Hello again. Many posts back I did some searching regarding the stalling of the Ford Tempo-Mercury Topaz in warm weather under load etc., with the problem being blamed on the TFI (thick film ignition) module mounted to the distributor. Being of its location it would get hot and brake down causing the engine to stall. You would wait 10-15 minutes and be on your way untill it stalled sometime again. Well I finally relocated the module. In fact its not that hard of a job, just takes a little time and patience. I made a flat L bracket out of some stiff sheet metal about four by five inches and 1-1/4" wide or the same width as the module itself. I used the screw holes of the module as a template to mark the drill holes on the L bracket, to mount the bracket to the distibutor and two holes to remount the ignition module to the vertical portion of the L bracket. Use the same small screws to mount the bracket to the distributor that were previously used to mount the module. I purchased some wire connectors and (female for the module and male type to fit into the distriubutor) and some wire and did my connections.
When I mounted the module onto the L bracket with small screws, I used some rubber spacers ( 1/8 thick water tap washers) so there would be an air space between the module and the L bracket. The module now mounts on the side of the distributor and is easier to get at. So far everything works, just have to wait for the hot weather or drive this car on a long hill with a load and see what happens. Might be a while to see how this will work out, but will let you know sometime down the road. Okay, word of advice, take the distributor out and do this job on the bench, its a lot easier to measure up. Anyone with a little mechanical skill can do this. This will stop the module from absorbing heat from the engine and distributor.
When I mounted the module onto the L bracket with small screws, I used some rubber spacers ( 1/8 thick water tap washers) so there would be an air space between the module and the L bracket. The module now mounts on the side of the distributor and is easier to get at. So far everything works, just have to wait for the hot weather or drive this car on a long hill with a load and see what happens. Might be a while to see how this will work out, but will let you know sometime down the road. Okay, word of advice, take the distributor out and do this job on the bench, its a lot easier to measure up. Anyone with a little mechanical skill can do this. This will stop the module from absorbing heat from the engine and distributor.
