Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

Biggest difference, the MEL had no paired ports, they were just like the Windsors, 335 and 385 engines alternated E and I placement. The one I had, having been a race engine, had polished intake ports and an Algon injection system with it. You could almost reach in an intake port and grab the valve.

Three thermostats to help with warmup, two in the front of each cylinder bank (140°) and one at the front of the intake manifold (180°).

Sounds like a wild engine.

As for what I got done today, not a lot. But I did get most of the extraneous stuff pared away from the harness I need to work on. (And, I pared a bit too far in a case or two, but nothing that solder and heat shrink can't cure.) The firewall connector is now gone, as are C103 and C106.

The pic below shows what's left, which looks like a huge rat's nest. But it is a much smaller rat's nest than I had. We are almost down to manageable.

What I need to do now is to develop some schematics of what goes where. For instance, I need a schematic for the PDB so I can wire it and remove the extraneous wires. Then I need to sort through the wires going to the ECU and pare them down to only the ones I'll be using. And then I can lay things out "geographically", meaning where they are meant to go and start grouping things together.

Which brings me to an observation and, therefore, a question:

Observation: It looks to me like this harness will have very few connections to the '85 wiring. And some of those connections are already in connectors, like VSS, oil pressure, and coolant temp. And any others that I need, like backup lights and fog lights, can be put in connectors. So this harness can be laid in and connected w/o any soldering. Just all plugging.

Question: Why do I need any more connectors, like one through the firewall to the ECU? When I extend the wires to the ECU I'll pass them through the grommet that goes in the firewall. Then the ECU connector can be fed through the firewall, the grommet put in place, and all of the connections under the hood made. So if that harness needs to come out you just reverse the procedure.

And, as reported elsewhere, the $18 XL3F MAF sensor came in today, so now I have two of those. And it seems like that would be a good way to go since I have a spare and they appear to be plentiful.

But, they fit the plastic housing, not the aluminum one that I powder coated, so I decided I needed to insulate that housing to keep up the theme. Here 'tis:

[85lebaront2]

Sounds like a wild engine.

As for what I got done today, not a lot. But I did get most of the extraneous stuff pared away from the harness I need to work on. (And, I pared a bit too far in a case or two, but nothing that solder and heat shrink can't cure.) The firewall connector is now gone, as are C103 and C106.

The pic below shows what's left, which looks like a huge rat's nest. But it is a much smaller rat's nest than I had. We are almost down to manageable.

What I need to do now is to develop some schematics of what goes where. For instance, I need a schematic for the PDB so I can wire it and remove the extraneous wires. Then I need to sort through the wires going to the ECU and pare them down to only the ones I'll be using. And then I can lay things out "geographically", meaning where they are meant to go and start grouping things together.

Which brings me to an observation and, therefore, a question:

Observation: It looks to me like this harness will have very few connections to the '85 wiring. And some of those connections are already in connectors, like VSS, oil pressure, and coolant temp. And any others that I need, like backup lights and fog lights, can be put in connectors. So this harness can be laid in and connected w/o any soldering. Just all plugging.

Question: Why do I need any more connectors, like one through the firewall to the ECU? When I extend the wires to the ECU I'll pass them through the grommet that goes in the firewall. Then the ECU connector can be fed through the firewall, the grommet put in place, and all of the connections under the hood made. So if that harness needs to come out you just reverse the procedure.

And, as reported elsewhere, the $18 XL3F MAF sensor came in today, so now I have two of those. And it seems like that would be a good way to go since I have a spare and they appear to be plentiful.

But, they fit the plastic housing, not the aluminum one that I powder coated, so I decided I needed to insulate that housing to keep up the theme. Here 'tis:

Question: Why do I need any more connectors, like one through the firewall to the ECU? When I extend the wires to the ECU I'll pass them through the grommet that goes in the firewall. Then the ECU connector can be fed through the firewall, the grommet put in place, and all of the connections under the hood made. So if that harness needs to come out you just reverse the procedure.

Yes, that was how Ford did the EFI 302s in 1985/86. The EEC-V ECU is the same size physically as the EEC-IV one. Biggest difference for you is the relays are in the PDC not one next the the ECU and one on the left side firewall. In that rat's nest, do you have an inertia switch, or is the original hot fuel package one still on the heater duct?

If you do not have one I have at least one later model spare, on Darth it mounts behind the left kick panel.

[Gary Lewis]

Question: Why do I need any more connectors, like one through the firewall to the ECU? When I extend the wires to the ECU I'll pass them through the grommet that goes in the firewall. Then the ECU connector can be fed through the firewall, the grommet put in place, and all of the connections under the hood made. So if that harness needs to come out you just reverse the procedure.

Yes, that was how Ford did the EFI 302s in 1985/86. The EEC-V ECU is the same size physically as the EEC-IV one. Biggest difference for you is the relays are in the PDC not one next the the ECU and one on the left side firewall. In that rat's nest, do you have an inertia switch, or is the original hot fuel package one still on the heater duct?

If you do not have one I have at least one later model spare, on Darth it mounts behind the left kick panel.

I have the original inertia switch on the firewall/floor near the passenger's left foot.

Ok, I have a plan - a cunning one no less.

[85lebaront2]

I have the original inertia switch on the firewall/floor near the passenger's left foot.

Ok, I have a plan - a cunning one no less.

So Wiley, when will we know, and does the Road Runner know?

[Gary Lewis]

So Wiley, when will we know, and does the Road Runner know?

Acme products are ready. RR will know soon.

Was just reviewing the plan, below, and realized that I have a bit of wiring to do. The inertia switch is powered by a fuse in the PDB on the passenger's fender. So I need to run a wire across the firewall to the switch.

And, before you say something, the resistance wire is already gone.

[85lebaront2]

Acme products are ready. RR will know soon.

Was just reviewing the plan, below, and realized that I have a bit of wiring to do. The inertia switch is powered by a fuse in the PDB on the passenger's fender. So I need to run a wire across the firewall to the switch.

And, before you say something, the resistance wire is already gone.

Do you still have the dual yellow wire portion that came through the passenger side firewall under the HVAC casing? It went to a plastic plug (C144) near the starter relay. That is the inertia switch wiring.

[Gary Lewis]

Do you still have the dual yellow wire portion that came through the passenger side firewall under the HVAC casing? It went to a plastic plug (C144) near the starter relay. That is the inertia switch wiring.

I don't know if I kept that when I rewired. I'll look tomorrow. But it looks like the yellow wires go through the firewall and then back, with one leg going across the firewall to the relay and the other to the fuse link.

I can bring both legs back across the firewall. Just one more thing to do.

[Gary Lewis]

I don't know if I kept that when I rewired. I'll look tomorrow. But it looks like the yellow wires go through the firewall and then back, with one leg going across the firewall to the relay and the other to the fuse link.

I can bring both legs back across the firewall. Just one more thing to do.

Forgot to look for that connector, Bill. But will do, hopefully tomorrow.

However, I've come up with another question - where did you get your switched power for the red/light green switched-power wire that pulls in the PCM relay? See below for my thinking.

That came up because I drew up the PDB today. Haven't as yet taken it apart and pulled the extraneous stuff out, but will start on that tomorrow. However, it came out pretty nicely, with no real surprises.

And now to my question. In the schematic below you can see that C325 carries the R/LG wire which has battery voltage in Start and battery voltage minus the drop across a 1.1 ohm resistor in Run. However it is only going to pull in the relay, so we are talking about a really small voltage drop. But the beauty of this is that C325 also has the oil pressure and coolant temp circuits back to the gauges. So that one connector handles three circuits.

Anyway, do you see anything wrong with that plan?

Now I'm looking into getting a kit of connectors to use for the other ties between the '85 and the '96 systems...

[85lebaront2]

Forgot to look for that connector, Bill. But will do, hopefully tomorrow.

However, I've come up with another question - where did you get your switched power for the red/light green switched-power wire that pulls in the PCM relay? See below for my thinking.

That came up because I drew up the PDB today. Haven't as yet taken it apart and pulled the extraneous stuff out, but will start on that tomorrow. However, it came out pretty nicely, with no real surprises.

And now to my question. In the schematic below you can see that C325 carries the R/LG wire which has battery voltage in Start and battery voltage minus the drop across a 1.1 ohm resistor in Run. However it is only going to pull in the relay, so we are talking about a really small voltage drop. But the beauty of this is that C325 also has the oil pressure and coolant temp circuits back to the gauges. So that one connector handles three circuits.

Anyway, do you see anything wrong with that plan?

Now I'm looking into getting a kit of connectors to use for the other ties between the '85 and the '96 systems...

Gary, use the 5.0L EFI wiring for the R/LG power. Because of the way your ignition switch is wired the resistance wire is in the R/LG circuit in run. On the EFI system the R/LG and W LB-H are spliced together in the TFI system feed. Use the plugs or cut and splice them together.

 

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, use the 5.0L EFI wiring for the R/LG power. Because of the way your ignition switch is wired the resistance wire is in the R/LG circuit in run. On the EFI system the R/LG and W LB-H are spliced together in the TFI system feed. Use the plugs or cut and splice them together.

Yes, the resistance is there. But all that circuit is doing is pulling in the PCM relay, and that relay will pull about 250ma. So the voltage drop will be ~.3v. And since those relays pull in at about 6 volts the relay won't know the difference between 14.4 volts and 14.1 volts.

The power to pins 30 and then 87 of the relay comes via the always-on power, and that comes via the #2 wire coming from the PDB on the other side of the engine compartment. So there's no shortage of power to the relay. All the R/LG wire is doing is pulling the relay in.

So, why do I need other wiring? I'm not trying to be difficult, I'm just trying to understand.