First 5.0 Endeavor

[jrichker]

Ok I am at the part in diagnosis of the relay feeds. With no jumper grounded, there's power to the Orange/Lt. blue and with ignition on, hot to the Red/Blk. stripe side. The Pink/Blk. stripe don't become hot unless the jumper is attached. If I'm understanding correctly the tan/Lt. green wire is most likely the culprit (or eec/eec ground) and I need to verify that at this point. Just making sure I don't miss a step as I have gone through this procedure a few times and seem to keep missing something. So far have followed to the T with everything else ok except for the need for jumper as no pump firing on ignition on. Also had a hard time finding a good spot to do the ground to pump resistance test as touching almost any chassis area was not pulling any measurements or jumpy at best. Think I would need to power wash or sandblast under there to get a decent connection (it's fairly dirty)


Thanks again

Be sure all power is off the circuit before making any resistance measurements. Do not touch the metal probe ends while making resistance measurements. It will cause inaccurate measurements.

The tan/lt green provides the ground for the relay coil. Remove the relay and disconnect the computer wiring harness. Make sure you have removed the test jumper. Measure the resistance between a good ground and the tan/lt green wire: you should see an infinite open circuit. If not, you have short to ground or bad insulation somewhere on the tan/lt green wire.

Put one test probe on the tan/lt green wire connector on the fuel pump relay socket and the other on the tan/lt green wire connector on the computer wiring harness (pin 27), you should see less than 1 ohm. An infinite open circuit or reading in excess of 1 ohm means a dirty connection or broken wire.

 

[Illuminator]

Be sure all power is off the circuit before making any resistance measurements. Do not touch the metal probe ends while making resistance measurements. It will cause inaccurate measurements.

The tan/lt green provides the ground for the relay coil. Remove the relay and disconnect the computer wiring harness. Make sure you have removed the test jumper. Measure the resistance between a good ground and the tan/lt green wire: you should see an infinite open circuit. If not, you have short to ground or bad insulation somewhere on the tan/lt green wire.

Put one test probe on the tan/lt green wire connector on the fuel pump relay socket and the other on the tan/lt green wire connector on the computer wiring harness (pin 27), you should see less than 1 ohm. An infinite open circuit or reading in excess of 1 ohm means a dirty connection or broken wire.

Got thru with relay/jumper/comp disconnected and tested the tan/lt. grn lead at relay to ground and shows no reading on ohm meter, testing from computer side wiring of same to relay and got good resistance.... tested the black tube in engine compartment mentioned and it shows good connection to ground at opposite end of cylinder....does this mean the computer is shot? Weird as I allready replaced it unwarranted just prior to all this starting years ago....ugh If so any way to repair or is it on board issue? To replace any recommendations...I know the original one was E9ZF DA A95 CA Emissions unit, but to be honest I don't have cat's and not sure if that is necessary. 5-speed car MAF

 

[jrichker]

Got thru with relay/jumper/comp disconnected and tested the tan/lt. grn lead at relay to ground and shows no reading on ohm meter, testing from computer side wiring of same to relay and got good resistance.... tested the black tube in engine compartment mentioned and it shows good connection to ground at opposite end of cylinder....does this mean the computer is shot? Weird as I allready replaced it unwarranted just prior to all this starting years ago....ugh If so any way to repair or is it on board issue? To replace any recommendations...I know the original one was E9ZF DA A95 CA Emissions unit, but to be honest I don't have cat's and not sure if that is necessary. 5-speed car MAF

The only item left is the computer.
There were no US made EFI 5.0 Mustangs without cat converters.

 

[Illuminator]

The only item left is the computer.
There were no US made EFI 5.0 Mustangs without cat converters.

Thanks for the diags....I really appreciate getting to the bottom of this as it has been 5+ years after trying the tests before and not even considering the computer since it was only a couple months old at the time. Now it runs fine w/o the jumper, and I can finally re-wrap/loom all the engine compartment wiring!! Do I ever feel stupid....lol Only problem now is the CEL is on all the time...will dig scanner out and pull the codes tomorrow. I'm sure it has something to do with remaining smog gear

 

[Illuminator]

OK, now with electrical issues stemmed for the moment and re-wrapping/looming underway I'm contemplating next repair on my top 10 essential "to do's" list, which is address the irregular grinding of shifts to 3rd. From what I've read here the T5 is prone to syncro wear here more than other gears. I have some experience rebuilding manuals with two complete rebuilds / assemblies of the old toploader trans in vintage stangs. My question is how tough is the T5 to overhaul ? I remember the 1st toploader was in a milk crate and totally broken down to assorted missing pieces etc. A trip to the library back then (80's
) and I had a working copy of the schematics and assembly procedure with only missing/damaged parts to source and a little creativity from a then apprentice machinist(me). To be honest my first attempt failed as there were shift rails that were damaged and had been modified that I was unaware of at the time which needed replacement but all in all the build was fairly ez. My 2nd was all the more so ez because it was a functional trans with the main reason for rebuild was to massage/modify the syncro teeth for harder/faster shifts and to upgrade the various bolts etc to withstand higher horsepower. I have noticed browsing the web that various kits are available to rebuild the T5, and wondered what everyone here recommends as essential or important areas to address while rebuilding. One of the kits I noticed was the Ford Racing T5 Rebuild kit offered by American Muscle and I was curious if this was a good way to go or if there's better alternatives, or proven methods/parts that should be addressed? Also noticed the G-Force Upgrade kit($1500 Yikes!) through Jegs and wondered if anyone had used this and had input seeing as how a new trans is in the ballpark at this price? Is this something I can do or better off leaving to a specialist? I remember with the toploader the input bearing retainer being a weak link and requiring mods and increased bolt diameter to handle hp. Is the T5 similar in deficiencies? Thanks for the input.

 

[StreetsideStig]

Looks awesome! Can't wait to see where this goes.

 

[jrichker]

I don't know how you feel about the DYI thing when it comes to gears, some people don't like the idea of working on transmissions. If the DYI transmission fix idea isn't something that you would rather leave to someone else, here are some resources:

See http://www.ttcautomotive.com/English/onlineorder/product.asp to download a FREE service manual for T5 or Tremec 3550/TKO
You will need the Adobe Acrobat viewer which is also a free download – http://get.adobe.com/reader/

See http://www.hanlonmotorsports.com/ or http://www.ddperformance.com for parts

A T5 rebuild kit with syncros, bearings and other small parts costs about $160. It does not include any gears or shafts.

http://www.hanlonmotorsports.com/ also has a video on how to rebuild your T5 or Tremec. It costs about $20, and is worth every penny of it.

I did a Tremec 3550 rebuild, and it wasn't that difficult. The video was an immense help, and I would recommend viewing it. At $20, it will give you an opportunity to look and decide for yourself if you think that it is something you want to try to do.


T5 Shim kits – best product I have seen in a while… http://www.5speeds.com/t5/shims.html
“The Peel ‘n Place T5 World Class shim kit makes shimming T5 counter gear and main drive gears very easy.”

For Tremec 3550 and TKO's:
You will also need a magnetic base and dial indicator to measure the endplay ($40-$120). http://www.mscdirect.com P/N 06444129 cost was approximately $57 + shipping as of Feb 2013


The tricky part is that you will need some shims to adjust the endplay in the two shafts: the new bearings will change the clearance. There is no way of telling what it will be until you get to the point that it is time to measure and check the clearances. Halon has the individual shims if you can wait for them. If you can't afford the wait, the auto parts store can sell you some shim stock and you can make your own, or have a machine shop make them for you. The shim stock comes in brass (easy to cut) and steel, in varying thicknesses. That's where the dial indicator & base come in - there is no way to get the clearance right without it.

Getting the car jacked up high enough to get the trans jack in and out from under the car was somewhat challenging. Since I didn't have a helper, getting the trans out of the car and back it was one of the more difficult things about the job. I built a trans jack out of 2x6's, some angle iron and a $25 floor jack. If I hadn't done that, I would have needed a helper or to rent a commercial trans jack. At 100+ pounds the Tremec 3550 was far too heavy for me to lift by myself.

 

[Illuminator]

Been re-wrapping and looming the wiring for awhile now and noticed on one of the salt and pepper shakers (white one) there is a stray orange(I think) wire sticking out not connected to anything nor capped....does anyone know what this goes too? Having a hard time locating my wiring schematic prinouts....

Thanks in advance

 

[mikestang63]

Been re-wrapping and looming the wiring for awhile now and noticed on one of the salt and pepper shakers (white one) there is a stray orange(I think) wire sticking out not connected to anything nor capped....does anyone know what this goes too? Having a hard time locating my wiring schematic prinouts....

Thanks in advance

Thats your O2 sensor ground wire. It needs to be grounded to the firewall or on the back of the motor.

 

[Illuminator]

Thats your O2 sensor ground wire. It needs to be grounded to the firewall or on the back of the motor.

Awesome....ok fixed that too. probably need to reset computer again to clear codes, think o2 was one of em.

 

[Illuminator]

OK...almost done with putting all the wiring back, altho I seem to have another issue that cropped up since tidying everything. I accidently broke the post off a stud on the solenoid and replaced with another I had in a pile of backup parts, only the replacement had a different orientation compared to the old one. Is there a chance the posts are reversed for the starter as I seem to get a gnashing sound every time I start the car now just for a couple of seconds? I can post a pic of the solenoid if necessary. Appreciate any input on this.

 

[oldskolbus]

I dont know if this will help or not.I saw in one of your pics there's were butt connectors under the hood. where im from(WV) we dont use butt connectors anywherre that is exposed to the weather. I don't even like using them inside the car. They get crapped up by road gunk around here pretty quick.( snow, salt all that winter stuff)

 

[Illuminator]

I dont know if this will help or not.I saw in one of your pics there's were butt connectors under the hood. where im from(WV) we dont use butt connectors anywherre that is exposed to the weather. I don't even like using them inside the car. They get crapped up by road gunk around here pretty quick.( snow, salt all that winter stuff)

You mean the splices? Yeah I don't care for em much but they were there when I got the car, as it had a harness transplant gone bad. I've patched it up here and there a lot better then it use to be, but far from ideal. Mind you the splices are high quality ones with the heat shrink overlay. That and I just re-wrapped most of the harness with loom wrap, and will add new split tube or custom wraps as I go... trying to fix a few other issues before burying the harness again.

 

[mikestang63]

You mean the splices? Yeah I don't care for em much but they were there when I got the car, as it had a harness transplant gone bad. I've patched it up here and there a lot better then it use to be, but far from ideal. Mind you the splices are high quality ones with the heat shrink overlay. That and I just re-wrapped most of the harness with loom wrap, and will add new split tube or custom wraps as I go... trying to fix a few other issues before burying the harness again.

I would strongly recommend that when you address those butt connectors do so by cutting out the connectors, soldering the wires together and then covering the soldered connections with shrink wrap. You can then cover them with plastic loom or split vacuum hose for added protection and appearance. Here's a quick video from Stacey David on how to split the vacuum tubing

http://staceydavid.com/articles/tips/quick-tip-splitting-rubber-tubing-4708

 

[oldskolbus]

I understand what ur doing. Get it running first, then go back and fix all the (lets try this and see if this fixes it). Ive been there. I once bought a computer and all that was wrong was a blown in linefuse. It looked fine on the outside, no burn marks... but the wire broke going into the fuse. Expensive mistake on my part.

Solenoid's arent that expensive.(I keep a spare in the car) get the right one , make shure u disconect the battery when u work on it...a crossed wire/ground will eng the starter

 

[Illuminator]

I understand what ur doing. Get it running first, then go back and fix all the (lets try this and see if this fixes it). Ive been there. I once bought a computer and all that was wrong was a blown in linefuse. It looked fine on the outside, no burn marks... but the wire broke going into the fuse. Expensive mistake on my part.

Solenoid's arent that expensive.(I keep a spare in the car) get the right one , make shure u disconect the battery when u work on it...a crossed wire/ground will eng the starter

I admit to that one....bumping the starter with hot leads once. lol

 

[mikestang63]

I admit to that one....bumping the starter with hot leads once. lol

I think we all have laid a screwdriver across the + to starter posts on a solenoid once or more in our life.

 

[Illuminator]

Project stalled currently thanks to uncle sam putting my refund under "special review" for a few months now.....supposedly they have another month to stall before telling me wtf the hangup is...... only when they owe....

 

[Illuminator]

Ok....my latest issue revolves around the ignition switch on column which I have replaced twice now because of ignition cutting out issues, usually tracing to switch falling apart. Problem being the pot metal piece that the switch bolts to with the security screws is stripped, so there is no way to tighten/adjust the switch where it won't move. My question is, is there an more affordable way to repair the threads on that item w/o spending $50 at Autozone on a helicoil kit?? Does that piece seperate from the column or is it attached permanently?? Just curious before I waste that much on a thread repair kit....Thanks

 

[mikestang63]

Ok....my latest issue revolves around the ignition switch on column which I have replaced twice now because of ignition cutting out issues, usually tracing to switch falling apart. Problem being the pot metal piece that the switch bolts to with the security screws is stripped, so there is no way to tighten/adjust the switch where it won't move. My question is, is there an more affordable way to repair the threads on that item w/o spending $50 at Autozone on a helicoil kit?? Does that piece seperate from the column or is it attached permanently?? Just curious before I waste that much on a thread repair kit....Thanks

Now this is purely shadetree and I don't recommend it- just saying I have seen them zip tied up in that situation and it has worked.