My New Bronco II

[RustENutz]

Hey guys. Thought I'd show off my new B2 and say hi to this section of the forum! A guy traded this plus $1200 for my quad (I definitely got the better deal) about a month ago and have just been cleaning it up and trying to get the fuel injection working properly. It's had a 302 swapped in with fuel injection. Not sure what is what.... I'm thinking it was a either a VAM 302 or a carb truck 302. It was truck headers and the old 302 firing order, but the intake and everything match non HO late 80's 5.0's but the MAF wiring harness is 90-93 Mustang HO. Transmission is a rebuilt AOD, still has 5 months of warranty on it.

The problem with the engine swap is that whoever did it was still running it off the 2.9 ECU! Who ever did it was either a total idiot or a genius! It actually ran pretty decent, but very rich and rough. The MAF wasn't even hooked up and the injectors were wired to batch fire, 4 wired into 1. The factory MAP was hooked to the intake so I'm guessing the engine was running off of that. So I've been slowly trying to straighten out the spaghetti wiring mess they had made and have it running off of a new A9L ECU. Made my own injector wiring harness, and repined the entire harness.

Now it runs pretty good, cold start up is pretty rough and you have to let it idle for about a minute or it'll pop through the intake and hesitate really bad. When it's fully warmed up it has a bad hesitation each time you take off. I've replaced all sensors and the only thing I have left to try is tricking the computer that the EGR is still there. I've read it'll have these symptoms if the computer thinks the EGR valve is wide open.

Sorry for the book, but I hope to start contributing to this forum with both any technical help I can offer and also another build up. I also have a SAS build else where on this site. Still trying to decide if a wanna go that route with this thing (the shorter wheel base and V8 would solve my only 2 complaints I have with the Explorer) or do a Dana 35 build.....either way running 35's and predominantly ran in the sand dunes and tight twisty dirt/mud trails we have in our area.

 

[dogfriend]

The problem with the engine swap is that whoever did it was still running it off the 2.9 ECU! Who ever did it was either a total idiot or a genius!

There is a fine line between genius and mental illness. :

 

[rookieshooter]

There is a fine line between genius and mental illness. :

I think I resemble that remark LOL
Sounds like you got yourself a nice find.
Wish I could help you on all that new age terminology your talking about. I'm strictly Old School. Now if you want to talk volume metric efficiency, exhaust gas pulses, flame travel, split overlap, dwell time, rod angle, float bowl level and about getting drunk. I'll talk to ya until the cows come home. Just kidding about the drunk part. Gave that up for good.
The first problem I see is that i can't even see the engine to tell you what you got.
But there are guys on this site who know more then I on what your asking, like 410 and copycat who are wizards on this stuff and might just chime in.

 

[410Fortune]

Hell yeah! I have a quad for trade wanna trade me that BII! That sucker is NICE NICE!!

using the 2.9L computer = funnay, maybe to run a 4.0L V6 but no way to make it run with two additional cylinders LOL

Fordfuelinjection.com is a great site for the EGR issues you are having, although it also sounds like a fuel issue??

Does your 89-90 BII have one fuel pump or two?
I am thinking the boost pump in the tank may be gone? Have you tested pressure? I imagine you have since you built your own injection harness, lol

Nice truck, SAS + BII with some flexy rear leafs = wicked ass wheeler! The BII is ready for a EB dana 44 radius arm type SAS, it has and can be done over a weekend!
The D35 TTB is a great way to go also, as long as you get some modified beams, drop brackets do not improve the ride or handling as nicely as some modified beams

MAKE DAMN SURE YOUR AOD input cable is adjusted 100%, AOD can die QUICKLY / matter of miles if its not perfect!


thats a gorgeous truck, whaat kind of quad did you trade??

 

[89redranger]

Very nice Scott! I'm headed down to the coast in a few weeks, and if I still have my B2 I'll bring it.

 

[RustENutz]

Thanks for the compliments! Yeah I had an 06' Polaris Predator with some a lot of mods....was a nice bike. It was definitely running on all 8 with the 2.9 ECU, like I said he had 4 injectors wired into 1 wire going to an injector pin on the ECU, so all injectors on one bank would go at once. It didn't run good, but it was drivable.

Actually kind of embarrassed to say I haven't checked fuel pressure and I'll check on the fuel pump. I've never done anything involving engines....modifying or swapping. Just a lot of fab stuff, so this is all new to me, I'm used to stock engines and never touching them!

Yeah, everything I've done so far has been from fordfuelinjection.com. Plus my dad did put this same intake setup on his 73' Bronco. But he bought the pre-made wiring harness.

If I go straight axle, it'll either be EB Dana 44 with extended arms or shortened HP with some sort of 3 link......or I could get the weld on wedges. But I really like your set-up 410, with the combo cut/turn beams and drop brackets. We'll see when I get there, you can get ttb's so cheap I'll just pick one up and start messing with it and the TTB arms to see what I can come up with. I just sold my old TTB out of my Explorer about 3 months ago too! Need to stop getting rid of stuff so fast!

89 Redranger, I'm guessing this Brian??

 

[RustENutz]

MAKE DAMN SURE YOUR AOD input cable is adjusted 100%, AOD can die QUICKLY / matter of miles if its not perfect!

Now you've scared me! Haha! I know nothing AOD's or any auto trans for that matter.....what's the input cable?? This thing shifts extremely hard in and out of OD....I took it back to the company who rebuilt it and he said it's just a pressure adjustment, and he won't touch it until it's running perfect. So I'll take it back to him when I get it running better, in the mean time I've just kept it locked out of OD.

 

[89redranger]

89 Redranger, I'm guessing this Brian??

That'd be me!

As far as getting rid of stuff, I have the same problem! Every time I have old stuff laying around I end up tossing it...only to realize a few months later, that I need it! Isn't that just irritating as hell??!

Anywho...like I said, if I still have the B2 I'll bring it with me. It's mostly stock, so don't expect much. Just really minor stuff done to it (exhaust, intake, wheels, and a decent set of A/Ts. Trying to keep it clean till I decide what to do with it. I'm on the edge of selling it because I need more room for my daughter, dog, and the like. At the same point, I've never had a rig that was this close to stock, yet so damn fun and capable!

 

[RustENutz]

Well got it running better today. Checked the fuel pressure and it's at 35 psi with the vacuum hooked up and 42 psi with it off. According to the manual for a 5.0 HO it needs to be between 30 and 40 when running so I've got good pressure. I changed my fuel filter yesterday too and it made no difference on take off.

But I used the 3 resistors to trick the ECU that the EGR is still there and that made a HUGE difference in how it starts up, idles, and drives....but I still have a hesitation on take off when it is fully warmed up. It takes off perfect when cold.

As far as the AOD, did a little research and it seems the TV cable is not perfect. Went to the shop that rebuilt the tranny and he said he's got it as good as he can and doesn't think it's hurting anything how it is..... So I'm debating whether to leave it or have someone else look at it. Because the guy who says it's fine is the one holding the warranty, so if it goes he'll have to fix it. So what "burns" up the tranny when the TV cable isn't adjusted perfectly? Is it cuz it shifts up too soon and the engine lugs and burns the clutches??

 

[89redranger]

The TV cable controls the line pressure, converter lockup, and shift points. Have too much tension will cause it to do some weird stuff, but having it loose will allow a lot of slippage, which equals heat, which burns the fluid, the clutches get burnt up. Pretty much, it's BIG-ASS mess.

 

[410Fortune]

TV cable must be just right, but if your builder adjusted it and he is planning to adjust some bands anyways, have him check it again.

What kind of shifter do you have for the AOD? Looks like a Mustang floor shifter = cool!

Glad you are making progress!

 

[89redranger]

I'm kinda jealous. You got the wheels I want and am looking for. Found a few sets up here in Bend, but nobody wants to part with them.

 

[RustENutz]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I'll be taking it back again. As for the shifter I think it's just a factory B2 shifter...

Brian, they had a couple of rangers at the pick n' pull in Redmond a couple of weeks ago. Don't remember if they had wheels on them still or not. They had a Wagoneer that I pulled the inner axles out of for my Explorer. Mangled both yokes on the passengers side.

 

[410Fortune]

1989-90 BII auto shifter was column shift, factory bronco II floor shifters were from 84-88, they used a bell crank shift assembly (metal linkage), not a cable

Take a pic of the floor shifter when you get a chance, I wanna know what they used, looks good, truck is so clean with that nice interior and the manual t case

 

[RustENutz]

1989-90 BII auto shifter was column shift, factory bronco II floor shifters were from 84-88, they used a bell crank shift assembly (metal linkage), not a cable

Take a pic of the floor shifter when you get a chance, I wanna know what they used, looks good, truck is so clean with that nice interior and the manual t case

Will do tomorrow. Yeah, I was stoked when I drove by and spotted such a clean B2 for sale, then even more excited when I saw it had a V8....then he gave ME money with the trade!

 

[410Fortune]

well he should actually, quads/atv's are worth $2000-3000 for any decent running 4x4 around here, Clean ass BII is worth about $1000 with a non completed working V8 worth about another $500 so yeah cash = fair trade, YOU DID GREAT and you are smart enough to get it running = AWESOME

I spent $6500 putting a V8 drivetrain into my BII LOL

 

[89redranger]

Brian, they had a couple of rangers at the pick n' pull in Redmond a couple of weeks ago. Don't remember if they had wheels on them still or not. They had a Wagoneer that I pulled the inner axles out of for my Explorer. Mangled both yokes on the passengers side.

So, I take it ya make it over that way every now and then? Let me know next time you head up there. We'll go run some trails if ya got the time.

I actually frequent Brad's U-pull-it. That place is sweet. I've managed to get the majority of the stuff for my B2 outta there just by BS-ing with the guys at the counter. It's pretty bad when thay know ya by name. I think this has given me the motivation to go with a V8. I just wanna run TBI or something simple though. My mind is racing 100 miles an hour trying to figure out what I wanna do.

 

[4x4junkie]

The D35 TTB is a great way to go also, as long as you get some modified beams, drop brackets do not improve the ride or handling as nicely as some modified beams

I disagree, you can make a very good handling TTB on drop brackets (actually better in many situations). However it is important to make sure your steering linkage angle is setup correctly (which much more often than not ends up incorrect with typical standard drop pitman arms and brackets having more than 2" lift).

There is certainly a very good case for modded beams though, so I would ask what type of wheeling you might be doing? (Trails/Crawling? High-speed jumping/duning? Mudding? If more than one, which one primarily?)

I also do have to wonder if someone actually thought a V8 running like ass on a 2.9L V6 ECU would actually be better than a properly-running 2.9L lol
Sounds like it'll be a blast when you get the bugs worked out of it though. Good score

 

[RustENutz]

I also do have to wonder if someone actually thought a V8 running like ass on a 2.9L V6 ECU would actually be better than a properly-running 2.9L lol
Sounds like it'll be a blast when you get the bugs worked out of it though. Good score

I don't think they had any idea it was running off the V6 computer. He said it was "professionally installed"...HA HA!! He said it just needed a tune up.:scratch:

As for D35 or SAS...I'm still up in the air. I've done LLLLOOOOTTTSSSS of searching on the D35 stuff, and did all the research on SAS when I did my Explorer. I know the SAS Explorer does good everywhere I go....but I'd like to try something different and see if the D35 does better....we'll see.

 

[4x4junkie]

I was mostly speaking of whoever actually did the V8 install lol. That's some f*'ed-up s#!t (although like you said, the fact it ran at all is quite amazing)

I'd definitely go with the D35 if you want to do something different... I'm quite happy with mine, it's always taken me where all the J**ps and solid-axlers go (and then some lol. The turning radius on it is way sharper for some reason I'm not actually sure on... the axle u-joints are only able to go so far, which is the same as any other axle ).

Check out my Bronco II page, maybe you can grab some ideas for yours if you decide to go that route.