EFI conversion questions - lots of random ones

[ZOSO]

That should be fine.

[Gunnibronco]

Thanks again. We are slow at work so I've been tinkering away at my truck this morning.

[Gunnibronco]

I think everything is in running order. There are lots of loose ends, and I have to mount the computer & deal with the excess wire. But I think I have wired & plumbed everything so it should be able to start & run.
Today/tonight I built a new MAF support bracket, finished wiring, plumbing & mounting the pumps & accumulator, made the final connections to the RJM harness- + start & run, + start only (to the starter solenoid "S" post- right?), battery + terminal. I also zip tied everything up, but some isn't permanent, I'm going to rewire the truck completely after this EFI swap, so somethings were done with that in mind. I did improve my battery ground (2g winch wire w/copper terminals) & grounded my alternator directly to the frame, and also ran a good jumper from the body to the frame too.

[Jesus_man]

vroom vroooommm!

[Gunnibronco]

vroom vroooommm!

So close, but I may have something else to do tonight, so it may be this weekend before VROOOM VROOOM!

[Gunnibronco]

Rox Crusher asked if I could take some pics of my TPS sensor, apparently 96 Explorers had a special throttle body that clears hoods better. I put some clay on to measure clearance & here is a pic, no problem I'll cut out my hood to the size of my old school bubble. But my body mounts are trashed, the cross members under the driver & passenger feet are bent (like the truck was jumped), and the front passenger mount was missing all together. And the rubber mounts are still original, and quite squashed. So your results will vary.



My oil fill neck is very close as well, so I may use my F250 valve covers, they have a short neck.

[BURNTFISH]

Got any pics of your return fuel into the tank. Thanks Dack.

[Gunnibronco]

Got any pics of your return fuel into the tank. Thanks Dack.

Years ago, when I tried the Holley Projection, I had an extra barb brazed into the filler neck on the main tank. It points down & is very close to the tank, so the return line snakes between the tank & the frame. I'll take a pic or two tomorrow.

[Rox Crusher]

Rox Crusher asked if I could take some pics of my TPS sensor, apparently 96 Explorers had a special throttle body that clears hoods better. I put some clay on to measure clearance & here is a pic, no problem I'll cut out my hood to the size of my old school bubble. But my body mounts are trashed, the cross members under the driver & passenger feet are bent (like the truck was jumped), and the front passenger mount was missing all together. And the rubber mounts are still original, and quite squashed. So your results will vary.



My oil fill neck is very close as well, so I may use my F250 valve covers, they have a short neck.

ViperWolf1 educated me that the 96 Explorer throttle body had a shorter mounting boss for the throttle position sensor and that the sensor itself is a tiny bit shorter. You can see the difference in the throttle body off of my 98 Explorer.

IMG-20120105-00100.jpg

This helps me as I am planning to use the Explorer's engine oil cooler which requires the motor to be raised up about 1/2 - 3/4 of an inch. I won't be using any body lift so I need every advantage possible to clear the hood.

[Gunnibronco]

Great info, I would have damaged that sensor the first time I shut the hood.

[Viperwolf1]

The '96 throttle body has the vent tube installed also although it's angled the wrong direction. Easy to turn it. The later throttle bodies still have a boss for the tube. You just need to drill it and set a tube in.

[Gunnibronco]

Wooooooooooooooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

ITS ALIVE!

Made some final connections, primed the fuel system with the LP pump, then turned the key and after about 10 seconds of cranking, she fired up. I only let it run for a couple seconds, the check engine light stayed on.

I'm going back to the shop this evening to do a self test, time it, and hopefully do a KOER test.

What a great way to end the work week.

[Moab Mike]

Wooooooooooooooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

ITS ALIVE!

Made some final connections, primed the fuel system with the LP pump, then turned the key and after about 10 seconds of cranking, she fired up. I only let it run for a couple seconds, the check engine light stayed on.

I'm going back to the shop this evening to do a self test, time it, and hopefully do a KOER test.

What a great way to end the work week.

YEAHHHHHHHHH! Great Job Chad!!!!

[Gunnibronco]

Wooooooooooooooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

ITS ALIVE!

Made some final connections, primed the fuel system with the LP pump, then turned the key and after about 10 seconds of cranking, she fired up. I only let it run for a couple seconds, the check engine light stayed on.

I'm going back to the shop this evening to do a self test, time it, and hopefully do a KOER test.

What a great way to end the work week.

YEAHHHHHHHHH! Great Job Chad!!!!

Thanks. Feelin' allright!

[Rox Crusher]

Congrats Chad !

You pulled this off without any major hiccups !

Can't wait to hear it purring like a kitten...........scratch that.............SCREAMING LIKE A MOUNTAIN LION IN HEAT !

[Gunnibronco]

One hiccup, it rained antifreeze on my parade.

When I got back to the shop, I first tried a self test. After getting frustrated with the insane blinking light, I decided I'd just start it, let it warm up & get it timed. It fired right up, idled a little high for a few seconds, then began to drop the idle. That is when I noticed the water.

I have a significant water leak at the back of my intake manifold. So a few questions:

What do I do with the fuel rail? How do I depressurize it so I can pull it off?

Should/can I attempt to reuse the intake gaskets?

Fire away with advice on how to install an intake manifold. I followed the instructions included with the felpro gasket, torqued using a sequence I found on CB.com. Used a little Great Stuff at each end of the cork gaskets, but not on the intake runner gaskets, or on any bolts. I've never had a water leak like this before.

I did decipher my chicken scratches & come up with a code or two:

The first KOEO self test code seems to be 15-EEC permanent Read Only Memory (ROM) test failed. Sounds real bad.
2nd code 22- BP sensor out of range, I have another BP sensor I can swap in

Beyond that, I can't make anything out. I thought about taking a video of the CEL sequence, but had already torn it apart to deal with the water leak before I remembered to do the test again.

[Viperwolf1]

Congrats.

Codes first. #15 you can ignore. It gets generated when power is cut to the ECM. Clear codes by starting the code collection process then unplug ground to STI and it will go away. #22, make sure BP is plugged in and has no vacuum line on it.

Fuel depressure. Pull the fuel pump fuse or relay when idling. This will generate fuel circuit code.

I don't know about re-using intake gaskets. They don't seem to come off in one piece for me. I wouldn't use the cork end pieces. Just RTV across the end rails. Take a good look at the water ports and gasket holes. Some gaskets don't work with all ports.

[Gunnibronco]

Thanks, I'll check the BP sensor connection, there is no vac line run to it.

The truck won't run, I've pulled the upper already, is there another way to depressurize? I won't be working on it till tomorrow PM at the earliest.

When I installed my Edelbrock Performer 4bbl intake, I never could get the valley to seal, untill I used the cork end seals. So I figured I use them this time. The problem isn't at the end seals, it seems to be at the back passenger water port. It poured out pretty bad.

Should I use some Great Stuff around the water ports?

[Viperwolf1]

By tomorrow the pressure will be long gone. You could use a thin layer of RTV around the water ports. I think when you take it off you'll be able to see exactly where it was leaking. I ended up using studs in place of bolts in my intake to help align the intake with the heads.

[Gunnibronco]

Cool, I'm hoping the motor didn't run long enough to stick the gaskets down. I was just reading about using studs to align the intake.

I looked at my old intake gasket & it didn't look like I used any RTV, except at the end of the cork end gaskets. I'll see how things come apart & go from there. I may buy a spare gasket set before the parts stores close tomorrow (nothing open on Sunday here). If the new intake gaskets have the EGR openings, should I do something to stop the exhaust gases from getting to the throttle body? Install a threaded plug in the upper intake?

[Viperwolf1]

Yeah if you're not using EGR you should plug it somewhere. The exhaust only comes from one head. If you look at the intake holes you'll see which side it is. Either plug it at the intake gasket or at the upper/lower.

[Gunnibronco]

Thanks

Since I haven't removed the lower intake, I think I'm going to try retorquing it first. I have a tool at work to pull a vacuum on the coolant system & fill it with the vacuum. If it doesn't pull a vacuum I'll know I have to pull & reseal the intake.

Any input on reusing the gaskets would be appreciated, assuming they come off in one piece. I only ask because these gaskets won't be available locally till Tuesday probably, not to mention they aren't cheap. Plus, I'd rather not deal with blocking off the EGR if I don't need to.

[Gunnibronco]

I was able to find an intake gasket set listed for the 74 Bronco this morning. I'll get back to this this afternoon or probably tomorrow. Today a carpenter friend is coming over to help me "finish" adding a floating floor to my living room.

Burntfish here is a pic of the barb into my main tank, not much to see here, it wasn't easy to get the flash to light things up right:



Looks like I found the source of the gas smell around the truck, thanks for asking for the pics.

[Viperwolf1]

Here is a thread on CB about adding a return port to a stock tank sender: http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showth ... p?t=158610

[Gunnibronco]

Thanks guys,

edited, I need to read more better.

I'm still pretty stoked the thing fired right up and seemed to run nice, before the waterworks started. I'll try to find some copper spray gasket stuff. No Toyota dealer, but I did grab a new can of Great Stuff. So I have enough to do the end gaskets w/RTV, since that seems to be the recommended way. We'll see how this goes, one step at a time. I'll be checking for vacuum from here on out, before filling & starting. And I already planned an oil change at the end of all this.

[Gunnibronco]

Sweet thanks, I'm curious where mine is sitting.

[Gunnibronco]

The good news, it wasn't something I did. The bad news, I've got to block off the EGR port now.

The 1250S3 gasket left a small gap around 1 water port on each side. I took some pics & will post them later.

If anyone can post links or info how to easily plug the EGR port, please do. The only thing I found at the hardware was a 3/4"x10 plug that might have worked, but no tap. I'm planning on returning this evening & installing the lower intake with the stock 74 intake gaskets, so I'd like to put the plug in the upper.

[Rox Crusher]

Man, you are sooooo close to vroom vroom

[Gunnibronco]

Man, you are sooooo close to vroom vroom

Doesn't feel like it today.

So I finally finished working on the house about 1pm this afternoon & made it to the shop about 2. I tried retorquing the intake, but couldn't get it to seal up- no surprise there. I pulled the manifold & looked things over that is when I noticed that the coolant ports in the gaskets were too big & left a gap on one water port on each head:



So I took the time to clean things up, and reinstalled the lower intake, using the copper spray & RTV around the ports, I also skipped the cork gaskets & used an RTV bead on each end. I put the intake in place using 4 long studs, so I was sure not to push or pull the gasket or RTV out of place.

I'm going to see if my friend with the machine shop can cut threads into the EGR port in the upper manifold & plug it tomorrow.

I was reassembling things, when I noticed a problem with an injector. The black cap on the injector end was cracked:


Turns out I managed to crack almost all of them when I installed them. They were hard very to snap on, and one broke when I was using a small socket to push it on, so I just pushed them on using a flat table top surface. I need to order a new rebuild kit, I guess.

Any suggestions for installing these without damaging them?

[ZOSO]

grease or vaseline on the o rings will help a lot. I always use a little grease on mine when I change them on my car.