Not another V8 swap thread (N2Ford)

[RangerSVT]

Man...I forgot about the trans tube! I ended up having to get one out of the bone yard as mine was slightly mangled. What a PITA that was to get lined up and in when everything was together! Glad you are making progress.

This fought me a little, but I had both the upper intake and the HVAC box off, giving me more room. With the firewall so close, I had to pull the trans cooling lines off the trans to get the tube into place. Getting to the bolt on the back of the head was a challenge too, with the wiring harness in the way. Dropped the bolt 3 times before finally getting it started.
I think the next one I'll be pulling the body as it'll be easier...

SVT

 

[just1me]

Any new updates?

 

[RangerSVT]

Will get an hour or two tomorrow. Out of town for the holidays...


SVT

 

[RangerSVT]

Updates, kind of. I'm working on it right now, and I'm finding some things I missed. The fan is rubbing the fan shroud at the bottom, like the motor is too low. Keep in mind this is the 4.0 rad & shroud. I could lift the motor about an inch, but I'm not going to rig things. My setup works, so I'm just going to get the right parts to do it right. The evap emission hose that gets it vacuum from the motor is missing (between the upper intake and the coil pack), the flex inlet tube that came with the motor (98) has the IAT sensor separate from the MAF, located midway in the flex tube. Again, I could run like it is, but to me its an eye sore, seeing something that looks like its not plugged in. I need a 99 up tube. The battery harness was cut at the battery by rescue when the vehicle was involved on the accident (standard protocol, ask me how I know). So either I make a splice to connect new battery terminals on, or I get a replacement harness, which is what I'm leaning towards. Working in between rain showers right now...

SVT

 

[CDW6212R]

Where is the IAT sensor on the 99-01 system?

The battery cables are part of a small harness which includes the starter wires and the AC compressor wiring. I swapped and extra one into my 91 Lincoln to replace the battery cables. It worked well, and I'll use it fully when I swap to OBDII.

 

[RangerSVT]

The IAT sensor is with the MAF, which is why the MAF now has 6 wires instead of 4.
Rain let up for the rest of the day, so I got a few things done. Got the motor mount nuts on, throttle cable in, rad & shroud out, belt on, power steering pressure line connected, then started on the wiring. Started with this...

Here's a good tutorial for a good solder joint. Strip the wires back 1/2", slide on the heat shrink, then shuffle the wires together. Wrap a short length of solder (about 1.5") around the exposed wire, like this...

Then apply heat from a solder gun, the wire will tin and soak up the solder wrapped around, which will look like this...

Then slide the heat shrink tubing over the joint, and apply heat. The finished joint will look like this...

And after a couple hours of soldering, this is the end result...

...and where I stopped today. I've got to look at my notes again, as I have a few wires I need to look at. I used the 98 year 42 pin connector as I had it, but it doesnt have all the pins in the correct location. So tomorrow I will be finishing the wiring on the 42 pin plug...

SVT

 

[boominXplorer]

The evap emission hose that gets it vacuum from the motor is missing (between the upper intake and the coil pack),

The battery harness was cut at the battery by rescue when the vehicle was involved on the accident (standard protocol, ask me how I know). So either I make a splice to connect new battery terminals on, or I get a replacement harness, which is what I'm leaning towards.

I have both of these in my stash of leftover v8 swap parts. I might even have the intake tube you need. Let me know if you want some pics.

 

[CDW6212R]

That is some tedious work, well done too.

 

[RangerSVT]

Thanks, but I'm not done yet, lol...

SVT

 

[RangerSVT]

I have both of these in my stash of leftover v8 swap parts. I might even have the intake tube you need. Let me know if you want some pics.

Thanks, I'll let you know...

SVT

 

[delexploder]

Just read everything and I remember dealing with all the same crap on my v8 swap, only I was trying to go from a 99 drivetrain into my 97 sport, I think I now have 97,98 ,and 99 parts on my motor but basically its now a late 97 ,external egr non pats with return fuel system p heads and the early cam syncro, lots of parts from boominXplorer,

 

[ttbit]

WHOA...that's a lot of soldering. I am glad I did not have to extend my harness. Nice job.

 

[RangerSVT]

More updates....
So I got 99% of the wiring done, which looks like this...

For the ABS, I pulled the module. Here's the numbers if anyone is searching for one, the trac is on the left, the 5.0 ex on the right...

I then started on the alternator wiring. The charge circuit on the trac goes through two fuselinks, the 5.0 explorer goes through a 175 amp ANL fuse, which is also a different distribution box. I chose to duplicate the 4.0 setup with the fuselink, and soldered the fuselinks onto the alternator charge wire...

Here is the wiring all finished, taped, and back in place....

Here's a closeup of the new routing of the 42 pin plug...

For the battery to starter wire, I ended up using a 4 gauge wire splice connector, but I'm not liking it. I think I will be swapping it out and installing a heavier gauge wire (either 4 gauge or 2 gauge, factory is 6 gauge). This will provide quicker starts, longer starter life, longer battery life and less battery drain during startup. It will also be one continuous cable from the battery to the starter. I'll also do the same with the ground wire, as I will have to splice it or replace it. From the battery junction box to the battery, I used the original 4.0 setup for a stock looking setup. Two cables hook to the BJB, one from the battery and one to the alternator. The one going to the battery is long enough to attach a terminal lug to, to attach to a battery terminal, from there, a new cable will be run from the battery to the starter. I did this setup on my ranger, and I noticed a big improvement in starting. This is where I stopped.
All thats left is to get another rad and shroud, engine and trans filters, fluids and driveshafts. I still haven't worked on the pats yet, I have a couple options on that. I can get the pats modules from a 99 5.0 explorer and wire them in, but I'm thinking the trac has the same type pats as the donor, I've looked and can't find the info on what type the trac has. I'll try reprogramming the ecu to introduce the current setup and see if it'll take. If not, I'll get the pats modules from a donor...

SVT

 

[CDW6212R]

Excellent wiring, I think I'll stop doing any and make you handle it.


BTW, my 99 Explorer also had the battery cable ground wire cut due to the accident. I chose to alter the ground wires a bit, and I like it much better than stock. I made a new ground cable for the battery, but I reused the existing ground wire(cut).

I connected the old battery ground cable to the radiator support bolt, and to the frame near the fuel line area, on top of the frame, using an existing hole, with a self threading bolt. That gave my truck a better connection from the body to the frame. I was going to add ground circuits later to the frame, from an air compressor and a stereo amp. My truck got disallowed from work duties about three years ago.

 

[boominXplorer]

If you pull the radio out you should be able to see the pats module behind the passenger air bag if it's the same as the 2nd gen

 

[RangerSVT]

I'm gonna hijack my own thread....
Don, I see you have larger rotors in your sig. I'm looking into installing a set of 13" cobra brakes on my 4x4 trac. I'd be interested in seeing how you did yours. Do you have a thread or post you can link me to? Thanks

SVT

 

[CDW6212R]

I'm gonna hijack my own thread....
Don, I see you have larger rotors in your sig. I'm looking into installing a set of 13" cobra brakes on my 4x4 trac. I'd be interested in seeing how you did yours. Do you have a thread or post you can link me to? Thanks

SVT

Well, you have the largest OEM rotors that bolt onto the 2nd gen Explorers, I put those on my 99 too.

I had to have the custom rotors made for my 98, to work with custom brackets I made for 65-82 Corvette calipers. After driving with them for years, I'm planning to build a new set of brackets for bigger Wilwood GN III calipers. The rotors I have are great, they are thick enough for heavy use, and they fit within most 16" wheels.

The Corvette calipers I used do well except for pad life. They are still too small to last a normal period of time(under 15k miles so far), the SSBC units even are made with Mitsubishi 3000GT pads, still too small.

A couple of people have gotten some 13" Cobra rotors to go on with special brackets they made, plus the PBR calipers(also small pistons, and pads). I'd avoid those, unless the look is all you want, and don't mind short pad life also.

Stick with yours for now, maybe I will get to doing the brackets again, to work with this caliper(big ass pads about 3/4" thick). This picture doesn't show how big they really are, I'd say they are 2"+ bigger in length and width over stock calipers.

 

[RangerSVT]

I was looking at the 4 piston calipers used on the 4 runner. Thought about using them, but the rotor thickness is too small. Looking at cobra rotors & calipers. Need better brakes...

SVT

 

[just1me]

The Sport Trac late 01-05 should all be Pats E, only the early 01 Job 1 Sport Tracs had Pats B. You will need to either wire in the Pats B, or delete it with a tune. I don't think it would be to hard to wire in Pats B though, some of the Ranger guys have already done it. Also when going from Pats E to to B the theft light won't blink any longer, but there is a fix for that as well.

 

[CDW6212R]

I was looking at the 4 piston calipers used on the 4 runner. Thought about using them, but the rotor thickness is too small. Looking at cobra rotors & calipers. Need better brakes...

SVT

The stock brakes use approximately 1.75" x two caliper pistons. That is large compared to Cobra calipers, and basically all Ford cars. That means that you need to use a caliper with about the same total piston area, or you end up with less brake power. Trucks usually have bigger brakes, but I didn't want any stock cast iron looking calipers.

A thicker rotor over 1.1" is wise for a heavy truck, it's amazing that these trucks do as well as they do with 11" or 12" rotors at that thin size. The calipers I found above can be used with a 1.375" rotor, but I don't think my rotor hats can take that and clear the tie rod boot. So I'll probably use the same size I have now, but get them cryo-treated and balanced, maybe slotted too for the pretty power.