supercharged 5.0 true fire 98 explorer sport

hi everyone, my name is tim . i live in selkirk, manitoba, canada and as if this date that i am posting this, i am 36 years old.

i bought my sport in jan 05 from a local ford dealer. it had 111,000KM's on it. this is the second sport i have owned. it was sitting on the lot for about 8 months before i came along. i am the third owner (i was able to track down the person that traded it in, and they got it from a friend, who bought it new in 98).

i started to do a few things to it after i first got it, then i found this site, and all hell broke lose! i've never been satisfied with something the everyone else has, so i started to tinker with it even more.

mods include

interior

installed factory tilt, cruise, overhead console, auto dimming mirror, full length console, with a message center (it didn't have these from factory).

white face with blue flames indigo gauge covers (they light up blue)
blue l.e.d. everything
white l.e.d. interior lights
Kenwood DDX392 Touch Screen Head Unit
alpine 4 channel amp (all four speakers)
boston acoustic front and rear speakers
alpine mono amp (for sub)
2 12 inch jl audio subs
rockford fosgate cap
passenger side one touch window down mod.
custom transfer case shifter
tripple a pillar gauge pod, housing autometer boost, Innovate LC-1 wideband, and oil pressure gauge
12v power inverter with 120v plug in a 2 usb plugs built into the center console

exterior

BMW E46 projectors, mounted into stock housings using clear lens
6000K HID head lights
angel eye "driving" lights, with 8000k h.i.d.'s
clear parking/corner lights
billet grill (powder coated by Turdle)
blacked out ford emblems
custom front steel 95-98 bumper, with 4 inch round tubes welded in for driving lights
shaved radio antenna
shaved roof rack
black euro tall lights
l.e.d. license plate lights
smoked out 3rd break light
lund rear tailgate spoiler/wing (formally from the truck "blackjack" owned by EF member Spas)
hand made roll pan (made from 3 1/2 rear bumpers, with 1/4 inch diamond plate on the top, and it is removable)
aluminum T/A differential griddle/cover (powder coated by Turdle)
Motegi Mr107 20' rims
goodyear wrangler hp p245/50 r20
1 1/4 wheel spacer in the rear, 3/8 in front
and most noticeable, black with blue pearl paint, and blue true fire (ground effects are black with blue pearl as well)

Suspension

2 inch lowering blocks in the rear, reverse TT in the front (2 inch as well)
Explorer Express rear sway bar
4 door leaf springs
rancho rs9000 adjustable rear shocks
03-05 sport trac spindles with drilled and slotted rotors

performance

5L swap
347 stroker
TFS twisted wedge alum heads
comp gold 1.6 rockers
comp cams CCA-35-556-8 nitro cam
heavily modified edelbrock victor jr air gap intake (which serves as a valley pan now)
eaton m122 supercharger (metco 2.70 pulley, and ASP 8 rib 7 1/4 crank pulley) with custom made mount with bell intercooler core
8 rib serpentine belt conversion using pulleys from a 7.3 powerstroke
custom made 3 1/2 inch throttle body elbow
accufab 75mm throttle body
4 inch intake pipe
PMASS MH90 90mm Universal 3000 KG/HR MAF
amsoil cone filter
F.A.S.T. 60lb injectors
edelbrock fuel rails, trick flow specialties fuel pressure regulator with summit racing fuel pressure gauge
walbro 255lph fuel pump
1/2 inch steel braided fuel pressure line from tank to rail using 8AN fittings
torque monster headers
2 1/2 duel pipes with flowpro duel in and out 2 1/2 single muffler
accel extreme 9000 ceramic 45 degree plug wires with boot protectors
4R70W w/2600 stall with J mod
tuff stuff 200a alternator
tuning made possible with sct pro-racer package, and tuned with major help from member [MENTION=102869]Dono[/MENTION] and [MENTION=81804]4pointslow[/MENTION]
flex a lite duel 12 inch electric fans
big 3 upgrade (4 gauge wires)
meziere innercooler water pump
2 froozenboost innercooler rads

Transfer case

4406 manual shift from a 97 F150
modified stock trans cross member to accept 93 mustang 5L polyurethane tans mount
double cardan rear drive shaft

because of all the "fun" i had doing the bodywork, and some other things to my truck, i have nick named it "evil dora" or if you like, just plane "evil"!
and now the thank yous

my buddy gord leiss, who let this thing sit in his garage for 3 months while i did the body work to it. he also gave me a hand with some of the prep work, and painted it for me

kevin willson for doing the true fire http://affordableairbrushing.ca/

Joe Bukoski for letting me do the 5L/4406 swap in his garage

now people from this site, weather they knew it or not, they helped

BIG THANKS to tara a.k.a. explorersport77 for pictures of her truck. wouldn't been able to build the roll pan with out them!

ExplorerSport77's X "Hotness"

jon a.k.a. Turdle for selling me some real swanky rear shackles, as well as powder coating the diff cover and sending them up to canada. as well as much needed info on v8, and 4406 swaps as well as doing the grill and showing me how its done.

don aka dono for the help with the tuning, and wideband, as well as the supercharger

andy aka ahodges for some parts, and any help i needed for all the go faster goodies

5.0 swap - w/ 4406

jad2411 for finding me a link for my hidden antenna

ryan a.k.a. MustangP51 for doing his write up on making l.e.d.'s for interior lights, and how to make projectors

P51's HID Headlight (Projector) and Fog Conversion (PICS)

and N3ELZ cardomain page for L.E.D. switch and cruise pod mods

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/296394/2002-ford-ranger-regular-cab/page-6
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/296394/2002-ford-ranger-regular-cab/page-12
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/296394/2002-ford-ranger-regular-cab/page-23

bob a.k.a. rwenzing for showing me speedhut's sit for the gauges

Gauges, Custom Gauges, Tachometers, Speedometers, Shift Light, Pod

Buzz4x4 for his write up on blacking out ford emblems

How to Make Your Own Custom Ford Emblems

the late aldive for his write up on one touch down passengers window mod

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141027&highlight=touch+passengers+window+mod

BIG COUNTRY, for his write up on how to install a auto dimming mirror

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=84968

BIG COUNTRY, 98formulaLS1, and Ryon40 for there write ups on how to install a message center

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=225017&highlight=BIG+COUNTRY
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80670&highlight=message+center
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=245085&highlight=Ryon40

MountaineerGreen for his 4406 swap write up and "Custom" Driveshaft for a 4406 and 4" Superlift on the Cheap " (even tho its lowered

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166726&highlight=awd+4x4+swap
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=185232

Simon, aka blueka for his "pickle" thread, and help anytime i picked the phone up the phone on the 5L swap

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=271813

Jon, aka 4pointslow for any MAJOR technical advice i have needed

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219092

i wish i could find who did the write up on the overhead console install, but here is the link

http://www.explorer4x4.com/overhead.htm

Russ aka NICE59FORDF100 for his help on the wiring, and what to watch out for electronically.

hopefully one day, i will be able to help people on here just as much as the people that i have mentioned above!

plus you know you have done something right when.....

your truck (as well as corkey) wins truck of the month

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=296023

is the feature truck on the fun hump day radio show (starts roughly around the 30 min mark)

http://explorerforum.podbean.com/2011/03/23/19-vroom-zoomboom/

and you drive 26 hours ONE WAY to the carlisle all ford nationals in june 2010 and 2011, and grab second place in the s.u.v. all category!

then in 2014 you go back to the same show you have been to 5 years in a row (nothing by most, but its one hell of a long drive) and take first!

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Tim, I'm sorry but the white flag GIF made me laugh out loud...

no worries andy. you know my humor, that and yesterday was a big **** sandwich for most things, i had to not only take a big bite, but also went back for seconds.

want to send me your holley wiring? we can do el cheapo shipping

i kinda wanna, but you have a pretty full plate as it is, no?


so danny that was also helping with this emailed me yesterday and asked how it was going. the other problem i have is that i have had about 15 revisions of bretts original tune that i dont know what is what anymore as well, so that doesnt help. he emailed me his touch up on the original start up tune, and asked for a datalog.

i also changed the oil/gas in it (was pretty nasty, hope i didnt to damage to the motor). after seeing what the oil looked like, i put plugs in it as well. all of them where soaked. btw, that was done before trying to start it again.

 

[410Fortune]

my plate is ALWAYS full but I am here to help! I make time for this stuff
I know its crazy but I enjoy this Not the fact that it wont start, but having wiring in my hands its just like solving puzzles

 

[vroomzoomboom]

whoohoo! it moved!

.....with the help of my ranger, and a tow strap.

what i am wanting to do is pull the main harness again. i might look it over, i might not. more then likely i will send it out. jamie, i do really want to send it down to you, just not sure if you would be able to spot why those 2 sensors are reading funny. the other guy danny had asked if i send it to him, to also include the sensors and ecu, that way he can test everything to make sure its working correctly. BUT it would end up being a 2 month turnaround, and at what cost (and yes cost is now starting to become a factor with the exchange rate). also time. if it everything comes back fast enough, and the weather holds out (there was snow here on the grown 2 days ago) and my hands can function without freezing, i will put it back together and try to fire (or set it on fire) it up. i was going to store it at a buddys place, but the thought of mice doesnt thrill me too much because both his cars have had mice in them. the though of them chewing up wires someplace erks me, so it will become a snowbank in the back yard this winter. not that i really want that, but at least its in my care and control still.
also came to another conclusion. one of my friends that helped me move evil (had to drag it out of the back yard, turn it around, then drag it back in backwards the way it sits) knows don as well (dono). i had mentioned to him that this is dons motor from his truck. basically both of our words were "ah. now we know what its giving me troubles. the black cloud that was over dons truck has now made its way to evil." which if any of you have seen dons past threads about when he had his truck, you would know what we are talking about.
sorry don lol.

 

[410Fortune]

I can just check the pinouts from pcm to all sensors and I can check the actual pins and connections to make sure they are stout
I have quick turnaround and I am cheap
I could send it directly to your buddy for further testing

 

[410Fortune]

such a pretty truck, I will call you today I will be in shop this afternoon yesterday I was moving firewood, I have 30 cords of 30' logs I'm cutting up and dragging home, don't feel bad I use an excavator to load and dump trailer to move!! HAHAHAHA = more shop time

 

[ahodges]

Any updates Tim? I am always looking for the latest!

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Any updates Tim? I am always looking for the latest!

everything holley wire related (except power and trans harness) got yanked out. this also included my map and air intake temp sensors and ecm. i shipped it to 410fortune for him to look over and see if he could find the problems i am having. waiting to hear what he has found. weather is still holding out so i am hoping i can get it back up here so i can put it all back together and hear it run, but thats up to mother nature at the moment.
im also happy to say after 4 1/2 years of being on a crappy afternoon shift, after much *****ing and whining i am back on day shift. now things should go a whole lot faster when i work on stuff.

 

[410Fortune]

I am working on the wiring I found just a couple of small concerns thus far, will be shipping it back tomorrow
This evening I will finish up my pinout (continuity) testing of each circuit and report my findings
Lets get this sucker running!

 

[vroomzoomboom]

looks like shes in her spot for the winter now. even though it doesnt look like it but we ended up getting dumped on, on friday night. its cold (sorta) as well so i dont think i want to risk breaking connector ends trying to put things back together once jamie is done looking everything over as well.
next update, more then likely spring unless we get a major break in weather.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

monthly report.

nothing has changed. well, i shouldnt say nothing. a wake up call today, well, winter call. it dropped to around -40C ish today. tomorrow it will be around -20C. the weekend, -3C? i had seen jamie post in his ranger thread that he has been massively busy lately with personal stuff so i havent really been bugging him too much with the harness, and even if i did, i wouldnt be able to put it in anyway.
when is spring again? oh yea. months away.......

 

[4pointslow]

Pretty soon, you won't be able to see the wiper blades.
Next year is going to be a great year!

 

[Fix4Dirt]

BRRRRR!!!! more like 20 c here hahahah

 

[410Fortune]

all.....right well I had Tim's wiring for a while
I was able to do some testing

He sent me the Holley wiring and PCM for testing
I was able to do a complete pinout test, every pin from the PCM was tested at the end of every wire for continuity. The whole harness checked out 100%
I did find two areas of concern:

1. A single power feed wire was not seated fully inside its connector., It is extremely important to have good connections on every pin, at every connector! Tim is aware of it. I redid the connection so the pin is fully seated and locked into position. (this could cause a no start for sure!)

2. Tim has his power feed for the crank and cam sensors sharing power with the TPS sensor and others. This is not advisable from Holley, we need the cam and crank sensors to get clean ignition power, no sharing! However this would not cause the problems Tim was having (this should not cause a no start)

I am being picky here because I did not really find any other issues

All wires are good, routed properly to their destination and in the correct spot. All wires are tight with good connections and each pin checked out 100%
Well done Tim!!

It was my intention to then install my loadout tune into his PCM, then his PCM into our ranger project here at the shop and see if his PCM would run my truck. However that day did not come for a few months this winter.... in the mean time Tim found somebody who can actually fully bench test his Holley PCM and wiring! So I sent it off to its next destination
Can't wait to see his truck run in 2023!!!
I have some pics I took I will post them up


I have been wanting to post this report for a few weeks now!!

 

[vroomzoomboom]

thank you very mush for the time spent on this jamie. im not kidding when i say i got so overwhelmed by looking at wires and pin outs, i would make my eyes buggy and not be able to see or think straight.
im really curious about the power wire for the cam and crank sensors being shared with the tps. i cant picture it for some reason (not surprised either for that matter). with my luck i buggered the pcm/ecu up and will have to buy a new one.

 

[410Fortune]

I get like that too w wiring but we just stay with it! Take breaks when needed and come back to it later. I have lost years off my life worried about wiring projects in these trucks I am sure!!
Let’s see what happens w the bench testing I’m hoping your ecm is fine
The power wiring is easily fixed basically only the cam and crank sensors should be on that 12v+ feed from the pcm, other sensors can get their power from the power relay. It can simply introduce noise into the system the Holley may not like… this is not going to cause a no start.

 

[allmyEXes]

Soon I will be removing a 104 pin engine harness that has ~80 wires. @ vehicles worth actually. I know that this will be nothing like you two guys have gone through, but tedious enough. I wonder how many sensor plus 8 injectors and 8 cop wires etc?
Question: On the Gen II Explorers, where are the fuel pressure related sensors?

 

[vroomzoomboom]

its been a min. small update. danny (the guy who is looking over everything a will also bench test everything) has been in touch with me. he put everything on his tester and it couldnt test it. he has ordered the connectors that i chopped off of the coil drivers (i told you i wasnt thinking straight). he is also going to redo how i had the coils. before i had the wires come out the ecu then to the coil drivers that were mounted to the firewall behind the blower, then out to the coil packs. the coil drivers will now be inside the truck, then just the wires will go to the coil packs. i kinda like this better because nobody can tell me if they are water proof, and every time i wash evil, i also wash the engine bay as well. i had to splice a connector into the crank sensor for when i changed it from a factory crank sensor to a holley sensor (because it was thought that was the reason it wouldnt start). so i will have once again a continuous wire with no brakes coming from the ecm to the sensor. he is also replacing the connector coming out of the ecm to the wideband. holley for what ever reason gives you a jumper harness that goes from that connector to the wideband, so now that harness with be eliminated which make me happy because it also eliminates one more problem that can happen down the line. as of yesterday, Injectors, wideband, crank and cam tested good. im guessing he did that with a volt meter. he had also said he should have the remaining tested at the end of the day, and would test the coil drivers when he has the pins and connectors. he still hasnt. he had said it was odd that his tester couldnt test the harness, but he is going to keep digging. thats all i know for the moment. hopefully i will have it back within a month so i can put it all back together providing we dont have blizzard or some crap like that.

 

[410Fortune]

your coil packs are wired properly even without the connectors I can show you what lead goes where
LOL and yes they are water proof, designed to be mounted under the hood
I am so glad he is helping! I will be shortening the transmission harness on our Holley setup about 18" otherwise it fits the truck pretty well!
Nice to have some help!
Lets see her runnin in 23!!

 

[410Fortune]

I wonder how many sensor plus 8 injectors and 8 cop wires etc?
Question: On the Gen II Explorers, where are the fuel pressure related sensors?

@allmyEXes There are only 4 coil driver wires on the Ford side of things........waste spark 1 wire feeds a double coil
The other coil pack wires are power

There are 8 injector wires from PCM to injectors
Lots of sensors! However the gen II (96-01) never had a fuel pressure sensor, only fuel tank pressure for the evap system

You can do this!!

 

[vroomzoomboom]

your coil packs are wired properly even without the connectors I can show you what lead goes where
LOL and yes they are water proof, designed to be mounted under the hood
I am so glad he is helping! I will be shortening the transmission harness on our Holley setup about 18" otherwise it fits the truck pretty well!
Nice to have some help!
Lets see her runnin in 23!!

he is putting a connector on the coil drivers just incase i ever have to replace one, which makes a lot of sense to me.
that will be the next thing i do when all is said and done. there is a mile of wiring that i had to loop for that, that is laying inside the console. are you cutting the pins then sorting it at the connector, or cutting the wires, shorting, then joining them again? im on the fence as which way to do it. i also want or will be shorting the 02 sensor as well. they give you a ridonkulous amount of wire for most things.