Getting the Firing Order Right on My Old Ford V8
Alright, let me tell you about a little project I tackled recently. My trusty old Ford truck, the one with the V8, started running kinda rough. Not terrible, you know, but just not smooth like it should be. Felt like a stumble, especially when I gave it some gas.
First things first, I checked the usual suspects. Plugs looked okay, maybe a little old but not fouled. Wires seemed connected alright. Distributor cap wasn’t cracked. I started thinking back… when was the last time I messed with the ignition wires? Maybe I swapped a couple around by mistake last time I did a tune-up. Happens to the best of us, right?
So, I figured I better double-check the firing order. Now, finding that info isn’t always straightforward on these older vehicles. Sometimes there’s a sticker under the hood, but mine was long gone. The manual? Probably gathering dust somewhere in the garage, if I even still have it.
I had to recall the right sequence. I seemed to remember there were a couple different ones Ford used over the years on their V8s. Some of the real old ones, like the Flatheads or early small blocks, had one order, and then the later ones, like my engine which is one of those later 5.0 / 302 style motors (or similar to the 351 Windsor), used a different one.
After a bit of head-scratching and digging around in my memory banks (and maybe a quick check of some old notes I keep), I settled on the sequence for my specific engine. It’s the one many folks know: 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8.
Tracing Wires and Making it Right
Okay, knowing the order is one thing, applying it is the next step. You gotta know which cylinder is which and how the distributor spins.
So, here’s what I did:
- Identified Cylinder #1: On these Fords, cylinder #1 is usually the front one on the passenger side of the engine. Then it goes 2, 3, 4 back on that side. The driver’s side starts with #5 at the front, then 6, 7, 8 going back.
- Checked Distributor Rotation: I popped the distributor cap off. Just bumped the ignition key real quick (with the coil disconnected so it wouldn’t start!) to see which way the rotor turned. Mine spins counter-clockwise. Good to know.
- Located #1 Tower: Found the terminal on the distributor cap that the rotor points to when cylinder #1 is at Top Dead Center on its compression stroke. Usually, it’s marked, or you figure it out from the rotor position.
- Traced Each Wire: This was the tedious part. Starting with the #1 tower on the cap, I followed the wire to make sure it went to the #1 spark plug (front passenger side). Then, moving counter-clockwise around the cap to the next tower, that wire needed to go to cylinder #3 (third one back, passenger side). Then the next tower counter-clockwise went to #7 (third one back, driver’s side), and so on, following that 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8 pattern all the way around.
And wouldn’t you know it? I found two wires crossed! Must’ve happened last time I had them off. Swapped them back to their proper spots on the distributor cap.
Put the cap back on, made sure everything was snug. Hopped in, turned the key, and she fired right up. That stumble? Gone. Ran smooth as silk again. Just goes to show, sometimes it’s the simple things, and getting that firing order right is absolutely critical on these V8s.
