How To Replace Distributor Cap and Rotor Ford 1992-96 F150 F250 F350

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In this video, we show you how to replace the distributor cap and rotor on this 1996 Ford F-150. This truck has the 5.0 liter V8. This process is the same for both the 5.0 liter V8 and the 5.8 liter V8. The only tool you'll need is a flat blade screwdriver.

Look under the engine from the driver's side. You can see the distributor cap right here. It's the blue plastic. You'll first want to remove this intake tube. It makes it easier if you get it out of the way. Start by loosening a hose clamp right down here. Loosen two more hose clamps here, one down here, then one up under here, then this clamp here. Pull that off. Pull that off and pull this up and off. That comes right off. Now you can see the cap right here. It just has a couple little clasps. One's here. Just take your finger and flip them off. One's in the backside, and you can't really see it. You just feel for it. Flip it off. Then you can pull your cap up.

You can see underneath a little bit. Those contacts are blackened, pretty ugly. The rotor should be replaced as well. What I like to do is, there's a little vent right here. Match that up. Here's my vent on my new cap. I just pull this wire off here, and then I make sure that wire should go on to this post right here. I just pull it right over. Put that wire on that post. Then I just go right in order. Take the wires off, and put them on the new cap. I'm going to do all the ones that come from this side first.

What that'll do is it'll let the cap stay over here. I'm going to skip one. I'm skipping taking this one off. I'll skip this one. Take that one off and put it on there. This one's all the way over here. I'm actually going to take the coil wire off as well. That one's easy. We know that one goes right in the middle, so I'll just take that off, and put it back here. Then I'll take this one off. I know it goes through right to here. Really, all I'm doing is I'm just carefully replacing the wires. Now, once you take these next four off, you're going to have to put the new cap in place. What I'll do is just take this one off first, keep it right there. This one off next, keep it right there. Then pull these two off right where they are.

Remove the old cap and put this cap in place. Put these two kind of on, in place, there. I know that this one goes here and this one here. All the wires are on in the same place. I end up back together. Now, I'm actually going to replace the rotor. The rotor, just kind of note its position. It's pointing basically at the engine oil filler. Just pull the rotor right up and off. Okay, here's our old rotor; here's our new one. The old one's all burnt and scored there, never a good thing for getting the charge through. You can see our old cap; all these contacts have significant scoring on them which makes it more difficult to get spark through there.

New rotor, we'll just push right on. Put the new cap in place. Then just pull the clip right up. You may have to reach around the back here a little bit. Put the other one on. Bring our coil wire right down and on. Okay, we just did a quick startup there to make sure everything was working right. As long as you plug the wires into the same location on the new cap as they were on the old cap, you will be fine. I'm just kind of fast-forwarding through as we put that intake tube back on. Put it back on there. Putting the two tubes to the throttle body in correctly, the one tube that goes down to the oil breather, and then the two max airflow sensors. Make sure they're all on there well. Tighten up the clamps and we should be all set. Put it on there. Tighten up this clamp over here. Reach right over I know you can't see it, but tighten up the one that goes to the oil breather here.

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