Cooter's Explorer 5.0/4R70W Swap

[Cooter_76]

used both temp sender and oil pressure sender for 77 Bronco for 97 explorer swap with stock gauges, both work great.

Good to know. I haven't run the engine long enough to know if my current temp sender is accurate, but I did replace the oil pressure sender with one for a Bronco, and it shows a healthy 70 PSI. Need to deal with the power steering leaks and hook up the backup light circuit next.

 

[Cooter_76]

I've driven the Bronco about 15 miles since the install, and am happy with it so far. Yesterday it passed state inspection, so I can get it registered again and start logging some more miles.

- The transmission shifts a lot softer than my old setup (C4 with a shift kit.) That's going to take a while to get used to.
- My new heater core started leaking almost immediately, so I bypassed it for now. What's another 2-3 years without a heater? ;D
- Engine temp hasn't risen above 180, but the weather has been pretty mild lately. The real test will come later this year.
- For some reason my tach isn't working. Will need to sort that out at some point.
- I can't seem to get the pressure line to seal at the power steering box. Right now this is the most pressing concern that I need to figure out.
- The exhaust is pretty loud when I really get on it. The Bronco is still stinking-up the garage, so I may add a catalytic converter at some point to hopefully tone-down the noise and the smell.

 

[JKH67302]

Hey Cooter, great write up man. I'm working through this same swap now. What brand exhaust are you running? Also you say it stinks up the garage, is that a gas smell? I hear without EVAP that this might happen. For this reason I'm contemplating installing a simple evap system. Just curious as if its gas then it might tip the gauge for me to definitely do the EVAP.
James

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[Cooter_76]

Hey Cooter, great write up man. I'm working through this same swap now. What brand exhaust are you running? Also you say it stinks up the garage, is that a gas smell? I hear without EVAP that this might happen. For this reason I'm contemplating installing a simple evap system. Just curious as if its gas then it might tip the gauge for me to definitely do the EVAP.
James

I'm running the James Duff 2-into-1 with their ceramic-coated shorty headers and the Magnaflow muffler.
The smell does seem like gas, but I think it's too early to know for sure. There are a lot of new parts, engine paint, etc that may be off-gassing(?) for a while. I don't know if the PCM needs some more run time too. When I had the Holley Sniper on a previous engine, it ran really rich to start with. I'll try to add more info to this thread once I've put some more miles on it.

 

[Cooter_76]

Latest update:
- I managed to get the power steering hose connection to seal by rotating the hard line 90 degrees.
- The transmission was leaking where the dipstick tube goes into the housing. I picked-up a new o-ring at O'Reilly's the other day, but I'm pretty sure it's too large. It fits loose around the tube, where the old one was snug. Not sure if they gave me the wrong part or if I need to get one from the Ford dealer (have read conflicting info on other forums.) It also appears that the tube doesn't seat fully into the hole. This may have happened as a result of me bending the top of the tube to clear the hood. Does anyone have experience dealing with this?

- I also have a coolant leak at one of the water pump bolts on the passenger side of the engine. I thought I'd put thread sealant on all these bolts. Of course, they're almost impossible to get to now that the fan is in place...

 

[captgriz]

cooter, you said you got a new coil pack bracket from MIGS how did you find what bracket you needed on the MIGS site. i had cut one down a couple times, still a little tall. would prefer to just order one that works. thank you.

 

[Cooter_76]

cooter, you said you got a new coil pack bracket from MIGS how did you find what bracket you needed on the MIGS site. i had cut one down a couple times, still a little tall. would prefer to just order one that works. thank you.

I believe I contacted him directly though private message here on CB.


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[Cooter_76]

With all the craziness going on this year, I've only found time to put about 60 miles on the Bronco since I got the new engine & transmission up & running. Today I took one of my kids to his Jiu Jitsu class in the Bronco. When we got back in to head home, the engine would crank, but didn't start. Got out to find gas pouring out of the front inner fender. Turns out one of the fuel line connections had popped-apart. Pushed it back together and the engine fired right up.
Now I'm spooked about these spring(?) connectors. Wondering if I'd neglected to get the fitting fully seated in the first place, or if something failed, causing it to come apart. Any tips or tricks to making a secure connection? I think the factory fittings had some little retainer clips on them.

 

[904Bronco]

Yes, Ford added the safety clips after the early Foxbody mustangs had the same issues.

Pretty much standard fare now, another trip to the wreaking yard. Don't know if you can still get them from Ford or at what cost...

 

[Cooter_76]

Yes, Ford added the safety clips after the early Foxbody mustangs had the same issues.

Pretty much standard fare now, another trip to the wreaking yard. Don't know if you can still get them from Ford or at what cost...

Thanks. I managed to snag a pair of retainer clips off an Explorer at the wrecking yard this morning for $3.