Explorer 5.0 EFI swap with RJM Harness - Way more info than you ever thought possible

[Dowd]

Water temperature. It's the sensor for your dashboard gauge. You can re-use the stock one off your 302. Same thread. I still have the original nearly 40 year old sender in mine. Still works.

Thanks. The blinng bling always pulls the chickies especially with hydroboost involved!

 

[Tito]

Alright well I hit a couple yards today to grab a few things, also got my order from Summit with my lines and connections. I decided to go single HiPo pump right by the tank so I got braided stainless and some fancy fittings to connect right up to the fuel rail. Summit sells the ford EFI to AN quick disconnects so I got a pair to run my system with. There is a low pressure one and a high pressure one. I did -6 AN lines for both HP and return.

 

[Tito]

I had a bit of retard on the brain and didnt remember Lars telling me about the Ranger adapter to bolt to the Explorer Mass Air Meter so that you can slap a cone on there. I also realized that if I had just used the stock Explorer tube it had the ACT already in it :-X Oh well, learning experience. Anyways I ordered the bracket tonight so I can throw the 3.5" cone on.

I did snag a Barometric Pressure sensor to mount up, I think that is the last one I was missing. I also picked up a coil mount at the yard since the explorer doesnt have one (that I know of, I think it is in the coil packs but not usable) and a typical ford overflow bottle/washer squirter. I still need to find a dizzy, I couldnt believe there wasnt a single car 5.0 at either pick n pull. There was a 5.0 Bronco but it looked pretty abused. Also picked up some of the efi to barb fittings, got 8 I think ;D and an astrovan power steering reservoir that I will mount up since the stock reservoir was damaged on mine (fire) and wasnt going to really fit anyways. I may mount this to the fender to allow for the upper GTO hose to fit a little better to the stock style radiator.

 

[Tito]

I'll see if I can get the fuel lines ran tonight as well as the coil mounted.

 

[Dowd]

Great progress Tito. I've had my motor in my shop for 2 months and it is still on the puller.

 

[behemoth]

I drilled and tapped the intake and the explorer tubes today. I am using a mustang mass air and tube. I am also looking at using the explorer fuel rails and injectors. They are orange, but different than the mustang ones that I have aswell.

The explorer throttle body has already been modified for the mustang bell crank for the aod.

I picked up a dizzy the other day, it came with new wires and the rubber boot. I have picked up a few of the rubber boots for next to nothing.

I will also be running one high pressure pump, in tank, stock tank also.

I am going to use the mustang headers unless someone knows of a mustang header that will work with the passenger side frame rail.

I have wild horses shorties on my truck, and I have looked at bcs new ones, looking for another cheaper option.

 

[lars]

I still need to find a dizzy, I couldnt believe there wasnt a single car 5.0 at either pick n pull.

You might try Ebay. Time was (when I was gathering parts long ago) that they were expensive and in demand. Now, it seems, people can't give them away. I just looked; there were several with no bids listed for less than 10 bucks. I wouldn't pay more than $20 with shipping.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I bought a rebuilt dizzy with the proper gear already installed from advance auto parts (partsamerica.com) with a new module in it already - $100 if I recall correctly , plus core , which bone yard gave me from an 86 town car.
Just another option for ya .
Of course I understand not everyone drops for new sensors , but I have my 2 yr old with me alot in the Bronc , then add lack of time to work on the dern thing because of the kid and Whaalaa ! reliability is mission #1 !
To second Lars ebay idea , I bought all new sensors from them (except a couple noone had ) and saved alot of dough over local parts stores , dealers , other online sources.
Here lately , Rockauto.com has been great for me.
http://www.rockauto.com/index.php?a=G-autoparts
http://www.partsamerica.com/product...C&MfrPartNumber=302880MA&PartType=218&PTSet=A

 

[Tito]

A little bit of an update, got my 23 gallon tank in that was creatively decorated by the NorCal crew for me...and yes I plan to leave it on there.

Took the Cam sensor out...oops, forgot pic, I'll get it. I was going to take the gear off of it and put it on the Mustang dizzy I had but I couldnt get either gear to come off and couldnt find my drift so I just put the Mustang one in, I am 99% sure its a steel gear. I have it pretty close to #1 setup, close enough to play with it once it is up and running. With the TFI module on there and the filler neck and the serpentine brackets there is not much room for adjustment so be prepared to re-stab it to get it right.

Got my fuel rails basically ran, just need to mount the pump and connect up to the tank. I am having serious issues finding a pump that I can put a fitting on to go to -6AN, not fun. I have 1 other pump I am going to try since the BC pump (f250 I believe) has a 8x1.0 fitting, the 2p74028 (f150 napa line) has a 3/8x24 thread which doesnt seem to exist either. I need to find an EP7109 still (the original part number for the 2p74028) as it is rumored to be 10x1mm which I actually have but the pump doesnt seem to be stocked anywhere.

Mounted the coil on the inner fender, not sure if it will stay here but the holes were already there and the wiring seemed to fit right there. Had to get the coil bracket at the yard, got it off a 90 Bronco with 5.0.

Got the Barometric Pressure sensor also mounted. I'll have to figure out where to hook the vacuum to on it.

Installed the BC EFI throttle cable, that was a PITA. I am using some explorer stuff so that didnt completely help but the bracket had to be trimmed to fit the throttle body and the instructions have you flip the Idle Air Bypass but if you do that plan on cutting into your $500+ harness as the pigtail wont reach. Ended up drilling another hole in the bracket about 3/4" in to put the cable to. The spring that comes with the kit did not work right and even in the correct hole (tried that first) it was too high of tension and would just distort not allowing full throttle. Trimmed the spring and still didnt work right. I'll go find another spring and put it on the other side of the fulcrum as a puller instead of a pusher. The rest of it went together fine but drilling and grinding on new parts never feels very good

Also finished mounting the Cobra hydroboost. I followed Bronko69er's thread on this, mounts up in a great spot and angles just right around the plenum, probably would still work with another setup but I like that I have a little extra space but not super angled like the vacuum booster bracket.

 

[needabronco]

'Got the Barometric Pressure sensor also mounted. I'll have to figure out where to hook the vacuum to on it.'

Tito, I think your confusing the MAP and the BP sensors. The MAP sensor on a speed density setup is hooked up to vacuum. The BP sensor is left open for atmospheric (barometric) pressure.

Can you elaborate on the mods to the BC throttle cable?

And also what length O2 sensor did you get, I can either get a 10" or a longer one? Currently I have a stock exhaust and don't want to risk burning any wires, but I don't want it to be too short.

 

[Tito]

All the BP sensors I found were hooked to manifolds, maybe I need to run the numbers and make sure I didnt get a MAP, do they look like a BP?
I went with the 16" O2's. You will need the long ones to get to your sensor most likely and if you dont need them that long you can reroute the wire to the firewall and then down to shorten it.
I'll get some pics of the throttle cable issues, I wasnt happy with what I had to do and still need to get a spring that will work.

 

[lars]

A little bit of an update, got my 23 gallon tank in that was creatively decorated by the NorCal crew for me...and yes I plan to leave it on there.

Took the Cam sensor out...oops, forgot pic, I'll get it. I was going to take the gear off of it and put it on the Mustang dizzy I had but I couldnt get either gear to come off and couldnt find my drift so I just put the Mustang one in, I am 99% sure its a steel gear. I have it pretty close to #1 setup, close enough to play with it once it is up and running. With the TFI module on there and the filler neck and the serpentine brackets there is not much room for adjustment so be prepared to re-stab it to get it right.

Got my fuel rails basically ran, just need to mount the pump and connect up to the tank. I am having serious issues finding a pump that I can put a fitting on to go to -6AN, not fun. I have 1 other pump I am going to try since the BC pump (f250 I believe) has a 8x1.0 fitting, the 2p74028 (f150 napa line) has a 3/8x24 thread which doesnt seem to exist either. I need to find an EP7109 still (the original part number for the 2p74028) as it is rumored to be 10x1mm which I actually have but the pump doesnt seem to be stocked anywhere.

Mounted the coil on the inner fender, not sure if it will stay here but the holes were already there and the wiring seemed to fit right there. Had to get the coil bracket at the yard, got it off a 90 Bronco with 5.0.

Got the Barometric Pressure sensor also mounted. I'll have to figure out where to hook the vacuum to on it.

Installed the BC EFI throttle cable, that was a PITA. I am using some explorer stuff so that didnt completely help but the bracket had to be trimmed to fit the throttle body and the instructions have you flip the Idle Air Bypass but if you do that plan on cutting into your $500+ harness as the pigtail wont reach. Ended up drilling another hole in the bracket about 3/4" in to put the cable to. The spring that comes with the kit did not work right and even in the correct hole (tried that first) it was too high of tension and would just distort not allowing full throttle. Trimmed the spring and still didnt work right. I'll go find another spring and put it on the other side of the fulcrum as a puller instead of a pusher. The rest of it went together fine but drilling and grinding on new parts never feels very good

Reading your throttle cable installation description makes me glad I just used a stock Mustang throttle cable and bracket ($5 off Ebay). Easy 30 minutes of work on the stock gas pedal plus an EGR eliminator plate from American Bronco for $30 and it became a bolt-on- looks stock.

AN fittings are nice, and I don't blame you for wanting them, but don't do it for reliability. I've been using stock Ford style connectors with a mix of rubber hose and st. steel tubing for 7 years and 35,000 miles including a lot of wheeling, and I have yet to have one single failure in my fuel system.

Inner fender mounting for the coil is probably a good idea. Farther from heat sources which are the enemy of ignition coils.

If that truly is a 5.0 Mustang distributor you've got (any year) then it has a steel gear. If not, you'll find out quickly when the steel cam gear shreds the cast iron dizzy gear.

BP sensors don't require a vacuum hookup, and in fact if it really is a BP sensor (as opposed to a MAP sensor) then the vent port on it is capped with a loose cover, from the factory.

 

[lars]

All the BP sensors I found were hooked to manifolds, maybe I need to run the numbers and make sure I didnt get a MAP, do they look like a BP?
I went with the 16" O2's. You will need the long ones to get to your sensor most likely and if you dont need them that long you can reroute the wire to the firewall and then down to shorten it.
I'll get some pics of the throttle cable issues, I wasnt happy with what I had to do and still need to get a spring that will work.

If they were connected to manifolds, then they weren't BP sensors. In my experience the latter are a lot harder to find in junkyards. And in the case of the 5.0 Mustangs, they are mounted right behind the upper intake, where they get clobbered if the car has been in a front end collision. I think it's false economy to get a used one. I know they are spendy, but that's the sort of device that can be nearly out of range (but not so far as to throw codes) that getting the engine running right can give you fits and conniptions. Better to have a baseline of known good sensors. Because you need an oscilloscope to verify the performance, it's non-trivial to test them in advance unless you have access (and know how to use) the equipment.

I have 10" HEGOs on mine with WH shorty headers and a stock Mustang 5.0 HEGO harness. No problem with wire length. Just another data point.

 

[Tito]

It has e7ef9f479a-1a as a ford part # on it. It seems to be this one here http://www.partsamerica.com/productdetail.aspx?MfrCode=SMP&MfrPartNumber=AS13&PartType=414&PTSet=A

 

[Desert Thrasher]

I read somewhere on this site that you can use the map sensor as a BP by just plugging the vacuum port. Is that correct?
Its what I was planning to do on my 5.8 swap.

 

[needabronco]

I believe you can use a BP sensor as a MAP by adding the vacuum line to it. The sensor on the left is a MAP the one on the right is a PB. That particular one is off of a 90 V6 aerostar that I picked up off ebay. the part number seemed to match. I myself have never seen a BP at the yards, I mistakenly grabbed the MAP thinking it was a BP, I was a year off... Hope that clears it up.

According to the RJM directions, he suggest the short wire O2's for short headers.

 

[Tito]

So are they interchangable the other way as well....MAP to BP?

 

[needabronco]

I don't know if the MAP can be used in place of a MAP, I'll refer to the EFI bible (Probst book) later.

 

[behemoth]

The early ones that were connected to a manifold can be used as the later with no connection to the manifold. The mass air conversion kit that used to come from ford had that loose fitting grey plastic piece to put on your bap so that you would not hook up a hose to it.

 

[lars]

So are they interchangable the other way as well....MAP to BP?

A friend of mine who is even more OCD about this stuff than I am put several of each on a scope. Apparently the output of a BP was enough different than a MAP to give him pause. That said, Ford's EEC architecture is notoriously closed, so we don't know 100% for sure how much of an effect it has. I know just enough about this stuff to be superstitious; there's a proper (and bought new) BP sensor on my Bronco.