Pinto Car Club of America

When i bought my 76 in 2003 it needed a control module to run. I bought a cheapie, as the old one did test bad. It lasted until earier this year and then it started stalling at random but usually quit working and then started working again so quickly that  it would just come back on on its own. It would never test bad and only did it once in a while. finally it got bad and i had to replace it tho still wouldnt test bad. I replaced it with another cheapie, it ran a month or so.... and started doing the same thing. I nearly didnt make it home the last time. I was on the highway about 11pm and it would stall and stay off for a few seconds and then pop back on with a big backfire. Now then ive replaced it with a $70 premium one and it has been giving me problems, alto they are different. A once it wouldnt start (the needle on the tachometer wouldnt move, and before when it would stall the tach would go to zero) and the tach didnt move while cranking. Other times it starts only after i let  ff the key. The residual energy from cranking is enough to start it apparently. Other times it is fine but today it did stall once while i was driving. It started right back up tho. However, this is the 4th module this car has had in a matter of 3 or 4 months. 3 were cheapies and one is an expensive one. Surly they cant all coincidentally be bad can they? Especially where they dont test bad. It has to be the module tho because a new one  fixes it every time, for a while. The question is, what can keep making a new module go bad,  and not test bad? Got me puzzled. This is the only problem i have with my lil 76. Wouldnt be afraid to take it anywhere if it werent for that.

I HAD A SIMILAR PROBLEM WITH DURASPARK IGNITION. THE
MAGNETIC PICKUP IN THE DISTIBUTOR WAS BAD. IT WRECKED
THREE MODULES BEFORE I SOLVED IT. IT MIGHT BE JUST AS EASY
TO JUST REPLACE THE DISTRIBUTOR.
BILL

It has a new distributor in it. However its the 2nd new one its had the first one went bad after only 1 day. Its another junk a-1 cardone reman. I located a NOS ford distributor when the 1st new distributor failed, but when this one worked, i decided against getting it. Maybe I should try and get it afterall.

These types of problems are very hard to diagnose being as intermittent as they are.  There are some things that you may want to check though.  Make sure your voltage regulator is working properly, check the ignition switch for damage or excessive wear, check all the electrical connections under the hood, and visually inspect everything you can.  Good luck, I spent too much money on my 78 replacing nearly everything electrical, just to find that the connector on the distributor was burned.