Taking the 302 plunge, any help appreciated!

[jaxwithanx]

Keep in mind that your 1988 Bronco II does not have the 42 pin connector (engine harness to body harness) that 1995-current trucks have. So an Explorer harness is in no way plug and play, so the harness you choose (Mustang, Explorer, whatever) is going to require the same amount of work. Your rig uses a couple connectors, one of which is a large 53 pin piece. You use about nine of them...

The trans an harness you listed would work.
If you want info on a 4r70w trans in a '94/'95 'Stang, browse the Mustang forums.

Major differences with the '94/'95 Harness or the Distributor uses a remote mount TFI module, instead of the early version, where the TFI is mounted to the Distributor body itself. Not a big deal, but you're looking at a couple specific parts. I believe that harness is one piece, as well.

Don't let the zillion answers confuse you, there are many ways to do this.

In your opinion, what would be less of a headache. Going with the 4R70W and 94-95 harness and ECU from the craigslist ad I posted or just sourcing an Explorer harness to go with the 4R70W from the craigslist ad and an Explorer ECU I have sourced (basically all Explorer gear)?

I realize both will require modification to work electrically in the 88 Bronco, but you would have to think one would be a little more straight forward and not as cobbled together.

 

[Teddyzee]

What is your goal?
A cool looking cruiser? Is it 2wd off-road ? Just something thrown together with a V8? Something you will hotrod in the future?

Keep in mind, Explrorer trans' , as far as I know, used different connectors each year, or at least they had some differences. On RPS, a user named Orion went through this while converting from a manual. Also, the fuel system on Ex engines varied, and associated ECU, over it's life. I'll refer you to the table in the Rwenzing article on the TRS home page.

Any harness can be done neatly. You're cutting the connectors off of any of them and soldering to the engine side of your stock one anyway.

Here's the 53-pin I'm talking about that should be in your truck. Look for the white ring, right side of this shot, on the firewall. Not my truck, just another (1993) currently being done.

 

[jaxwithanx]

What is your goal?
A cool looking cruiser? Is it 2wd off-road ? Just something thrown together with a V8? Something you will hotrod in the future?

Keep in mind, Explrorer trans' , as far as I know, used different connectors each year, or at least they had some differences. On RPS, a user named Orion went through this while converting from a manual. Also, the fuel system on Ex engines varied, and associated ECU, over it's life. I'll refer you to the table in the Rwenzing article on the TRS home page.

Any harness can be done neatly. You're cutting the connectors off of any of them and soldering to the engine side of your stock one anyway.

Here's the 53-pin I'm talking about that should be in your truck. Look for the white ring, right side of this shot, on the firewall. Not my truck, just another (1993) currently being done.

I plan on making a nice cruiser out of it. Will never see off-road. Always loved the way Bronco II's looked and wanted to make a nice V8 cruiser out of one with some street-ability, but I have no plans to visit the track or anything. It will never see anything other than maybe a mild cam.

The fuel system of the Explorer engine and ECU I plan on buying are the same years (98), so that would quell that potential issue, correct? The trans issue is something I guess I'd have to figure out once it is in front of me since I do not know what year or model the 4R70W trans is out of.

If I used all Explorer gear, I would avoid the issues with the distributor and various things associated with trying to use the Mustang harness. The only thing I would really need to be concerned about is splicing and hacking the Explorer harness to accomodate the Broncos connectors. In which then I can incorporate the OBDII system if I wanted. Am I thinking correcty?

 

[Teddyzee]

I was asking those questions purely to get a feel for it. I wouldn't worry too much about what's super strong.
People love to say that an AOD or a T5 is very weak, but there thousands and thousands of Mustangs using them. But there is nothing wrong with wanting something sturdy.

The wiring is very, very simple and staightforward, with the proper preparation. There will be a limited number of circuits to splice/extend/solder, all in the same location. If you want to keep the diagnostic port, I'm sure it could easily be wired in the engine bay. An extra step, but not rocket science. (the Mustang diagnostic [OBDI] is in the engine bay, the OBDII is under the dash in later vehicles) Of course, it could be wired inside too, but a motor swap is probably enough work to do at once!

The questions are great to narrow down what will work for you.

 

[jaxwithanx]

I was asking those questions purely to get a feel for it. I wouldn't worry too much about what's super strong.
People love to say that an AOD or a T5 is very weak, but there thousands and thousands of Mustangs using them. But there is nothing wrong with wanting something sturdy.

The wiring is very, very simple and staightforward, with the proper preparation. There will be a limited number of circuits to splice/extend/solder, all in the same location. If you want to keep the diagnostic port, I'm sure it could easily be wired in the engine bay. An extra step, but not rocket science. (the Mustang diagnostic [OBDI] is in the engine bay, the OBDII is under the dash in later vehicles) Of course, it could be wired inside too, but a motor swap is probably enough work to do at once!

The questions are great to narrow down what will work for you.

Gotcha, it doesn't seem like there are a lot of pros to using a Mustang harness and ECU with all Explorer gear. It seems like if you just go straight Explorer harness and ECU you can skip the distributor issues and keep OBDII support.

Now if only I can source a complete Explorer V8 harness!

 

[Teddyzee]

Gotcha, it doesn't seem like there are a lot of pros to using a Mustang harness and ECU with all Explorer gear. It seems like if you just go straight Explorer harness and ECU you can skip the distributor issues and keep OBDII support.

Now if only I can source a complete Explorer V8 harness!

Remember also, that you can read the codes from the Mustang setup just fine. It's free, no code reader required, you do it with the check engine light, or even a test light or volt meter.
I didn't want it to sound like I was recommending one over the other. I own all the Explorer stuff (brackets, pulleys, ECU, harness) but choose to run the Mustang based stuff. Now I'm talking in circles

 

[jaxwithanx]

Remember also, that you can read the codes from the Mustang setup just fine. It's free, no code reader required, you do it with the check engine light, or even a test light or volt meter.
I didn't want it to sound like I was recommending one over the other. I own all the Explorer stuff (brackets, pulleys, ECU, harness) but choose to run the Mustang based stuff. Now I'm talking in circles

Lol, don't worry I feel like I've been going back and forth and around in circles this whole time.

After looking at some more link and the like, it seems like trying to get the Explorer ECU to not go nuts would take a lot more work than using the Mustang ECU and harness. What at that point would I specifically need to look at modifying? You mentioned the distributor setup would need to looked at.

I think you said before that the 4R70W would be fine with the setup I posted from Craigslist but it seems like everything I've read says you would have to either use an Explorer ECU or use a standalone. Am I missing something?

 

[Teddyzee]

4r70w is computer controlled.
sn95 Mustangs used an AODE, which was also computer controlled, not to be confused with the previous AOD. I'm fairly certain Mustang guys swap in the 4r70w sometimes. You may want to look into this.

 

[jaxwithanx]

4r70w is computer controlled.
sn95 Mustangs used an AODE, which was also computer controlled, not to be confused with the previous AOD. I'm fairly certain Mustang guys swap in the 4r70w sometimes. You may want to look into this.

From what I've read the issue is the AODE and 4R70W have different shift points for 1st and 2nd gears, that is where the standalone controller comes into play. But it seems like a reprogramming the ECU would be possible too, would it not?

What's odd is I contacted the guy selling the 4R70W and inquired on how he was getting this setup to work with the Mustang ECU and harness and he told me that he didn't even know the 95 Mustangs used a different trans (AODE) and he had had no problem. I'm assuming he might have had these built for him and already programmed. Either that or he is lying?

EDIT:

This is word for word, the exchange -

Me:
"I'm interested, but since the 4R70W has different shift points than the AOD-E that was originally in the Mustang, how does this setup work?"

Seller:
"I didnt have a problem, nor did I know there was a difference. My car had a chip and it didnt shift right so i had to take the chip out. As far as I know it just plugs right in with no modifications. Most people get a chip or programmer and have the shift points set where they wanty when they have it tuned. But my chip wasnt programable and made it shift too fast."

EDIT 2: Think I found my answer. Either you have to go with a standalone controller or you go Explorer ECU (I'm pretty sure bobbywalter alluded to this much earlier in the thread). I think that is why the seller was having problems it looks like too.

Anyone have any experience or knowledge on how hard it is to get the standalone controller operating the shifts correctly. I have no experience with that type of thing, but I'm assuming a shop could do it for me fairly cheaply if it came to it.

If not, then it looks like I'll just be sticking with an AOD or AODE.

 

[Teddyzee]

I not familiar where either ECU tries to shift the trans- what load, what rpm, etc.

But I do know the stand alone controllers are typically used when there isn't control available from the ECU. (Fox Mustang, or carbed anything, for example.)

From what I understand, you can manually shift that trans and forget about anything controlling it, too.

 

[jaxwithanx]

Picked up my 4R70W and 94-95 Mustang harness and ECU last night. Just need to get my Explorer engine, I have a few I've weeded out; I just need to go take a look.

Anyone know a good place to pick up a 94-95 injector harness online? If not, I'm sure I can pick one off somewhere.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The 4R70W has different gearing than the AODE, which is probably why it shifts different.

4R70W - 2.84 / 1.55 / 1.00 / 0.70
AODE - 2.40 / 1.47 / 1.00 / 0.67

Dunno about the plugging and play thing, I would for sure do some more checking on it. It sounds like one of the many things I have tied into on the internet where things don't always fit together as perfect as was described.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_AOD_transmission

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/AutoTrans.html

 

[jaxwithanx]

The 4R70W has different gearing than the AODE, which is probably why it shifts different.

4R70W - 2.84 / 1.55 / 1.00 / 0.70
AODE - 2.40 / 1.47 / 1.00 / 0.67

Dunno about the plugging and play thing, I would for sure do some more checking on it. It sounds like one of the many things I have tied into on the internet where things don't always fit together as perfect as was described.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_AOD_transmission

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/AutoTrans.html

I will need to either get a standalone controller like the Baummanator (OptiShift) or a Moates Quarterhorse. In the end it was worth it to me to have the two lower gears and beefier trans. I got a good deal deal on the package too (at least I felt so - $300 for the trans, shift kit, interceptor converter, trans harness, 94-95 engine harness and ECU).

BTW - I'm planning on going with the Quarterhorse. I can control a lot more and and it is cheaper, could someone fill me in on what are the possible pros of the Baummanator setup?