1988 B2 Conversion using 2000 Explorer 302

[dSINtia]

So a few updates. I just heard from my son who just left the exhaust shop. Looks like the passenger side frame rail will need to be "trimmed" along the top edge in order to get to it to fit the clamp and pipe to the header. The guy is going to take about a 2" x 4" chunk out of the top edge of the frame but will brace the inside of the box once done. I'll have my son take some pics of the finished system this afternoon. We are going with 2 1/4" pipe to the cats (universals being used flanking the gear box), out of the cats above the trans crossmember and into an X-pipe right behind the tail shaft and then heading through 2 3/4" pipe into dual Flowmaster 40's and dumping right in front of the rear wheels. We are runing front O2 sensors and have deleted the rear sensors in the tune.

On another note, my wife noticed today while watching my son back out of the garage that we don't have reverse lights so I will need to figure that piece out and walk my son through the fix using Facetime. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the DTRS and a minor adjustment being needed... what say you guys?

 

[RangerSVT]

Dave, the DTRS has two wires coming out for the reverse wires. A simple pin swap at the 42 pin connnector should fix it. I'll get you the pins when I get back to the house...

SVT

 

[dSINtia]

Thanks SVT. I can walk Isaac through an easy pin swap. Appreciate it!

 

[bobbywalter]

great recording of events svt.


.....theres reasons i have conditions for swaps. makes a 1-3 day thing a three week thing...



dsintia,
they could not roll the rail edge up or down for the exhaust?

not sure i would let them cut anything until i was sure rolling it would not work.


make sure material removal cuts are radius-ed, preferably with predrill to make the corners with 3/4 holes and blade cut cold to the holes for the section removal...

 

[dSINtia]

Hey bobby.

Thanks for the advice. In the end, because of the required engine placement and resulting inaccessibility to the passenger side header, we did end up trimming a small section of the lower side of the frame rail. It was a smaller section than originally expected and it is crescent shaped. We had them brace around the cut and in the end I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I hadn't considered rolling the lip up which would have been a better idea but in the end I think we are good. Thankfully this is a road only vehicle and won't ever see the frame stress induced by rock crawling.

 

[dSINtia]

A few updates... Since the exhaust install we've had a new driveshaft built and it is perfectly balanced. Should make a huge difference once we get on the road. I'm still working on the reverse lights but that is on the back burner for now as I'm having some drivability issues related to synchronizer timing. I'm timed to TDC #1 piston but still getting the p0340 code.

After struggling with stabbing this thing (6 times and still have the code) I decided to look at the ECU... it was a 99 ECU designed to run on the Hall CPS sensor but I'm running a 96-98 VRS style synchro and CPS sensor. There is a Ford TSB from 2001 (02-22-01) that spells out the differences in the two and made it pretty clear that the sensors are not interchangeable. So, being I'm in Rhode Island, I'm have a local garage verify the synchronizer installation this afternoon and then will be installing the 96/97 XDT2 ECU in hopes that using an ECU matched to a VRS CPS circuit with a properly timed synchronizer will clear the CPS DTC (0340) we are getting.

If so, the rest is tuning out emissions DTCs expected to be thrown with a stock tune. SVT has stepped up and said he will take care of that once I get the CPS circuit issue worked through.

There may also have been issues using the 99 ECU with the 19lb injectors used through 98 but again, that will be cleared up using the older ECU.

Please keep in mind, I'm a novice and am only offering what I think I've learned from the almighty Dr. Google... If I'm off base, please do set me straight. Thanks in advance...

Dave

 

[bobbywalter]

i might be off on this, but iirc the later pcm can be tuned to anything back from it. one of the guys i send work to prefers the newest explorer pcm we can get for custom engine builds.


are you sure your not getting bad voltage? rather leaky ac from the alternator or plug wires or something. iirc the ford cps is now the same across the gens from 95-01 from ford. worse it was a napa part and not a motorcraft....the owner went to the dealer for the parts, and just didnt know better. no issues though with the part, what actually happened is the oil pump had locked up and luckily the gear spun a bit before wadding up the drive shaft in that case. advance auto shows some variance but the ford parts from the dealer the last setup i worked on were stated as 1995-2001.

i have experienced and read where bad wires/coilpaks and cheap alternators caused fault codes.



long story, but modified pickup tubes need to be constructed carefully.




i have not done two swaps identical, but for all practical purposes they would look identical to the uninitiated, so i understand the variances.











you cant hurt that chassis with that little engine. they are very robust chassis....the gen 1 d28/7.5 axles are useless, but the chassis as a whole is a little brute. the dana35 is perfect for 35 in and smaller tires though.

i hacked a mile out of my rails to use those shitty ass long tube junk flat gasket tp, jd, and advanced adapter headers back in the day during the mid 90's..i was much happier with stock 351 cobra r headers..

i cracked the rails a few times jumping it, that was 95/96 or so the first few times...and i still beat it pretty good and it has 3600 plus pounds on the front axle at this stage in its life....over a million miles and nearly 23 years of service to me and the ol thing still goes down the road solid...

it would never have been cut up so bad if i would have ran shorty headers from the get and never run a 1356 and 208 t-cases when i swapped to the aod. most swaps back then to run the long tubes only took a little over 1/2 inch from the rail for 9-10 inches...hardly could tell if you made a nice cut. of course rolling the edge instead is the best way to go.... and a c4/d20 combo was what most used for a 4x4.

so this pic should take any fear out of ya.

of course careful rolling or proper cutting eliminates the issue, dont cut like this...no right angle cuts

 

[RangerSVT]

Bobby, the cam syncros are different, the 96-97 ecu will operate either cps, but the newer 99-01 ecu will only run the 2 wire cps. I haven't found the selection to switch between the two, but I'm also lacking some variables in my version of tuning software. I'm waiting for the calibrators software, which is limited to who gets this software...

SVT

 

[bobbywalter]

Bobby, the cam syncros are different, the 96-97 ecu will operate either cps, but the newer 99-01 ecu will only run the 2 wire cps. I haven't found the selection to switch between the two, but I'm also lacking some variables in my version of tuning software. I'm waiting for the calibrators software, which is limited to who gets this software...

SVT

the bases are different, the sensor was the same.


i cant find any in the garage, probably have them in the storage....


i thought the whole units were different bt the dealer said the tops were the same....it did plug in...had three dealios in the sensor but only two wires on the harness i was using. and it worked. i never went any further.

 

[RangerSVT]

After reading my post, I dont think i was clear enough, sorry. The cps ( top plastic part, the sensor itself) is the same, but the cam syncronizer (the base) is different....

SVT

 

[bobbywalter]

After reading my post, I dont think i was clear enough, sorry. The cps ( top plastic part, the sensor itself) is the same, but the cam syncronizer (the base) is different....

SVT

well then, is the current cps taller and closer to the coil paks or something?


or is the timing need to be fiddled with a bit?


i just go to tdc with a dowel/driver in the plug hole touching the piston with a back off and then back, as to tight side the chain... and center the damn things up and put them back together. dont use the little tool unless it comes in the box, and i have not had any problems....whether its a 3.0 5.0, van with a triton or whatever. or am i just lucky?

with that said i dont understand the maps not working the the same sensor...unless theres a voltage leak/intrusion or something. maybe bad shielding on the pack wiring or just a bad sensor top in itself....loose magnet or something.

 

[RangerSVT]

The can syncronizer is about half the width on the 99 as it is on the 96-98, so the signal is much more precise, so when the signal is supposed to be, say 1/2 a second long, but its reading a signal thats a full 1 second long (which would indicate to the ecu a lower engine speed), and the ecu is receiving a signal from the ckt (crank sensor) that is twice the signal that the cps is sending, the ecu thinks its out of time, throwing the code. Adjusting for TDC, no matter how accurate it is, will still throw it off...

SVT

 

[bobbywalter]

thats why i was looking for one, i remembered a difference in the slot hole.

so the ref sig not adjustable in the pcm? maybe if i move back to detroit i will have a reason to go into the tuning end personally. things are getting fuzzy on that these days.



so the way to adjust it is to match the slot hole width one unit to the other. but if the ratio of the tang to the slot window is the same...seems the frequency should be...easy button is proper body.

 

[RangerSVT]

I'm sure its adjustable in the tune, but my tuning software doesnt have that option, yet...

SVT

 

[dSINtia]

Okay... Update. Driveability issues have been completely corrected... Amazing what a couple of crossed plug wires do to a motor.

Dealing with a coolant leak and after some digging I've found the culprit... The frost plug heater. Could turn out to be a real issue as it was installed in the plug right behind the passenger side motor mount. I've tried tightening it up a bit but it's still leaking. More on that later.

Still have no reverse lights but the engine runs great and is a huge improvement over the 2.9. ECU still needs to be tuned as the CEL is on with 7 DTCs... P1000, 4 emissions related, a DTRS code and a NSS code.