Dr_elusives Swap Question and Progress Thread V 2.0

gio_momma said:

Oh god...not the butt-dyno again...

I BUILD and sell EFI harnesses. Trust me, I know where the grounds go and how they work.

The stock ground configuration is more than adequate if they're in decent condition...but don't let lil' ol me stop you from grounding every single piece of metal in your car to every other piece of metal.

I'm sure it will help it run "better".

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I'm not totally relying on the butt dyno... I'm also talking about the ear dyno. It sounds a lot smoother. And how is using 1 extra ground strap grounding every single piece of metal? Well, actually it is close to doing that, but not literally. Anyway, enough thread jacking. You have your reasons, I have mine, and that's just how it is.

Keep posting pics. This should be done up as a timeline. Its quite interesting indead.

Brantley said:

I'm not totally relying on the butt dyno... I'm also talking about the ear dyno. It sounds a lot smoother. And how is using 1 extra ground strap grounding every single piece of metal? Well, actually it is close to doing that, but not literally. Anyway, enough thread jacking. You have your reasons, I have mine, and that's just how it is.

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It's called "sarcasm" Brantley...you might want to look it up some time.

Adding one more piece of wire to the three or four existing pieces of wire changes NOTHING. The ECU grounds directly to the battery for all the sensor grounds (signal return) and directly to the turbo for the O2 ground. The drivers and screens go to the case ground (chassis). No part of the ECU wiring on a 2.3 turbo, except for the O2 ground is referenced to, grounded to or in any way connected through, any part of the engine...and the EGO ground is a direct "home run" right to pin 49 of the ECU. You could weld the engine to the frame and it wouldn't change that fact and it wouldn't change anything in a material way.

As long as pin 49 has >.5 ohms back to the battery, the ECU could be mounted on a Barbie Dream House and it wouldn't know the difference.

They say a little knowledge can be dangerous...maybe I'm making you more dangerous, but what the heck...the ground straps are very generally there to provide a good reference ground for the guages and on early cars, the fan switch...which ARE ground-referenced through the engine. The battery cable running to the block is for the starter ground and nothing else...disconnect it and the guage ground and see what happens to your guages when you crank the engine.

The case ground (next to the ECU) needs to be clean and tight. This one (depends on year) provides the ground path for the injectors, EEC relay and the screens (RF shielding). On later models, the actuators go directly to battery negative and the case ground only carries the screens.

You need a good quality battery cable from the negative terminal to the chassis to the block. The chassis lead can be smaller (like stock in a car), but it can also be done with one cable, clamped to the chassis along the way (stock in many trucks). You should have some kind of direct reference ground from the engine to the chassis near the firewall (10-12ga is plenty) for the guage reference ground.

The ECU sensor ground should connect directly to the battery in a Ford. Period. Adding 1, 10 or 50 additional wires changes nothing, zip, nada, zero, ziltch. If you think it does, you have a vivid imagination...you should write science fiction or something, but stay away from car wiring...you'll eventually hurt yourself trying to coax the space aliens out of your alternator.

(Hint for Brantley: ^^^That^^^ would be more sarcasm.)

Dr., after you set your cam timing and such before you fire it up remember to rotate the assembly through two full rotations to let the tensioner take up the belt slack, then tighten that tensioner back down.

Otherwise on your test run, your engine might go POW and die. You will soil yourself thinking your engine just ate it, when it jumps a couple teeth.

Ask me how I know this, I dare you.

Brantley said:

Anyway, enough thread jacking. You have your reasons, I have mine, and that's just how it is.

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Speaking of hints.... I guess you didn't get mine, huh? Maybe I should spell it out for you. Like I stated earlier in a reply that you didn't read very carefully, neither of us will convince the other is right or wrong, so who cares? You'll keep doing them your way, and I'll keep doing them my way. There will be no more replies from me on this topic. End of discussion.

Brantley said:

Speaking of hints.... I guess you didn't get mine, huh? Maybe I should spell it out for you. Like I stated earlier in a reply that you didn't read very carefully, neither of us will convince the other is right or wrong, so who cares? You'll keep doing them your way, and I'll keep doing them my way. There will be no more replies from me on this topic. End of discussion.

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If straight-up, uncontroverted facts can't convince you that you're mistaken, then at least admit to yourself that you're operating on your beliefs rather than working from some sort of objective reality. "Rodding as religion" as it were.

Dr_EluSivE said:

Well i for one Appricaite the Input, I just want to avoid problems, and build a quick and fun car. I know you started with an 88 TC motor and a ranger cam too, if you have any suggestions as to things to do or avoid when i do mine, Please Shout. I will always take suggestions from people more knowledgeable then myself.

Dr.

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I'll be glad to help with what I can.. that was my intention on the ground strap thing.. just offering my opinion and experiences and then gio_mamma.. well, you read all that. Anyway, good luck with your project, and if you have questions, post them up.