V8 swap issues.

[Centaurus5.0]

Many little things can be overlooked and often missed even by the best of us when doing an engine swap. PCV sealed good? Loose intake hose to throttle body? Vacuum hose under the intake all snug?

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

I'm still running 19s with my stage 1 comp cam in my ranger. It's specs are very close to e cam but it has 114 lobe sep.

Who wrote your tune? I paid for a tune from the local Mustang shop, figured they'd know the 5.0 motor pretty well. Tomorrow I'm going to try and head up there and see what they think. I know we can only do so much through internet, just bugs me about how good it sounds when revving, but below 2k rpms and it's a crapshoot.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Many little things can be overlooked and often missed even by the best of us when doing an engine sway. PCV sealed good?
Loose intake hose to throttle body?

All good to go. I'm becoming more and more convinced it's a tune issue.

Autozone didn't have a fuel pressure tester in stock, so waiting on them to get one in that I can rent and check fuel pressure. Last vehicle I had with the P0171 and P0174, it was a failing fuel pump.

 

[Centaurus5.0]

If you are convinced the problem is coming from the tune (software) and not a physical issue (hardware), then the tuner shouldn't charge you extra for figuring it out.

Find a way to get the rig to the tuner or go the remote data logging route though email is all I got.



4.0L and 5.0L use the same fuel pump fyi.

 

[boominXplorer]

Who wrote your tune? I paid for a tune from the local Mustang shop, figured they'd know the 5.0 motor pretty well. Tomorrow I'm going to try and head up there and see what they think. I know we can only do so much through internet, just bugs me about how good it sounds when revving, but below 2k rpms and it's a crapshoot.

I've only had slight adjustments done past the canned sct tune to get the truck right. It ran great on just the canned 93 tune to be honest. I was told unless I step up to a bigger intake than the ported explorer I won't need bigger injectors.

I definitely think your issues are injector/pressure related IF it's not a vacuum leak.

 

[Centaurus5.0]

I'm not opposed to sourcing some 19's and swapping them out, it's just a huge hassle with the intake spacer I'm using in relation to the Ranger firewall. It's a pain to line up the rear bolt and working around a few other things.

Are you really really really sure you don't have a vacuum leak? With the engine cold, start it up and spray ether(user discretion is advised) around the intake and see if the idle fluctuates.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Fairly positive. I switched gears and went to get the transmission coolers installed so I could drive it to the shop, it's about 15-20 minutes away, and I even had trouble with that. Bought 5/16 fittings for the transmission and the coolers are 3/8. So I called it quits. I'll do the ether trick tomorrow to verify, but I had anything related to the intake resurfaced to avoid leaks like that.

 

[CDW6212R]

I agree that it's one of the several things already mentioned.

How much have you driven it yet, how fast, what gears have you felt? The PCM needs an Explorer ABS module in the VSS circuit, is the Ranger ABS the same unit? You didn't mention that yet, and it's been a long time since someone posted about a Ranger 302 swap here. Boomin will know I'm sure.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Probably 100-150 of soft miles. Been up to 70mph for about 2-3 miles. Without the trans coolers hooked up I've kept trips to a minimum. I don't know how fast the 4R70W can overheat and don't want to change it. But enough to know the gears work properly.

I've got the speedo figured out, just have to fine tune it a bit. I'm using a Dakota Digital SGI-5E. Tap into the rear differential mounted speed sensor circuit as it goes into the ABS module and it gives the correct output signal that I just piggyback onto the wire in the 42 pin loom. Just have to get the ratio dialed in and it'll read correctly. When I first hooked it up, before the settings were adjusted at all, it said I was doing 90mph in my parking lot. That was interesting.

Going to try and get the speedo completely wired in and figured out and also get the trans coolers plumbed, spent an hour hunting for fittings last night at the parts stores. Now just need to find a place that actually has 3/8 hose in stock.

 

[Centaurus5.0]

Hey Josh, did you use new O rings and lube them when installing the injectors? They can get damaged and or not seat properly if left dry and cause a vac leak.

I assume these are the injectors you installed:

You'd think if you had #24's @ 65psi and was base tuned for 39psi, it would be running rich enough to smell fuel out of the exhaust and trip a rich code but alas!, you have a bank 1 and 2 lean code. I guess the PCM could be making it run way lean to try and correct it. It's either that or the tune is quit a bit off or vac leak. The motor popping after a rev (on the decel) is the excess fuel detonating from being pig rich or bad timing. Having to restart it a few times could be just the cam and fine tuning but it sounds like it's not idling or reving up too bad??

 

[CDW6212R]

Probably 100-150 of soft miles. Been up to 70mph for about 2-3 miles. Without the trans coolers hooked up I've kept trips to a minimum. I don't know how fast the 4R70W can overheat and don't want to change it. But enough to know the gears work properly.

I've got the speedo figured out, just have to fine tune it a bit. I'm using a Dakota Digital SGI-5E. Tap into the rear differential mounted speed sensor circuit as it goes into the ABS module and it gives the correct output signal that I just piggyback onto the wire in the 42 pin loom. Just have to get the ratio dialed in and it'll read correctly. When I first hooked it up, before the settings were adjusted at all, it said I was doing 90mph in my parking lot. That was interesting.

Going to try and get the speedo completely wired in and figured out and also get the trans coolers plumbed, spent an hour hunting for fittings last night at the parts stores. Now just need to find a place that actually has 3/8 hose in stock.

Excellent, you have that part well figured out. For the cooler lines, what of the OEM lines are you using? The 3/8" size matches what parts stores sell as straight sections of steel fuel line. The fittings are a match and will work in the stock adapters at the trans, and for a union adapter you might use to connect lines together. I did that in the early 90's with my 86 Crown Vic. I replaced the stock lines and plumbed in a larger trans cooler, with no rubber hoses at all. It takes a while for that kind of work, and the fittings typically have to have an o-ring in them to seal properly. It takes a bunch of torque to get those to not leak, without an o-ring. With an o-ring it's no trouble to be leak free, with them moderately tight.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

For the trans cooler lines I'm just using rubber hose for the time being. I didn't think the hardline tubing on the Ranger would fit so I tossed it when I pulled the motor. Bad idea. It almost looks as if the factory line would've worked with minor adjustments. Oh well, add it to the list to pull from the yard. Mostly going cheapest route I can today in order to drive it up to the Mustang shop.

Once I'm able to get it started, I'll spray ether and see if I can't get anything to show a sign of a leak.

While running the hoses, I did notice that the oxygen sensors backed off and weren't even hand tight. So I find that interesting, if it's leaking air into the exhaust, I'd imagine that could cause an issue as well.

I knew I'd be fighting glitches afterwards, c'est la vie?

The help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

I assume these are the injectors you installed:

Those look like them. They were well lubricated when installed, I even tested the fuel rail for leaks before installing. Primed the pump by jumping the relay, didn't wanna have to chase fuel leaks like I did when I did the timing chains on the SOHC the first go around (hence this swap.)

 

[CDW6212R]

If you can bypass the radiator cooler in your weather, you can do fine with just two pieces of steel fuel line you bend to fit. The OEM line ends straight under the right side of the radiator, and the cooler is right next to that.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Yea, I found that interesting that there were two in line with each other. I've all ready run the hose to all of the coolers. It'll last me a few months until I get hardlines in there. I even thought about going all fancy and against the grain and piping them into the bed of the truck and putting it back there. Make people wonder just what the hell is going on.

 

[CDW6212R]

Those look like them. They were well lubricated when installed, I even tested the fuel rail for leaks before installing. Primed the pump by jumping the relay, didn't wanna have to chase fuel leaks like I did when I did the timing chains on the SOHC the first go around (hence this swap.)

How old were the used injectors? If they might have dried up and partially plugged up, some might not be flowing fuel well. I had a used set given to me from new-take-off parts, off a 98 Explorer, but very old when I used them. They didn't work at all, I replaced poor injectors with worse used ones. I then spent the money for rebuilt used injectors, from eBay, for about $90 shipped.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

That I have no clue on. I did soak them in Seafoam for a good month or so before installing to try and combat any issues like that, but I know that's hit or miss. Before I head to the Mustang shop later on (it's MV Performance in Jefferson, GA btw) I'm going to check my coils just to make sure they're in spec. I doubt they're bad, but it's one thing I can do before going up there.

 

[CDW6212R]

Good thought, the coils are very reliable, but when they do mess up, weird symptoms happen.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Got called into work. Did not get it to the Mustang shop and tomorrow is my Monday, so I'll be able to take it up there Wednesday. Will post back once I have more news.

 

[Blown]

Good Luck!

It sounds like the injector slopes are wrong and I would be checking injector timing.
My idea would be to run a cam closer to the stock lobe angle of separation and not a mustang cam which is designed for a lighter vehicle.