86 TC computer

[therieldeal]

I found a good deal on an ECU from an 86 TC. I know its not the BEST computer to use, but will it work alright with an 88 TC engine? Is the pinout going to be the same? I cant find an 86 diagram anywhere, just the 88. All I found was that the 86 used the 35# injectors (on the motor already) and the small VAM (cheap).

Thanks,
-Jon

 

[92dangerranger]

Hey man I'm using the 86 ECU and most of the wires were the same as the 87-88. But not all of them. You cant run a big VAM with the 86 computer or visa-versa. I have a lot of paper work and diagrams for wiring the 86 i will scan them tonight and send it to you, I cant right now because I'm off to work then school.
Check out this web site it has a lot of good info.

http://www.stinger-performance.com/faq.html

 

[therieldeal]

dude that would be awesome if you could post/send me those. i'd really appreciate it!

 

[scotts90ranger]

same here! I'm going to be melding a '86 turbocoupe and an '89 ranger, I have the chiltons for both, but the more wiring diagrams the better...

 

[therieldeal]

sounds like we're doing the exact same swap, except my motor came from an 88...

 

[scotts90ranger]

yeah, I'm attacking mine in just over a week... crap, I just realized how cold i'ts going to be... I guess it's a good thing I have coveralls and mechanix gloves... gotta take advantage of a 4 day weekend when you can!

so, anyone know if I can use the 3/4 wire ('89 was 3, '90 was 4, found out the hard way since my truck is technically a '90 with an '89 engine, only difference is a ground wire) O2 sensor I have from my '89 with the '86 computer? the 1 wire sensor I have has a broken connector, and a heated sensor should be better anyway...

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

I just used the 3-wire O2 sensor from the turbo coupe in mine. I kept the ranger's 4-wire harness but I had to splice on the O2 connector from the turbo coupe. I think 2 wires were the same as the rangers but I had to add VREF or one of the other generic ones from somewhere else.

 

[shadetree]

The differences in the 86 and the 88 are considerable. The 86 used a Garret, the 88 used a smaller IHI.

Fuel and timing parameters would be different.

Computers are different due to IC and exhaust. While the exhaust was minimal help, the IC and different blower combined were enough to change computers.

The 88 had an intercooler, 86 did not.

The 88 had cat backs, 86 did not.

The 88 had a different computer.

The 88 had the large VAM.

The single wire to the O2 is the ref. The three wire is simply two wires for the heater, and the remaining wire for the ref. For this reason, it is important to re-attach the ground wire that goes to the turbo.

The above also applies to the 87 turbo-coupe.shady

 

[therieldeal]

i understand all of those differences, but really the only thing that matters to me is the pinout so i can wire it up and get it working. people throw on bigger turbos or crank up the boost on the LA3 all the time. i'm just going to be running pretty much stock.