Ford EFI Wiring for Engine Swap, need HELP!

Hello,
Im glad I found this forum because I am swapping an EFI 5.0 from an '86 Ford Crown Victoria into my 1980 CJ-5. Mechanically this will be an easy swap, I have all the parts, motor mounts, bellhousing, etc to do the swap, But I have NO idea about getting the EFI wiring hooked up where it needs to be so the damned thing will run. I really want to keep the fuel injection, and swaping on a carb is my absolute last resort.

I have the complete donor car, as it was totalled by a hit & run driver. The car is low milage and in great shape mechanically, as is the complete wiring harness. I plan on using the radiator, fuel tank and anything else possible from the donor car.

Has anyone done this swap? I have only found one swap harness, but it is for the 5.0 HO Mustang motor and is not compatable. Im hoping that as I have the factory harness installation will be simpler if I can get pointed in the right direction as far as merging it into the existing CJ harness.

Anyone with detailed info can post it, or feel free to email me .

Thanks,
John Holloway
Las Cruces, NM
Psychojeeper@msn.com

""Beaten Paths are for Beaten Men"

 

I haven't done that particular swap, but I took a 4.3 Vortech from a 2000 Blazer and put it in my '72 CJ. I would suggest you get a service manual for the donor vehicle, I used AllData's web based product, you're going to need a lot of reliable information to make it work, but I believe it can be done. Basically you just determine what would be the appropriate connection for everything you keep. ie battery positive, start, and ignition +, etc.

 

Welcome from Portland, OR!
I hate to direct you anywhere but here but you may try Off-road.com.
That swap was covered years ago over there and they may still have it in there data base. You might also try some Early Bronco forums or web sites as that is an extremely popular swap on those vehicles. Get a factory service manual for the Crown Vic, you're gonna need it. I know wherefore I speak as I've worked for Ford in the past and the Ford wiring can get confusing fast without one. You might want to ask some more specific questions as what you've asked could take a week to write up and still not answer all your questions. You will get much better help with specific questions here as we have a great bunch of people, but you've asked a very open-ended question and I'm not sure specifically what help you need. Sounds like you have the mechanics handled but is there something specific on the wiring you don't understand?
Nickmil.

 

These folks might be helpful, they helped me on a project few years back.
http://www.injectiontechnology.com/products.htm

 

You should be able to get all the info you need and then some at:http://www.50tech.com There is a good book, can't remember author or title, which is regarded by many to be required reading for Ford EFI swaps. I'll see if I can dig it up. If you post a question at 50tech, they will probably have an answer before I can walk back to my computer....

 

Thanks for the info, Im on the research on the other sites listed right now.

Some of the more detailed questions I have are:

What type of fuel pump will I need to use for the EFI to work properly?

What parts of the donor car's wiring harness can I live without and what are the absolute basics needed to function properly?

What basic circuts need to be spliced into the Jeep harness?

Do I need a degree in Space Exploration Electronics from MIT to make this work???:?

As I get things torn down and start getting them put back together Im sure I will have more detailed questions.

Thanks

 

Doesn't Painless wiring make a stand-alone harness for the ford 5.0? I thought I read that somewhere. They do, go to painlesswiring.com and check it out.

 

Painless Wiring makes practically ANY harness for GM engines, but the only Ford harness they make is for the 5.0 HO Mustang motor, so no luck there. Centech no longer makes Ford harnesses as they cant get the plugs etc from Ford anymore, at least thats what they tell me.

Still researching.
Thanks

 

Hi all,
havent had any luck finding a harness, so I am going with option 2, using the entire wiring harness from the donor car and swapping it ALL into the Jeep, hell, the Jeep wiring is in pretty bad shape anyhow.

New problem is that I was hoping to use the car's fuel tank with internal fuel pump, but it's much too large, so I need to know what kind of electronic fuel pump I can use for the EFI setup. I was hoping a good Holley or Edlebrock mounted near the tank would be good to go.

Thanks,see ya on the trails

 

Just got off of Painless's web site and they list under the web catalog a FI harness for '86-'95 5.0 with a Mass Airflow Sensor. You might also call them directly as they may have one that's not listed on the web site. I'm trying to remember who it was but there was a Ford specialist that listed one a couple of years back. One of my co-workers at the time was putting one from an '86 Crown Vic into a '67 Ford truck. I'll have to keep wracking my brain on it and try and remember. I'd also look at the service info and find out what pressure is required then go to your local parts house and look at the book that shows the specs for the different fuel pumps and choose based on that info. Carter or Holley I'm sure probably make one. Nickmil.

Edit:
I also did a simple search on the web and Centech Wiring has a couple of kits available also for '86-'93 Ford 5.0's. Also try here http://www.thedetailzone.com/5.0 FI.htm
They list one for '85 up Crown Vic. With a little more searching there are probably more as well. Time to do some searching! Nickmil.

 

The painless kit would be easier and cleaner if you can find one that works. However it shouldn't be that hard to use the existing harness. I haven't messed with fords too much, but I had a similar experience swapping in my early 4.0 motor.

I got the whole engine compartment harness complete. I then went through and figured out what every engine sensor connector looked like. I was then able to trace the loom back to the relay center and computer. After doing this I was able to eliminate 2/3 of the harness(lights etc...). This greatly simplified things. I suggest getting some good wiring diagrams and tracing all the sensor wires down and labeling them. It should be easier for you as you have the complete car right there. Most sensors are on the engine, however O2 sensors are not and the MAF probably isn't.

As for connecting it too the jeep harness, you will need at least a ground, battery positive, as well as keyed on positive power and a hook up to go to the fuel pump. I'd suggest getting a diagram that shows the wires comming off the computer and then figure out what each one does and trace it on your wire loom.

I run an external pump found on ford trucks, autozone part no e2000. Works fine no need for stock tank. You will need to figure out the return line and run some high pressure line from the pump to the engine.

Hope that provides some direction.
Kevo

 

Have a look at this:

http://www.justih.org/Binder-Bench/showthread.php?t=6362

Karl

 

Im in the middle of removing the factory harness from the donor car now, so basically Im comitted. I am taking GREAT pains to label all the connections and removing the parts I dont need, such as for power windos and seats, etc.
As it comes off the car, it doesnt look as intimidating as I first thought, so I am confident I can make it work, plus, as I said, the wiring in the Jeep's not in very good shape anyhow so replacing it is going to be a plus in the end even if it means a bit more work. I also plan to use the ford steering column with tilt and light controls, so that will help clean up the dash for important things, like quality guages.

Thanks for the help.

 

OK, I caved in and ordered a specific application harness kit from The Detail Zone, from the looks of it and the detailed instructions it was money well spent and will save countless headaches.. I also will be completely doing away with the factory CJ harness(which is 27 yrs old & in BAD shape) and replacing it with a new harness from Painless, so soon the Jeep will have completely new wiring to go with the new motor. Everything (parts,etc)is here and ready, tear down started yesterday (had to get the donor car removed first) so it should be running in time for the Chili Challenge here in February. Once it's running again, it will be time to swap in power steering and a HD tierod & drag link as well as 'flipping' the tie rod ends to the top of the arms. Jeep projects never end,,,,but neither does the fun!

 

I wound up getting the harness kit from Detail Zone. It is very complete and detailed. I have just finished gutting the Jeep or all wiring and fuel tank/lines. I will be installing a new chassis harness fron Painless Wiring. Then comes the re-installation of the fuel supply components then the ehgine/EFI harness. Slow and steady progress is being made, but it's tough with my work schedule.

Thanks for the info and support. I will probably do a full report in the Builds section once it's running (or close to it)

 

I know you asked about the efi system. Sorry not an expert on that.

I did just spend the afternoon getting very familiar with an 80's ford ignition system. In my case I am running a carb.

The jeep connectors will connect directly to the ford Ignition module. It actually an OEM jeep part.

The jeep uses a pointless Electronic control module. In the Circuit. I would sugest bypassing the jeep computer.

From the ford ignition module, red and white wires go to ignition switch. I believe red later makes it way back to the ignition coil.


The Second connector is Green (Tach ) ignition coil negative. Orange goes directly to the distributor pick up coil orang wire. The purple wire goes to the distributor pick up coil purple wire, the black wire goes to the distributor pick up black wire.

The ignition module must also have a good ground to chasis.

 

Mike,
thanks fdor the info, it will help wiring the starter and ignition. The '80 Jeep had no computer, and the Ford computer is necessary for the efI to function, thankfully the Detail Zone harness will take care of that problem and make wiring it all up much easier.

Now all I need is a temporary pause in my current 10 hour days and/or a week off straight to get some serious wrench turning done.

 

Just like Ghettofab. I also use the Ford E-2000 ford external fuel pump from a ford truck. I use it on my 5.7 tuned port chev motor. Puts out plenty of fuel. No need for an additional pusher motor in the tank.

 

Ok,,,NEW PROBLEM!
The fuel system went in no problem and the Detail Zone EFI Wiring kit went in yesterday, very easily in fact except for spending a few hours going through the original Ford wiring harness to salvage the various sensors from it,,,,THANK GOD I kept everything from the donor car!!

I bled the air out of the fuel system, fuel pressure gage shows 42 psi (thanks to the E-2000 pump), fuel is returning to the tank, fuel pump relay is working and the inertia switch bypass was installed per kit instructions. Should have been good to go & fired right up as timing etc was pre-set as the donor car was in excellent running condition until I pulled the engine.

It still will not fire up. I checked the coil output, weak spark at the plugs but there is spark, not sure how to check if the injectors are working, but I can faintly smell fuel from the exhaust.

One thing I can think of is that I have been told that with this type of Ford engine/EFI systems there is a "Distributer Reset", this activates when the vehicle runs out of gas for some reason and must reset in order to run again. Anyone ever heard of this or know how to reset the distributer?

Anything I might be overlooking??? Possibly a bad coil? or bad ECM?? the ECM & other electrical parts sat unused for over 2 years as this project progressed.

 

OK, I replaced the ignition module in the distributor and now have great spark out of the MSD coil, however after checking the plugs I found that only 2 of the injectors were shooting fuel. Pulled, spaked and tried cleaning the injectors but still no luck,,so new set of injectors on the way from Jegs. At least I now have a 99% certainty it will fire once the new injectors are in as the two cylinders getting fuel were firing. Have drill this weekend and probably wont get the injectors in this weekend but it will be running within the next 10 days and hopefully street-legal, registered and ready for the trails and rocks within the month.