Flex fuel 3.0 swap into non flex fuel truck. Need help!

[32solow]

New to TRS. I tried searching and could not find any posts with the same conditions that I have. Hoping that someone can provide some help on a new topic.

I have a 2000 Ranger that was a 3.0 / manual truck that I bought for my daughter. Well, she rolled the truck on an icy road and it was a total loss (she walked away with only a scratch) but the truck was so clean and only had 120k on it so I picked up a 1999 ranger that had a 4.0 / automatic with a blown head gasket. I swapped the engine, transmission, ECU, wiring harness, PATS module, steering column, gauge cluster, clutch pedal, floor shifter, and everything I thought it needed. The 1999 truck is now running and driving with the 3.0 / manual combination but I have a couple of error codes. First code is P0176 and when I saw it, that made sense because the original 2000 donor truck was a flex fuel truck and the 1999 that it went into was not. There is no sensor and I cannot find a plug for it in the harness inside the frame rail in order to swap it over from the donor truck.

What are my options? From what I can find, it looks like the flex fuel sensor defaults to an 87 unleaded condition and only make adjustments when ethanol is detected. Can anyone confirm that? The truck seems to run fine without the sensor but the P0176 code comes back without the flex fuel sensor input to the ECU. They make emulators to use in place of the sensor on a FF truck but is there a clean way to add it as an input to the ECU without the factory harness and plug inside the frame rail? It seems like the ford engineers made everything else in these trucks modular so I was actually surprised that the 1999 didn't have it in the harness but I have read different posts with different info on what years had the flex fuel option so maybe it wasn't an option in 1999? I suspect that the ECU could also be reprogrammed to a non flex fuel 3.0 so that it is no longer looking for that input. Can anyone provide a trustworthy source for that if it is an option?

The only other code I get is P0340 which is for the cam sensor. I replaced the sensor when I did the swap but now after some digging, I am thinking that I need to replace the cam syncronizer because I do get the squealing sound for a bit when it first starts up. I will order an OEM one and swap it out to see how worn the original one is when I pull it out and if that solves that problem.

Thanks in advance for the help. Forums like this are priceless because of the great people who participate and offer help.

 

[Brain75]

Do you have this little critter just past the fuel pickup? (in the 2000 - the one that was FFV from the factory)

AK Ranger has a 1999 3.0 FFV and this pic came from him, so in '99 the FFV's definitely had some extra parts.
That is a DC/AC converter to run the sending unit on AC (ethanol apparently gives bogus readings on DC or something)... right after that in the fuel line is the flex sensor (after the fuel filter, before the engine)
here's his quote on it:
"There is also a Flex Fuel sensor, in the fuel line. It is between the filter and engine. The fuel goes through it and it has some electrical connections. "

 

[2011Supercab]

The Ranger never came with a flex fuel 4.0, that would explain why there is no place in the harness for the sensor.

 

[pjtoledo]

the Taurus Car Club calls that the anti-slosh module.

 

[32solow]

Do you have this little critter just past the fuel pickup? (in the 2000 - the one that was FFV from the factory)

View attachment 124443

AK Ranger has a 1999 3.0 FFV and this pic came from him, so in '99 the FFV's definitely had some extra parts.
That is a DC/AC converter to run the sending unit on AC (ethanol apparently gives bogus readings on DC or something)... right after that in the fuel line is the flex sensor (after the fuel filter, before the engine)
here's his quote on it:
"There is also a Flex Fuel sensor, in the fuel line. It is between the filter and engine. The fuel goes through it and it has some electrical connections. "

First, thanks for the replies.

I don't see the DC/AC convertor on the 2000 FFV but I suppose it could be tucked inside the frame rail next to the tank?

I pulled the FF sensor from the 2000 FFV

I also have a factory ford wiring diagram book for the 2000 ranger and the wires match on the plug to the diagram

I checked the PCM inputs in the wiring diagrams for the 3.0 and 4.0 to see if it might exist where I could tap into it to either install the FF sensor on the 1999 or use an emulator to provide the PCM with a suitable input signal. Pin 34 on the 3.0 PCM connector is the DG/LG FF sensor output. Pin 34 is not used on the 4.0 PCM so I suspect that the 1999 PCM is not configured to provide a FF sensor output to the ECU even if I added Pin 34 as an input to the PCM

I think my next move might be to compare the 3.0 and 4.0 PCM connections pin by pin to see if everything else is the same. If they are, maybe the easiest option would be to swap the PCM from the 2000 FFV into the 1999 and add the pin 34 input from an emulator.

Got any other ideas?

Thanks

 

[32solow]

Comparison of the 3.0 and 4.0 PCM connections show four differences. I'm not too worried about pins that exist on the 4.0 PCM input but there are two (besides the FF sensor input that I would add) that exist on the 3.0 but not on the 4.0 and I don't want to trade one CEL code for another..

Here is a summary of differences:

3.0 PCM
PIN 6 - Not used
PIN 34 - FF sensor
PIN 47 - EGR Vacuum Regulator (EVR) Control
PIN 65 - DEPT sensor input

4.0 PCM
PIN 6 - Output Shaft Speed Sensor
PIN 34 - Not used
PIN 47 - Not used
PIN 65 - Not used

 

[Brain75]

I was always a little marveled at how they (Ford) could just eliminate the fuel sensor in later years, so I googled...
"At some point (I believe around 2001-2002) Ford quit using a flex fuel sensor, and the fuel octane was determined in the PCM using the O2 sensor data. "

3.0 flex ecu & injector difference. p172 & 175.

Big thanks in advance to the person that can answer this question. I have a p172 &175 running rich issue. Its a 2002 Ranger 3.0 Edge. I have diagnosed the issue being that someone has installed flex fuel injectors in a non Flex 3.0. (8th digit vin is a u, also injector o-rings are green...

www.therangerstation.com

So, another option rather than pfaffing about with rewiring and hoping you got it right would be to junkyard hunt for a 2001+ 3.0 FFV in the junkyard, see if there is the fuel sensor, if not then it is one that has been redesigned - snag the computer out of it (mind your auto/manual config to keep that right).

 

[32solow]

I was always a little marveled at how they (Ford) could just eliminate the fuel sensor in later years, so I googled...
"At some point (I believe around 2001-2002) Ford quit using a flex fuel sensor, and the fuel octane was determined in the PCM using the O2 sensor data. "

3.0 flex ecu & injector difference. p172 & 175.

Big thanks in advance to the person that can answer this question. I have a p172 &175 running rich issue. Its a 2002 Ranger 3.0 Edge. I have diagnosed the issue being that someone has installed flex fuel injectors in a non Flex 3.0. (8th digit vin is a u, also injector o-rings are green...

www.therangerstation.com

So, another option rather than pfaffing about with rewiring and hoping you got it right would be to junkyard hunt for a 2001+ 3.0 FFV in the junkyard, see if there is the fuel sensor, if not then it is one that has been redesigned - snag the computer out of it (mind your auto/manual config to keep that right).

Yeah but I don't live in an area where junkyard hunts are much of an option

I suppose the ECU could be reprogrammed to that of a later year (after confirmation) but could it also be accomplished with a tuner?

 

[Brain75]

well DSP makes the emulator you speak of for $110, that part you have in your hands is $250+ to replace... and both of em plug into the same spot on the harness (which doesn't exist in recipient)... If the donor wiring isn't completely trashed and cut from the wreck I think I would try working the sensor feed wires all the way back to the computer and adding that wiring to the recipient. Plumb it up with the old sensor and if the sensor ever pukes entirely go emulator.

On the plus side, with the big injectors you could add a turbo and fuel system+computer should be able to keep up fine.

I throw out the dollar figures cause both options suck in my mind - junkyard computer is $20, no return / no exchange. buying online I'm sure you are in the $100+ range...

 

[stmitch]

well DSP makes the emulator you speak of for $110, that part you have in your hands is $250+ to replace... and both of em plug into the same spot on the harness (which doesn't exist in recipient)... If the donor wiring isn't completely trashed and cut from the wreck I think I would try working the sensor feed wires all the way back to the computer and adding that wiring to the recipient. Plumb it up with the old sensor and if the sensor ever pukes entirely go emulator.

On the plus side, with the big injectors you could add a turbo and fuel system+computer should be able to keep up fine.

I throw out the dollar figures cause both options suck in my mind - junkyard computer is $20, no return / no exchange. buying online I'm sure you are in the $100+ range...

Junkyard PCM would have to have PATS deleted, which probably negates any cost benefit.