VAM (Vane Air Meter) What is that? and were is that aswell as were is the ecu located?
Hey whats up! More 2.3 power needed
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evintho
Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
The VAM meters and controls the amount of air that enters the throttle body. It goes through the turbo first. It's the box circled between the 2 hoses. This was on my '86 TC and it was mounted on it's side and modified. On your junkyard '88 it will be between the turbo and the airbox. You can also see the electrical connector in the pic.........
The ECU is located behind the passenger side kick panel in the interior. Just pop off the kick panel and you'll see it.
The ECU is located behind the passenger side kick panel in the interior. Just pop off the kick panel and you'll see it.
Well guys, we pulled the motor and were not able to buy it due to the employee being in a rush but heres what we pulled, we still need to get the computer and the vas thing
yea, the guy was in a rush to go home, they close at 6 and they let us stay till 6:30 i couldn't get there earlier because school gets out at 3:30 and i work till 6:00 so that's why i had my friend help pull it, so currently its sitting by the door on the gantry and im gonna go buy it tomarrow when they open at 9:00 and then go snag the ecu and whatever else i missed, i dident grab the harness just whatever was attached to the engine (oil lines piping and other baloney) and i dident grab the tranney because im tight on funds
they were gonna charge me $250 because of the accessory's so ill go back tomorrow and take them all off so it comes down to $150
there having a 50% off everything sale so ill be paying $115 for the engine Plus a $50 core charge and when i swap engines ill just swap all the accessories from the NA to the TC engine
evintho
Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
Good job and great score!! You need to join www.turboford.org
There's lots of knowledgeable guys over there that'll help you sort things out. And yes, you'll need the VAM and ECU.
There's lots of knowledgeable guys over there that'll help you sort things out. And yes, you'll need the VAM and ECU.
sick!! thanks man! ill still be here though for my current 2.3 imp gonna build the turbo 2.3 over the summer. and do some lil things for my n/a 2.3 like ranger cam and headers
evintho
Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
yea! i just got done doing the initial inspection, i forgot to pull the connecter for the VAM unit, and someone took the ECU what dose the VAM even do anyway? and i realized i have no way to start it, someone bought the transmission right after we left, i was able to make it out with a starter and an oil cap... i dismantled the whole right side of the engine today, to asses which hoses and hard lines need to be replaced, turbo is not seized and cam looks good... tomorrow im gonna drain the oil and inspect the crank and rods and see if there's any abnormalities that i can see, as well as clean the block and pull off the injector wiring and see if there's anything i need to do to it. and ill borrow a bore scope and see if the piston head and cylinder walls are okay also
The VAM (vane air flow meter) measures the air flow into the engine so the computer can calculate the correct amount of fuel to inject.
You either have to use the VAM, convert to Mass Air (not many people do this) or convert to speed density with an aftermarket computer (most common when ditching the VAM).
You either have to use the VAM, convert to Mass Air (not many people do this) or convert to speed density with an aftermarket computer (most common when ditching the VAM).
evintho
Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
You'll need a VAM and ECU. Did you look at the odometer on the car? That'll give you an idea how many miles are on the engine. Forget the bore scope. Pull the head so you can bet a good look at the underside of the head and all four cylinders. If it's under 150k miles and the cylinders don't look too bad, you can probably get away with a seal-n-shine. New freeze plugs, all new gaskets, new timing belt, etc. Maybe throw in new bearings and an oil pump. Concentrate on the head. Have it magnafluxed for cracks, knurl the guides, valve job, seals, etc. While you're out looking for a roller cam for your N/A 2.3, grab one for your turbo motor also.
I have a VAM and a computer out of an svo mustang if needed. I'd have to get the computer checked first.
the engine has 283000 miles on it, and i did an inspection of the bottom end and i did notice i could move the connecting rod on the crank a little bit on all four pistons. tomorrow im going to pull the head and look it over figured it would be easier and more beneficial since i plan to change head gaskets anyway. aswell as make a trip to pick n pull again and see if i can salvage any missing hard were from when we pulled the motor
another thing im concerned about is setting up the tc engine in my car, do i need to pull the whole harness out of the tc and put it in mine? or will what i already have in my car work and when i get the vam connecter how should i connect it to my harness if i can use my current one?
thanks man! tomorrow I'm going back out to the junk yard to see if i was just blind and missed the ecu or if it actually is missing but i will let you know man!
heres some pics of the block, i stripped it down over the weekend, i want to see if i can acid dip and resurface the block to make it good as new ish the cylinder walls still have there crosshatching and the pistons look brand new once you clean them.. the coolant passageways are all gunched up with solidified coolant or rust so i want to figure a way to flush it (also included pics of the vam and airbox before i separated them Ashwell as intercooler and dont worry, i have cleaned them)
there is oil in the vam which most likely isent a good thing so tomorrow ill pull apart the turbo to go over it and write down what needs to be replaced or repaired and check for play.
there is oil in the vam which most likely isent a good thing so tomorrow ill pull apart the turbo to go over it and write down what needs to be replaced or repaired and check for play.
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evintho
Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
You can use your existing Mustang harness. There're only 4 wires from the VAM connector that need to be spliced into your Mustang harness. I sent you the link to Stinger's site last week. Read it. It's pretty simple.
Also, with almost 300k miles a rebuild would be in order however..........by the looks of the pics and if you want to go cheap.......give it a valve job and a seal-n-shine, drop it in and drive the crap outta it!
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