EDIS shielded wiring question

[gclauson]

I am converting my Mustang-based harness to EDIS distributorless ignition and have a question for those that have already done this.

Wiring diagrams for Crown Vic and Explorer 5.0 show the CKP (crankshaft sensor) harness having shielding over both wires.

However, I have a 1998 Explorer 5.0 harness and it appears that only the CKP+ wire is shielded and that its CKP- mate and the black/white stripe ground are not shielded.

Should I copy the Explorer harness or the diagrams? Or does it not matter?

Thanks!

 

[lars]

I am converting my Mustang-based harness to EDIS distributorless ignition and have a question for those that have already done this.

Wiring diagrams for Crown Vic and Explorer 5.0 show the CKP (crankshaft sensor) harness having shielding over both wires.

However, I have a 1998 Explorer 5.0 harness and it appears that only the CKP+ wire is shielded and that its CKP- mate and the black/white stripe ground are not shielded.

Should I copy the Explorer harness or the diagrams? Or does it not matter?

Thanks!

It's been 16 years since I did mine so my memory is a little fuzzy (ok, a lot) but I remember wondering the same thing. I shielded all of them. Ran fine, still does. That said, a sample of one does not an authoritative answer make. And, knowing what I know now about electronic signals, I'm guessing it probably doesn't matter.

 

[gclauson]

Lars, thanks for the fast reply.
I am glad to hear that full shielding works, as I have shielded harness ready to go.

 

[pcf_mark]

I only used shielded wire on the ignition pick up from the sensor down by the balancer. I ended up using home security wiring that was cheap as dirt from HomeDepot.

6 plus years no problems. EDIS rocks. If you ever get any weird miss fires or rough running just swap a coil.

 

[gclauson]

Hey Mark, that is also good to hear!

I'm wiring today and ready to finish the terminations at the ECM and EDIS module. Hope to get it running in a few weeks, after finishing the new exhaust and getting a tune by Garry (EFI Guy)

Unrelated, but I see you are running a Microsquirt. I have all the harness parts and ECM to swap to Explorer EDIS someday, but that is a major undertaking. Swapping to an MS ECM is easier from the harness viewpoint. Have you had any durability issues with the MS? I have concerns of an ECM failure far away from civilization, put perhaps MS products are as durable as OEM?

Gary

 

[nvrstuk]

I ran shielded wire on both I think... not nearly as long ago as Lars either! lol

I bought my wire at Home Depot

Wrapped the wires in foil too. I wear a tin hat every time I drive it to make sure it brings me back home.

 

[BanditBronco]

Gary, I assume you are running a EEC-IV computer? I have been debating between modifying my harness with an edis module or just pulling it all out and swapping to the explorer stuff. I have had an ignition issue ever since my 351w swap that no one seems to be able to figure out. Recently I had been leaning towards pulling the harness and swapping for explorer, sounds like you have everything to do either, curious why you went one way instead of the other?

 

[gclauson]

Hi Brian, thanks for the confirmation. I like your belt-and-suspenders approach to shielding. I may do that, too!

BanditBronco- yes, I have an EEC-IV computer. Like you, I have debated this for a long time! Even though I have all the Explorer parts and plan to do that upgrade within a year or so, I am doing the EDIS now because I thought it may be faster than the full-on harness update.

Turns out, I was probably wrong, given as much time as I have already spent. But the reason I though staying EEC-IV would be better is because I did this dumb (seemed smart at the time) street-rod-style harness integration of the Mustang harness and undoing all that work will require extensive harness work, starting with removing the roll cage and dashboard for access.

But, if your Mustang harness is not so hard to remove, I'd recommend going to Explorer now, if nothing other than because the ECMs are easy to get and still cheap.

Gary

 

[BanditBronco]

Kinda what I was thinking, thank you for your input. Also, I went down the megasquirt road with the pnp computer that plugs right in to the mustang harness. Its a good system, if you want to start from scratch. If you want to spend a few hours on something, its not the way to go. If you want to spend a month of weekends dialing things in, spending hours on forums for questions and knowing you made every table correction possible for fuel and air then I would say its pretty solid. After a few weeks I decided ultra tunability wasn't for me and went back to a maf system. Some nerds love it, I just want to go wheeling.

 

[gclauson]

As much as I'd like to learn how to tune EFI from the ground-up, I agree that I, too, would also rather be wheeling!

Maybe someday, but right now, I'll let Garry do it.

 

[pcf_mark]

I went with MS2 because I had zero interest in the massive OEM wire harness. I bought a harness, relay board, MS2 from DIYautotune.com. Then I went ‘shopping’ at my local pick and pull and collected all the sensors and wiring pig tails off a 5.0 Explorer. The amount of material to run EFI on a 5.0 is insane. I used the basic wiring harness diagram and laid the harness in the truck and made it look neat. Then I crimped new pins and used the oem terminals and sensors. Fill out some basic info in the MS. I was cranking it to check for spark and the truck started! I spent about a day tuning it because the idle and cold start take a while to get right.

I have a wide band O2 and had my dad driving while I kept adjusting the EFI. The best modification I made. I ended up added a 4R70W and was able to interface my MS2 with a Microsquirt that controls my transmission. That made it a real sweep upgrade. I can even retard my timing on full throttle up shifts to reduce trans load!

If you spend a few hours planning and reading it is pretty straightforward. The fuel tank, pump, lines took longer than the EFI harness!

 

[gclauson]

Mark,
Thanks for the details on that install. It is certainly intriguing. I would like to do that, but as Dirty Harry says, "A man's gotta know his limitations", and I am finding my limitation is not enough time at this point. (It has taken over six months for me to get most of the EDIS done.)

I am glad to hear you got it tuned in just one day. Do they provide a base tune that gets you started?

And I also like the idea of the minimalist harness.

So many things to think about for the next revision in a year or two!

Gary

 

[pcf_mark]

No base tune - you enter a table of variables (engine size, vacuum, cylinders, fast idle valve etc.) and turn the key. If you ever go MS shoot me a PM i'll send you my tune to get you started. It is super conservative. The 4r70W tuning scared me more but that is good too now.

 

[gclauson]

Mark,
Sounds great-thanks for the offer.
I have a 4R70W waiting in the wings, too.
So many decisions...