TFI modules...

On the ones I picked up over the years, three or four had intermittent modules... A couple had bad PIP...

TFI modules

Reply #4
I've only had one failed TFI module, and it was a China module.

I'd like to avoid having to do a distributor swap on the side of the road.
It's Gumby's fault.

TFI modules

Reply #5
Quote from: Tbird232ci;462638
I've only had one failed TFI module, and it was a China module.

I'd like to avoid having to do a distributor swap on the side of the road.

Often a spare dizzy is way to go(carried one in my Bird for years)... I've replaced a half motor cam belt in parking lot(after we pushed it off the road), a dist would be nuthin'...

Seen several Motorcraft TFI bad, repl a dead one on daughters "86 Stang in parking lot(same one that got cam belt in another lot)... Dunno if it's vibration or what but I'd never leave the driveway with a half motor and no spare module...

BTW Today I put another 100 miles on the Comet with the Hong Kong module, it's up past 800 now(yeah I have a spare mounted on heatsink just incase)... Keep a spare in my F-150 as well... Of course when it ped the bed last fall, was the PIP that went out, 188K mi and module was still orig...

TFI modules

Reply #6
Yeah, I think heat is the enemy of the TFI.
The silicone dielectric grease they used to conduct the heat away is pretty dated by todays standards.
As computer CPUs have gotten faster and hotter there have been improvements in thermal grease.
Some of the best ones are not dielectric, so you have be careful not to apply too much. Don't want it to squish out and short out the connector pins.

Remoting the TFI off the distributer is a good idea.

TFI modules

Reply #7
Quote from: softtouch;462642
Yeah, I think heat is the enemy of the TFI.
The silicone dielectric grease they used to conduct the heat away is pretty dated by todays standards.
As computer CPUs have gotten faster and hotter there have been improvements in thermal grease.
Some of the best ones are not dielectric, so you have be careful not to apply too much. Don't want it to squish out and short out the connector pins.

Remoting the TFI off the distributer is a good idea.
Especially since the dist can reach temps over 200*F... Remotely mounted, would surprise me if module ever reached that high of temp... But they do generate heat, operating module on bench just spinning dist by hand they'll get hot enough to give a serious burn... If heat sink is already 180*, the module would likely add 50-60* to that...

Through the '80s into early '00s(and probably to some degree today) TFI module technology was widely used in consumer electronics... Seems like I replaced 'bout half billion convergence amps in projection Tvs... In my Hitachi, I went so far as to mount a small fan motor from a old computer P/S to cool the ICs, it never gave any issues... I gave it to a friend who still has it...

TFI modules

Reply #8
I pulled a failing Standard Motor Products module out of my 5.0 when it failed, 10 years after I bought the car (dunno when it was put in but I put 150+k on it). When I went to the parts store ready to pay $100+ for a Motorcraft, they convinced me anybody that says the $50 STP one won't last more than a year is a FoMoCo fanboy and I walked out with a cheap STP module instead of ordering a good one. Failed a year later.

I replaced it with a $120ish Echelon unit from AutoZone. Apparently it's also made by STP but supposedly their expensive ones are better… I won't know until early 2018, the 1 year mark. Hope that helps.