cant remove icm

[illinoisbronco]

i just cant get to the dang little ***** on the bottom left of the icm !!!!! i am getting so mad over this thing i have to leave it alone and come back to it. i bought a tool for it but it was too bulky to fit in the little 1/2 inch space. it was really the same as a socket but with a big fat handle, what point does that serve?? but id rather not take off the distributor because i dont have a timing light or tape nor do i want to spend the extra money on them. any suggestions would be appreciated.

also where do i find the pickup coil??

 

[BroncoJoe19]

IF you need to pull the distributor...

Perhaps you can scribe a mark on the distributor base, and the block so that you can put it back where it came from. Also you may want to note/scribe a mark on the dizzy both where the rotor points before you pull it, and after you pull the dizzy. The rotor will rotate a little when you pull the dizzy out. When you reinstall the dizzy, you will want to have the rotor alignment the same as it was when it was pulled out.

 

[illinoisbronco]

IF you need to pull the distributor...
Perhaps you can scribe a mark on the distributor base, and the block so that you can put it back where it came from. Also you may want to note/scribe a mark on the dizzy both where the rotor points before you pull it, and after you pull the dizzy. The rotor will rotate a little when you pull the dizzy out. When you reinstall the dizzy, you will want to have the rotor alignment the same as it was when it was pulled out.

thanks again yoda. common sense once again eludes me.

 

[BroncoJoe19]

The blue thing is the pick up coil.

http://www.geocities.com/cantwait_forviole...izzy_pickup.jpg

 

[Mike G]

What if you marked like like Yoda said and then just losing it and rotate it until you get the ***** out. Then you can realign when done.

Mike

 

[illinoisbronco]

What if you marked like like Yoda said and then just losing it and rotate it until you get the ***** out. Then you can realign when done.
Mike

i think i may do that. thank you for your help.

 

[jsomedaysoon]

haha i'm so glad i'm not the only one that had that same problem! I FEEL YOUR PAIN!! dude this thing baffled me for almost a week! i know exactly the little hole you are talking about... i ended up geting a magnet on a stick because i couldnt even get my fingers down there. then i dropped the only socket i had that would fit in that hole so i tried to use a little nut driver but that wouldnt fit in the hole so i ground it down with a grinder until it did fit in the hole. then it just spun and spun so i was like damn i guess i get to learn how to take out a distributor. it turns out that you can rotate it pretty easy without taking it out... just undo that little bolt/clamp thing at the bottom where it goes into the motor and it turns pretty easy. once you do that the procedure is simple. i broke my icm when my wrench slipped off really hard when i was changing my thermostat and that broke the icm almost in two.

 

[illinoisbronco]

haha i'm so glad i'm not the only one that had that same problem! I FEEL YOUR PAIN!! dude this thing baffled me for almost a week! i know exactly the little hole you are talking about... i ended up geting a magnet on a stick because i couldnt even get my fingers down there. then i dropped the only socket i had that would fit in that hole so i tried to use a little nut driver but that wouldnt fit in the hole so i ground it down with a grinder until it did fit in the hole. then it just spun and spun so i was like damn i guess i get to learn how to take out a distributor. it turns out that you can rotate it pretty easy without taking it out... just undo that little bolt/clamp thing at the bottom where it goes into the motor and it turns pretty easy. once you do that the procedure is simple. i broke my icm when my wrench slipped off really hard when i was changing my thermostat and that broke the icm almost in two.

wow thats just crappy luck right there

 

[jsomedaysoon]

haha yea. i would've been ****** if it was my daily driver but i've got a used car lot of other options to drive so it was kinda fun just figuring it all out.

 

[Mike G]

After all this I have to ask...........What is the ICM? Ignition Control Module? And what does it do? I'm from the days of a good set of points and a dwell meter to make the world turn.

Mike

 

[Gordon]

i just cant get to the dang little ***** on the bottom left of the icm !!!!! i am getting so mad over this thing i have to leave it alone and come back to it. i bought a tool for it but it was too bulky to fit in the little 1/2 inch space. it was really the same as a socket but with a big fat handle, what point does that serve?? but id rather not take off the distributor because i dont have a timing light or tape nor do i want to spend the extra money on them. any suggestions would be appreciated.also where do i find the pickup coil??

I just did this. I marked the distributor base and the block with a Sharpie. I loosened the hold down bolt enough to raise the distributor to reach the bolt hole. I had to buy a precision nut driver at ACE Hardware. The nut is 5.5 mm. That's right Metric. and the hole is not much larger than that. I figure it's around 3/8" maybe 5/16" hole. and it's deeper so that most sockets won't reach. The auto parts store should have a little socket set that will work. Ask for it. I'm sure somebody already has.

My ICM tested OK, but it might be failing at operating temperature. I have no spark, but no CEL or Codes stored.

1990 Bronco 5.0L (302ci) fuel injection. auto.

 

[jsomedaysoon]

yea the 5.5 works but you can also use a 7/32 deep well if you have one instead. my truck started running like crap after i broke the icm. it actually seperated from the distributor a little. i'm not completely sure what an icm does but i do know that when i replaced it the truck ran ALOT better haha. on to the next issue i guess.

 

[Gordon]

yea the 5.5 works but you can also use a 7/32 deep well if you have one instead. my truck started running like crap after i broke the icm. it actually seperated from the distributor a little. i'm not completely sure what an icm does but i do know that when i replaced it the truck ran ALOT better haha. on to the next issue i guess.

Did you replace the pickup coil too? Did your distributor have alot of corrosion inside it? I'm having a problem with no spark and I'm trying to NOT just throw the parts store at the problem.

 

[illinoisbronco]

Did you replace the pickup coil too? Did your distributor have alot of corrosion inside it? I'm having a problem with no spark and I'm trying to NOT just throw the parts store at the problem.

i replaced the icm with one i found at the junkyard and runs like a new car now.

 

[jsomedaysoon]

Did you replace the pickup coil too? Did your distributor have alot of corrosion inside it? I'm having a problem with no spark and I'm trying to NOT just throw the parts store at the problem.

na i didnt have to replace anything else. the distributor looked fine on the inside. i knew the icm was the problem because i broke it and the truck started running like crap right afterwords. good luck on your truck though!