anyone uses 5.0 explorer engine/efi/electronics in a classic mustang

[wildstang]

There is a junk yard that has a 97 explorer 5.0. I am considering it but was woundering if anyone has ever used one of these with the coil packs, instead of distributor, as far as electronics. Can the explorer electronics be used. My mustang will have a 5 speed standard, not the electonic aod that the explorer has. Any help or advice appreciated, thanks.

 

[wildstang]

Ok, I will try a slightly different spin on the question.

Can a pcm from a vehicle with an electronic automatic transmission be used in a vehicle that will have a standard transmission?

Could a pcm from a 90's mustang with standard transmission be used with an explorer 5.0 v8 that has coil packs on it?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Tubo(2-bo)]

The engine assly is a great donor. The intake is like a Cobra, & heads will be either GT-40's or GT-40p's( the p's require a specific header) I would use a, distributor, harness & sensors from an ECC-IV system insted.
A search will give you a lot of information, or the short answer is http://fordfuelinjection.com/, let Ryan build you a harness, you wont be dissappointed.

 

[Steve69]

Im no expert on this but I think alot of the guys use the long blocks and
change the timing cover intall a new distributor and manifold and carburetor
and go. The ones that use the EFI use 86 thru 93 Mustang computer,
harness and distributor. I beleive the harness from explorer and computer
doesn't work as well. I haven't seen anyone on this forum or anywhere
else use the explorer computer and harness.

Hopes this helps.

 

[84convertablegt]

I think using the explorer electronics would be awesome. Ive seen one other car like this in a magazine. It makes for a modern OBD2 type system. Most people take the easier and proven route of the distributor and foxbody computer. But if you want to be unique and different, i would use the explorer setup. Basically it uses a camshaft position sensor in place of the distributor and coil packs fired from the computer. You'd be one of a few around doing this. The key would be to: A. Get all wiring intact and the computer, youd even want the computer port, etc. if its a 96 or up setup. B. Also, you can get around the transmission problem with a custom tune that way your ECM isnt searching for the tranny. A custom tune will also make your timing and fuel more aggressive like a mustang should be, unlike the explorer stock tune. So my vote is to go for it if you've got the time. Otherwise, if you wanted to easy route, just scrap all of that and throw a carb intake and a carburetor on there and be done with it. The GT40 motors work nice with a carb in a classic stang.

 

[84convertablegt]

oh yeah, also to answer your computer question quickly the answer is NO. You cant use coil packs with a mustang computer and and like i said in my first post, you can use the explorer ecm with a manual, but until you get a custom tune, it will look for input from the tranny and act strangely when it is supposed to shift, but it will idle and run so you can get up and running.

 

[wildstang]

I think the coil packs would be cool also but forgot about the obd II. I think if I could find a mustang with mass air that would probably be better. I wonder if the cam in the explorer has the gear for the distributor or would that need to be changed. The engine does have 155000 miles on it, so it may be close to needing a rebuild. I will have to look at the heads closer to see if they are the gtp 40. There should be 4 lines on the end of the head, correct? Any othe easy thing to recongnize them by.

 

[84convertablegt]

If its a 5.0 in an explorer, they are gt40 heads. also, the cam does have the gear for the distributor because the cam position sensor is basically a distributor without the cap and wires and all that, just the sensor. that comes out of the front of the block just like a distributor.

 

[damannhw]

I think the coil packs would be cool also but forgot about the obd II. I think if I could find a mustang with mass air that would probably be better. I wonder if the cam in the explorer has the gear for the distributor or would that need to be changed. The engine does have 155000 miles on it, so it may be close to needing a rebuild. I will have to look at the heads closer to see if they are the gtp 40. There should be 4 lines on the end of the head, correct? Any othe easy thing to recongnize them by.

The GT40's have GT cast onto the right rear corner, Gt40P's have GTP cast into them. '96's were the only year that all were GT40's. Some '97's did. Everything after '97 was GTP.

 

[wildstang]

thanks for the info guys, I really appreciate it.

 

[Marshall]

I have that exact motor in my 66 - from a 2003 Australian Falcon 5 speed. I used the complete Falcon ECU & wiring so everything works as Ford intended.

As it was a mannual I cant advise about the auto ECU however if Explorers came in mannual you might be able to buy an ECU from a mannual and you'll be sure it will work.

Marshall

 

[wildstang]

Unfortunatly ford only put the auto behind the v8 in the explorers, as far as I know. I don't think they have a standard trans that has the shifter location needed for the explorer/ranger that is somewhat "sporty" and would have the durability to handle the v8 torque. If they did it would make ranger v8 conversions easier. You Austrailian guys have a lot of cool ford versions.

 

[Hickfied]

They did make 5spd Explorers, I have two friends that have them. I just don't know what years they where made.

 

[xoxbxfx]

You could do it...the wiring wont be to hard but I would suggest buying yourself a Helms wiring book. They are $40 or so but it will save your life. They have ALL the wiring connectors in the car and the pinouts for the PCM. Theres all sorts of crap you can pull off that motor like EGR stuff, ABS, cruise control circuits, wheel speed sensors... All sorts of stuff. You could leave it all to make life easy and just run power to the PCM. I dunno if the old 5.0's use a CCRM but it would be easy to take that and just power it. It controls teh power to the PCM, elec fan, a/c, fuel pump. Basically you just need a couple hot sources to it (switched hot and constant hot) and it does all the powering for everything.

 

[wildstang]

Hickfied, I know the made explorer 5 speeds with the 4.0 V6 but I have never seen or heard of 5 speed manual transmissions in 5.0 V8 explorers. Last year I even saw an explorer sport trac that had a 5 speed manual, but that was with the 4.0 V6.

XOXBXFX it doesn't sound to bad the way you explained it but definitely a good idea to get the manual. I definitely would not need all that other stuff for what I want to do.