okay some progress, not much to report but I do have some good news.
Now that SEMA and BAJA are over for 2019 we have made some progress!!!
Using the Holley Terminator PCM with our Explorer ignition has taken some back and forth between my good friend Brett and his contact at Holley.
We finally have a "package" that will work with our Explorer based gt40 5.0 drivetrain and the 98+ 4r70w.
We had three choices:
Option 1: Use the mustang distributor that this Holley was designed for = YUCK.
I was adamant about not using a dizzy in this engine, Eddie Money likes a stock looking engine bay! To me using the distributor makes it look like a 1980's mustang 5.0 conversion. NOT on this truck!
So back to Holley we go....
Option 2: The "Explorer Package"
Keeping the waste spark Explorer coil pack and ignition. Yeah!! Now we are talking. Is it possible?
Turns out YES it is! It just requires a couple of wiring harness from Holley. They have a cam/crank pickup harness that goes with the PCM and for it to work with the Explorer crank and cam sensor AND the explorer coil packs a separate coil driver harness was needed. So we are calling this the "Explorer package". You see this is not the only truck we are doing this on, Brett has an Early Bronco that will get similar treatment and I also want this setup for my BII. So Working with Holley we finally have it sorted out. This will be a very popular upgrade for Early Bronco, Ranger and Explorer enthusiasts who go down this road after us.....
Option 3:
Use Chevy LS coil ignition
This is a GREAT option, as we all know the Ford waste spark ignition is not the most efficient setup...I mean it's right there in the name, waste spark. Chevy LS engine use coil near plug ignition and this is an option for us with the Holley PCM. However this would require a different Holley coil driver setup AND we would have to buy LS coils and wires and then figure out where to mount 8 coils and all their wiring. The way I see it there are two places the coils can go, fender skirt or valve cover. You want the wire as short as possible and the coil as near the plug as you can get. For us in an already crowded engine bay with hot TMH headers hugging the block plus the additional cost and using Chevy parts....we decided against this route.
I know Eddie wants to stick with Ford where possible AND he likes the look of a stock(ish) explorer 5.0 swap. SO DO I!!!
So Options1 & 3 are off the table.
The explorer ignition has always been good to us, it provides a very hot spark and the coil packs last forever.
With our power goals in mind for now and the future, the waste spark coil pack ignition is for us!
in the end we went with option #2, pricing is being sorted out right now (Brett is Holley dealer) and we will FINALLY have the PCM in the mail next week.
Basically I have already wired this up on paper, it is going to be a wicked clean setup with minimal wiring and full ability to TUNE for now and the future.
We will need to add two wideband 02 sensors, possibly a map sensor and possibly a knock sensor......I will know more when the PCM actually gets here
Oh and the PCM can be mounted under the engine bay, in the cowl, or inside the truck. This was another big question I had, I am planning to put the pcm in the stock 07 cowl pcm hole if at all possible.
The Holley provided wiring harness will have to be hard wired into the Explorer stuff, this is nice because I can keep stock 5.0 wire colors, connectors and routing.
So I know we said this before but the Holley bits are finally on order and will be here ASAP.
A big THANK YOU to Brett for his help with this!!
I can FINALLY start tackling the wiring for our drivetrain!!!!!!!!!!!!!