88 t-bird 2.3 T and ecu into a 1986 ranger 2.3FI

[trphinney]

I rermoved the 2.3L FI from my 86 ranger, and installed a 2.3L FI turbo out of a 88 t-bird. I swapped in the t-bird ecu box, and did the changeover wiring that stinger performance suggested (11 wires). This is just exactly how the box was wired before i took it out of the t-bird. The new system won't start. I have it pinpointed down to the fuel injectors not getting the correct elec. signal from the ecu. The 12V light bulb test that is wired btwn the two leads of any fuel injector that is supposed to flicker when the key is turned over, only flickers for an instant, and then fades to nothing. Any one ever know how to troubleshoot this one any further? I tried switching boxes to arrive at the same prob. I am understanding that pin 56 feeds 58 and 59 (the injector control pins- but am about at a stanstill at this point).

 

[RonD]

So when you manually add fuel to intake, i.e. spray ether(quick start) into intake, it does fire up then die?
There is fuel in the tank and you can hear fuel pump come on when key is turned on?

Ford fuel injectors get 12volts(battery voltage) when EEC Relay closes(key on).
EEC relay powers computer(EEC, PCM), fuel injectors, coil(s), Fuel Pump relay(not fuel pump).

So each fuel injector should show 12volts on BOTH wires with key on, if you ground your meter/light to block/engine
Fuel injectors are only about 14ohms so the 12volts passes easily, very little loss.
12v wire from EEC relay is usually Red and loops from injector to injector.

The Fuel injector wires back to the PCM are the ground wires and this is how the PCM controls the fuel injectors, it grounds them.
So there is no ground at the injectors until engine/distributor is turning.

On a 4cyl with "sequential" fuel injection there will be 4 different color wires going back to PCM.
"Batch" fire will only have 2 different color wires, PCM opens(grounds) 2 injectors at the same time.

Since PCM has several grounds and some are not "common" you could just have a bad ground at the PCM.

This is a pin out example for the EEC-IV, the one used until 1994/5: http://www.auto-diagnostics.info/ford_eec_iv

Yes, pins 58/59 are the "batch" fire grounds, pin 60 could be the bad ground

Yes, pin 56 is the PIP signal which tells PCM when #1 cylinder is at TDC compression stroke, via distributor sensor(assume TFI system?)

A regular 12v test light will often do just what you described because it has the wrong resistance for the circuit, computer may be shutting down ground, Noid Lights are used for testing fuel injection "pulses", they match fuel injector resistance ranges and current draw, your 12 volt light could "look" like a short to the computer.
And the fact test light did flash at first means pulses are being sent, so engine should at least fire up and then die if pulses are stopped.

 

[trphinney]

The local machine shop that did my head kept telling me that I had to much oil psi which was floating my valves on start up. This was dropping my compression right down the line to about 0. From the way I understand it, if the ECU senses there is a major engine malfunction, it will not allow the engine to start (not sending current to the injectors). W/ the oil pump working fine before I did the changeover / rebuild on a fairly clean engine, I did not replace it. The machinist kept telling me, so I finally replaced it w/ a new one. Of course the engine then started right up. This was proof to let me know that the fairly extensive wiring project involved in the changeover was done correctly. Believe me, after enough trial and error troubleshtng on wiring, lifters, and towed to 2 expensive shops that had no idea the oil pump was at fault, and loss of many, many spent hours, question is finally answered. Now that engine is running, next prob. is a total loss of power after 2000 rpm. The turbo just makes kind of a loud whine, and the power band drops completely off. Many sources say it could be the waste gate partially stuck open. I have tried wiring it both forward and to the rear, and can't seem to get any change. One guy that was under the truck said he just held the actuator rod one way, and had me feel the force of air coming out of the turbo compressor, which was quite a force. He left before we could do any further testing, but I think we were on to the problem, because I believe it is that force under torque that will show some real boost pressure. The new VDO gauge in the cabin (which has been properly tested) has never came off the peg yet. I need to do some further testing, but in the mean time I know there is someone that has came across this problem before. My thread that proceeded this one (and my last thread posted) talks a little more about this. Direction?