Now I am down to the 8 transmission only codes... I am going to call Bama chips today.
Also here's some notes I'll post all in one place for anyone else who might consider doing this. I'll add more to this as I think of more, let me know if anyone has any good questions I can answer here:
• Don't waste your time trying to bleed the master cylinder while it's installed in the vehicle. it's impossible to get the air out in that position, you have to take it out to bleed it. Wait and make that the last thing you hook up, and do it up side down from inside the drivers fender well(remove the plastic).
• You'll need a 13mm u-joint socket to get to the top bolts of the pedal assembly.
• You will want to totally unbolt the brake master cylinder and pull it into the engine bay as far as possbile when installing the pedal assembly.
• Get a block plate for a manual 96 F150 with 302, 164 tooth flywheel and a 2 bolt starter. The trans does not have a threaded hole for the bottom of the AOD style block plate and the access panel is only held on with 2 bolts at the bottom so the AOD plate is kind of weird. Also the starter hole is not the same shape and there will be a big gap next to it. You could try a block plate for a Boss 302 but the starter hole might not be exactly the same size. I have one on the way to my house, I'll check it when I get it.
• If you didn't want to buy the $100 hydraulic cable that goes from the master to the slave from the dealer, Autozone sells a hydraulic cable for a 96 F150 that's like $48. It's slightly longer and routed slightly differently but it has the same connectors so you could probably make it work.
• To reuse the bellhousing bolts from AOD i had to predrill the bellhousing holes on the M5R2 to 7/16" from 27/64".
• Check the dowels on the tranny you get with the peg on the back of the engine to make sure they aren't on the same side. They were for both on the passenger side for me, so I had to tap the one out of the tranny and put it in the drivers side of the engine.
• If you get the same flywheel and clutch set I did then you need a pressure plate 6 bolt set that's 3/8-16 thread, about an inch long and have a ~1/4" shoulder (a.k.a. neck) on them. The ARP 130-2201 for chevy's will probably work. I got mine from a bin at some some speed shop by me. You do not want the Mr. Gasket 911 set even though they say they are for small block fords they are actually 5/16 thread and not right for that flywheel.
• The shifter on the older M5R2's(92) and the M5R1 that was in my 99 explorer are not oriented in the same way. The slot for the peg and the wedge bolt are rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise so the shifter which is supposed to be angled back is actually angled to the passenger's side. I tried switching the whole top pieces(under the 3 torx bolts) but the shifter stub on the later M5R2s has a longer piece that reaches down to the shift forks so they are not compatible. I ended up cutting, at the ankle, and welding the 92 F150 shifter I picked up and used that.
• There is about an inch and half difference between the center line of the output shaft and the mounting surface of the cross member between the M5R2 and the 4R70W (4wd tail housing), so the cross member needs to be shortened some. I vaguely remember the measurements being the M5R2 like ~5" and the 4R70W like ~3.5".
• The M5R2 and the 4R70W are virtually the same length at ~28" and have the cross member mount in virtually the same place.
• The shifter location of the later 4.2 M5R2s is perfectly place in the middle of the cubby area of the full center consoles.
• I just left the holes from the trans cooler lines that went to the radiator vacant. I assume it couldn't hurt to have air flowing through where the hot tranny fluid used to go to cool down.
• If you have rear air in your center console you obviously need to remove the flat tube that flows from front to back to pump air in back. I plan to rig up some kind of tube that will go to the left of the shifter so I can keep the rear air.
• There is supposed to be an electrical connector that clips onto the push rod that goes into the master cylinder below the clutch pedal which is how the computer knows if the clutch pedal is down or now. I didn't bother with this, so now i can start it with out the clutch pedal being down, I just have to make sure it's not in gear. This makes it easy for me to install a remote start if I want too.
• Cruise control and speedometer still work perfectly after the swap. Obviously the clutch pedal does not disable the cruise control though.
• I only removed the shift lever and the kickdown cable to the tranny, I left all the other stuff intact on the column because I didn't want to deal with trying to remove it.
• I have a sloped body lift installed so the height of my body lift at the firewall is ~2" this made the wedge bolt on the shifter just barely above the access panel. I did not have a problem with floor board clearance anywhere.
List of the actual parts I used:
• M5R2 from a 03 F150 w/ 4wd and a 4.2 V6 w/ ~60K miles - $350
• Transfer case shift linkage included with transmission
• 4406M from an 03 F150 w/ 4.6 V8 and 32K miles - $150
• Rear Driveshaft from a 2000 expedition with the 5.4 - $75
• Front Driveshaft from a 1999 expedition with the 4.6 - $50
For a 96 F150:
• 164 tooth 50oz manual Luk Flywheel - Autozone $75
• Luk ProGold Clutch Set
- Autozone $230 - includes pressure plate, clutch disc, alignment tool and incompatible throwout bearing.
• Manual starter - Autozone $100
• Mr. Gasket/Flywheel 6 Bolt set - Autozone $15
• Pressure plate 6 bolt set 3/8-16 thread x 1" with a ~1/4 shoulder.
For a 99 explorer:
• Clutch pedal assembly - dealer $83
• Hydraulic Clutch line - dealer $104
• Master Cylinder - Autozone $74
• Slave Cylinder - Autozone $48 - this is the same part number for an 03 F150 with the 4.2 V6
Total: $1354 - it's worth it though
