1997 MM 5.0 TC & WP refresh & ignition coil-near-plug conversion-Temporarily on hold-

[allmyEXes]

@CDW6212R I'm fortunate that the 1999 Crown Vic still has the return style fuel system. When I build 5.0 #2 it will be returnless with the 2003 Marauder PCM (Yes, I remember that you said return style or returnless fuel system adjustments can be addressed in the PCM tuning.) With the 1999 Crown Vic being return style, it will be one less thing to address as far as tuning goes.
@410Fortune So Jamie, I take that c-111 connector on the powertrain harness, actually on the transmission pigtail part of it, that may be the white connector that quite a bit of transmission fluid dripped off of, and rearrange the pins to the later way of doing things and it will end up plugging back into the transmission after the big black plastic transmission connector is installed? The white C-111 plug would plug into the
far right end of this?

 

[410Fortune]

Yes

Basically the 94-97 version had three power wires going into the trans

The 98+ version they simply reduced it to one power wire going into the trans

And you move some pins around, plug it back in.

 

[allmyEXes]

I can rearrange the wires for the trans connector here on the table. I'll deal with the solenoids when I get up in the air and can get the pan off of it.

 

[allmyEXes]

I don't know how many hours this morning on into the afternoon working on this wiring. I started with the PCM connector. I pulled out the old coil wires and what will be the four more coil wires too. Then I started at #1 on the connector and in the '97MM book and '99 Crown Vic book. the first row of pins, #1 through #26. That first row is not too challenging mentally or physically. I got to #27, shift solenoid #1 on the Crown Vic chart and was about to plug it into #6 on the '97MM connector and it is a spot that is "not used". There is not a hole there. It is blanked out or filled in. I'm going to need a drill bit near exactly that size and also making sure not to drill too far into the little plastic "lock" for the barrel connector. That seemed like a good time to take a break from it, after a 4-hour stretch, until later this afternoon. I have a few errands to run and I'm going by my shop to see if I have one that size that is not broken. Some of the wires are going to come up short during the re-pin. They will need lengthened. I have a list starting with #1 and working my way to #104 spot in the connector. Jamie had a good suggestion to make a spreadsheet of it all.
Pic below shows the 104 pin PCM connector with the red piece pulled out. It has to be to release the little latches. If you pull out the red lock early in this whole, big process, it is easier to get the meter probes to touch the barrel connector.
ADDED: Late Friday my brother went to pick up his 1999 or 2000 5.0 Mountaineer that he through a local online auction. Earlier in the week, it is a good thing that he told me about bidding on it because If I could have spared the money for another mouth to feed, I mean vehicle, I woulld have been bidding too. This morning he looked under the hood of it of the 2 wire camshaft position sensor and told me that the "War Eagle"
wire, blue with an orange stripe, was on the right side looking at it plugged in. That makes that wire on the driver's side. You guys/gals that have the 5.0 2 wire type, it should be the same as that. I had to find a gray with red stripe wire to splice the old black wire to.

More later.

 

[allmyEXes]

@410Fortune I ended up having to go purchase and pay a lot for even the little drill bits at Advance Auto Parts. Are us US consumers having to pay tariffs on this Chinese crap? That makes over $51- spent on drill bits this week. The bit to drill the hole for the 18mm-1.5 tap, both the bit and tap where $41- or so. The Machinist is $2 a minute and 70 years old so I didn't think that he could do it in 20 minutes. You would think that my gray collar professional peers would be reasonable. We only charge the public $70 an hour and that is only if we are working. 15 minutes would be .25x70=$17.5 if my math brain is working right.
I have had to punch out 5 or 6 holes in the 104-pin connector so far and only fouled up one lock when I was pushing on #39 lock and pulling on wire #38. I hope it is not going to be a future problem. It is the IAT wire. maybe I can put a little super glue around the outside of the barrel and outside on the connector where the wire goes through. That is a critical wire, but they are all critical. I'm up to #49 and #50 and they are both going to need opened up. I've been using the drill bit by hand, and it doesn't take long to cut through. I have a smaller bit that goes in backwards to make sure that the hole is clear. I could have used an alligator clip a few times today. I could really use a label maker right now. The sample roll was only 4 meters. I found this out when I ordered two more rolls and they are 8 meters, 26.2 feet of label tape each. They won't arrive until Wednesday. So far 2 of the rearranged wires will need lengthened. The picture below is for Jamie. I know that he knows what the little gray sprinkles are. I know what they are.

Some of you may have figured out that I'm left-handed. That is why my right hand is always pictured.
The camera makes my hand look older.

 

[410Fortune]

I hate it when I break a lock pin on the pcm connector! Forever will wonder if that wire is pulling out
Drilling new holes is a delicate process for sure. I like your glue idea!!

What I have done in the past, mind you I have only broken one or two lock pins on the pcm connector, is after it is all bolted together I press in on the suspect wire.
You are diving way deeper into the pcm wiring connector then I usually have to, normally I only have to move one or two wires and it is rare that I have to drill on that (the drill bit can wipe out the lock pins very easily). Doing it by hand is smart!

 

[allmyEXes]

Yeah, the bit it rough on your fingers especially after doing it late last night. I was gonna ask you hypothetically if you put a 1999 Explorer 5.0 drivetrain in a 2002 Sport Trac how many PCM connector wires do you have to change? But I bet the answer is none. It all happens at the C-115
junction. I need a handle that would hold a small drill bit. Something like this. If I had a mini lathe, I would make something similar to this.
It would be simpler with a simple set screw. Again, I miss not having the label maker working. I keep getting the unfinished 8 coil wires mixed up. Most of the ~29 of the 86 plus wires have been rearranged and drilled out ! 8 to 10 NOT USED spots in the 104.

1997 Merc Mountaineer 5.0 pcm pin chart below. 3 images.

Pg 2

Pg 3

1999 Crown Vic V-8 coil-on-plug pin chart below.

Pg 2

Different guys/gals must have made up these charts. I've noticed on these two comparisons and other books too that what something
is called may called something different. I'm having to rely on wire numbers and colors in some instances.

 

[410Fortune]

I get into every connector when doing a conversion, usually there is something that needs to happen at the pcm connector too because I like to un pin not needed wires

Some changes happen when the drivetrain/wiring is from one year and the pcm is from another, which happens to me all of the time.
I have converted 1984-2007 to 5.0 now
I often change trucks from 4 cyl to v6, small v6 to 4.0, auto to manual and vise versa.
last summer I wired a 02 sport trac 4.0 auto to think it is an 04 sohc / auto sport trac because the 02 stuff was sold years ago including the computer, keys, wiring etc etc......that was one of the most involved wiring conversions I have ever completed. There were slight differences in the two sport tracs, when you get into this stuff it snowballs........

 

[allmyEXes]

That is quite a year range on 5.0 conversions.
Late afternoon I went by my shop looking to see if the 2nd set on fuel injector connectors arrive and they have not. I found a package from, like the weather girl here says, "Canadia", Canada that was the first flat flange. I trial fitted it on the manifolds and ordered another one for the drivers side. I also ordered a 3" ball flange on the top end of 2.25" downpipe, 4" long. Canada was the best product and price on that "bride plate" or flat flange part. It fits the right-hand part just right. Bride plate? A new term to me. I tracked the FI con package, and it should be here Monday with bit & tap.

I
I've spent a lot of time around the MM this past few weeks and have been looking at what kind of bodywork it needs. The hatch on my current driver/beater is in pretty good shape and I'm considering swapping the '97 Explorer hatch with the '97 Montaineer hatch. PO backed in to his
utility trailer tongue and bent this one quite a bit. I assume that the lower mountaineer trim is held on with that super-duper factory
double sided tape. Then the wiring would have to be disconnected. Disconnect it from the truck or the hatch?

Close up of damage.

I think that I'm going to take a break from the wiring tonight and watch some TV. More later.

 

[410Fortune]

Changing the hatch is very straight forward yes. I have put mounty hatch on an Eddie before

 

[allmyEXes]

I was looking back at the Mountaineer progress over the past 2 months. There has been good progress despite the weather delays and other responsibilities around the shop. I get in a few minutes under the hood at the shop occasionally but the more involved wiring powertrain wiring harness progress has been done at home on some weeknights and Sat and Sun. Progress is good on that and hopefully by Wednesday night, I will have the correct FI connectors and more label tape to fit a Brother PTH110 label maker. This is a tool that I could've used for decades.
I'm at a stuck point under the hood. I need the coil-near-brackets to temporarily install the passenger side right-hand bracket so that I can pick my spot for the oil fill bung. The alternator bracket is temporarily installed with the alternator too, for this.
Friday I went by the fab/welding shop and explained to them that I really need the brackets now. Thursday 6-22-23 is when I first went to the fab shop. The younger me wouldn't have been as near as patient as the older me. I keep telling myself to do what you can do before going in there again. I don't want to burn my fab shop bridge that I have been building. They make some really nice log headers for GM LS turbo engines that are made out of 1/8" stainless. I want to design and have manufactured, some log headers for 1998 to 2001 5.0 Explorers. I'm still studying each year differences. I have the '97 with the only year headers, a '98 5.0 parts Explorer. Brother just bought a 1999 MM. I'm needing to verify that the down pipes coming off of the manifolds are all in the same place so that the new log header will bolt onto a stock exhaust system. If they will fit that, then they can also but used for 5.0 swaps that have a new exhaust systems made for them too. I think that these proposed headers would work for early 5.0 Sport Trac swaps too. Something that I have in the works that any input would be appreciated. I'll have to commit to 20 sets of headers.
The list of things to do is getting shorter. I want to
*install the powertrain harness after finishing the oil bung install and valve cover final install,
*install the coil-near-plug brackets the last time
*don't forget the braided fuel lines
*upper intake with spacer and all of those related parts
*make sure that the crankshaft position connector is plugged in before the
*right hand alt bracket and alt and smooth idler pulley and bracket can go on
*belts, hoses, fan, shroud, radiator etc
* I may need to go ahead and delete the ABS and shift the brake lines before
* removing old stock headers and installing manifolds
*install custom intermediate steering shaft if necessary
*then there is the work that will need to be done on the lift, exhaust system work and
*finish the transmission wiring upgrade to the later style
I'm late for work here on this 27th day of February 2024 @8:49 central time.

 

[410Fortune]

5.0 Downpipes same location 96-01

5.0 headers would fit 98-11 rangers 96-01 explorer and 02-04 sport and 02-05 sport trac because these trucks all use the same sla front ifs and engine cradle
98-11 Rangers also came with a coil spring setup for rwd trucks we are not talking about those, only the t bar trucks

Keep it up!

 

[CDW6212R]

The Mountaineer rear hatch trim changed from the first 1997 model, to the 98 version, and then to the 99-01 trim. I know the 98 has holes in the hatch, many, for the trim, I don't think there is any adhesive material at all. I was going to swap my 98 hatch due to rust(from Milwaukee), but that's when I discovered the holes for the trim, also for the 2001-03 Sport hatch I was hunting for.

You don't want any holes in the hatch if possible, using double sided tape would be wise. I'm going to try that for my Explorer project, using the 98 trim style. I'm okay with some tape, and Ultra Black RTV, that will hold it for sure. Rust is a huge deal, kill it or avoid it always.

 

[allmyEXes]

@410Fortune I was thinking all of those and thanks for confirming. I wasn't sure about the '96.5 like my '97 Mountaineer.
It would be nice to think that the log headers might incidentally/accidentally fit some other small frame trucks. But that remains to be seen.
The next step as it has to do with the header/s development is see if it is economically feasible. I want to know the retail price on
the LS turbo headers also, when I can finally build the "jig" truck, I'll do a survey here to see how many people would be interested in log headers.

 

[allmyEXes]

@CDW6212R At least my '97 Explorer donor hatch doesn't have any holes and the chrome circle Mercury emblem can be attached using double sided trim tape.
I have to head to work and then get a package ready to ship.

 

[allmyEXes]

A tool and the new made in China FI connectors arrived.

 

[allmyEXes]

Also another wiring diagram for the cause. (Brother just bought a 1999 Mountaineer).

The picture below shows the first set of FI connectors that I purchased. Can you see what the main issue is?

 

[allmyEXes]

The flat flange for 2.25 down pipe needs the holes enlarged inward to fit the 1977 MII exhaust bolts. I don't have any other way to cut
these oblong holes any longer without making a mess of the part.

The c-n-p brackets got cut. It took so long for them to be cut, I could've cut them out with an electric jigsaw.
They still need the coil attaching holes drilled and tapped and the edges really need some cleanup work.

Actually, it would have been a lot of work cutting them with a jig saw.

 

[allmyEXes]

Another part and another book.
The drivers side ball style flange/down-pipe arrived and another Canadian flat flange is on its way. It fits the manifold well.

The flat flange on the way is the same as the passenger side that I'm adjusting a bit.

I've spotted a vehicle here on my property that I can get a third powertrain harness off of for my project after the '54 F100/99 Ranger project.
I bought a 1996 T-bird electrical diagram book to modify its 4.6 harness for a 5.0 project with the 2003 Marauder PCM.
It turns out that it is cost affective having cars/trucks with the same coil-near-plug set-up after all of the money that has been spent on
all of the pcm tuning equipment.

 

[allmyEXes]

Fit.

Deep torch cuts from the plasma cutter. Hard to see edge but it show in the cut holes. Going around it with a fine file for now.