Duraspark/TBI

[Twister]

OK so i am planning on doing the tbi swap on my 2.8. AS with the duraspark i was told i need to have a switch for my a4ld. Do i need to have this to drive the car after i do it or is it just for the overdrive. Am i going to fry my trans if i dont put a switch on it right away?

 

[dangerranger83]

You should be fine. I just got done looking at the three types of switches you can use (pressure, toggle and vacuum) and the vacuum one looks to be the easiest to hook up. I didnt look at how much it costed but using it you wont have to drill into your tranny and have a potential spot for a leak to occur. Should work with any of the 2 types of fuel sytem set-ups.

As for the TBI be sure to get a new fuel regulator for it. My dads is doing bad mileage because the regulator leaking a little bit and it not working right so we haven't been able to give an accurate mileage, found this out when we took the air cleaner top off and saw that the butterfies that the injectors squirt on were dry (meaning no leaking injectors) but all round it regulator and around where the two peices are put together there was fuel. His was lossing pressure very quickly after it was turned off as compaired to mine which takes a few days. So we will be fixing that this weekend.

 

[Twister]

ok cuz i dont plan on putting the switch right away, i just want to **** something up driving it around with out the switch. I know i will be without overdrive but i dont use it that often so for the first few days i should be fine.

 

[dangerranger83]

If OD isnt used that often then its nothing the tranny wont notice anyways.

 

[Twister]

I use it maybe once a week. So going without the switch for a few days isnt going to mess something up?

Did you say you had wiring diagrams for the 3.8L?

 

[dangerranger83]

I have a wiring diagram for an 84 Cougar/Thuderbird on my computer (them being the same wiring harnesses in both cars). Its all 3 motors (2.3 TC, 3.8 and 5.0) in one diagram but its better then the one off the store shelf. My dads is an 86 TBI but due to my scanner not wanting to work, I cant copy it to my computer.

Got copies of them from my local public library.

Yes I am able to send the pictures of the 84 one.

But its very simple to set-up the wiring. The TFI plug has 6 wires, 3 going to the computer, 3 going into the driverside firewall, has a plug. Attach the 3 out of the rangers firewall to the ones on the 3.8 liter TFI plug respectily where they came off the rangers TFI plug (we spliced and solidered ours on). Next you need to be able to power the coil. 12volt key on for that one.

As for the sensor wires, I de-tangled them from the ranger wiring harness and just plugged them back onto the sensors and all those wires are hooked to a connector that goes into the driverside firewall.

As for the exhaust gas emissions, mine arent hooked up, but my dads are. Whether his work or not I'm not sure but now when we drive his, white staem smoke comes out (cooler exhuast gases) while it warms up , something that it only did in the winter, now does in the warm weather. This tells me that the carb. set-up wasnt working and now the air pump thing is being used. As for mine runs fine without it all hooked up.

 

[Twister]

Hmm it doesn't sound to difficult. I am going to start gathering the pieces for mine when i get rid of this dumb parts B2 i got. I cant wait

 

[dangerranger83]

My dad and i got his intalled in 10 hours, started at 11am and this wasnt non stop work, we took breaks, ran to parts stores to get stuff, ate, etc..... we didnt bust ass we just did it at a steady pace.

 

[Twister]

Ok so i have read 2 different write ups on the conversion. One says to use the 2.9 wiring harness and sensors and the other uses the 3.8 wiring harness and sensors. Which ones did you guys use?

 

[dangerranger83]

The 3.8 wiring harness, thats what came out of the car and made it running. The computer is attached to the harness which is connected to the rest of the stuff. I dont see how a 2.9 with 6 injectors and different set-up works on a 3.8 with 2 injectors. Use a sure thing.

When we searched for our TBI units what we looked for was if the car has been closed up, no windows down, missing doors, etc... so that the computer didnt have a chance to get wet and the hood had been down. We got everything from the same car, didnt switch computers with different harness, etc....

 

[Twister]

ok thanks, i hope i can find a car that hasnt been tampered with, people are ruthless at the junkyards by lol :icon_rofl:

I was sad one day because i saw a 2nd gen B2 and someone had taken the stock tire cover off and threw it on the ground and took the back hatch. The tire cover got trashed.

 

[Twister]

So for your dads did you guys pull lines from a 2nd gen BII or 2.9 ranger, if so did u use the fuel pumps off of the same car?

 

[dangerranger83]

My dads tank came from a gen. 2 ranger that had a 2.3 liter engine, its a plastic fuel tank with the single pump design. As for the fuel lines we went to Autozone and bought fuel injection line and used that. the cheap return line (can probably use this as a to the engine fuel line to save money), is 3/8 in brake line, its a 6 ft line, the longest that any part store had.

My truck is using the dual pump set-up and tank out of an 87 2.3 liter truck, metal tank. All you need to do is keep your fuel pressure at 44psi (the Ford factory pumps are set at that).

 

[Twister]

Did it still have a 23gal tank? Is that the setup you would recommend?

 

[dangerranger83]

The metal tank he had held 17 gallons of fuel and the plastic one is much bigger. Mine I think is 17 gallons too.

I would try to stay with factory pumps but nothing wrong with inline after market pumps, it might be harder to tune them and I dont know how durable or how dependable they are but will work just fine.

2.3 liter FI pumps can feed a 5.0 FI engine just fine.

Broncho 2 were made with 2.9 liters so they will have the take and pumps you need but if you get one from the JY get the tank professionaly cleaned out (thats what was done with mine) due to there may be rust in the tank, but my dads didnt because of it being plastic.

 

[Twister]

Well i just planned on getting all the fuel lines, tank and pumps from the 2.9 on the bronco II.

Was it hard to put in the new fuel lines?

 

[dangerranger83]

Not at all we just follow the frame and put them on it, used zip ties and the other holders that the old fuel lines ran through.

 

[Twister]

Thats cool.

 

[Twister]

So how is the performance now that you got the TBI on?

 

[dangerranger83]

Has more but until we can get my dads fuel consumption down we wont know fully but there is a difference. With the carb set-up he couldnt break the tires and now he can. Putting the TBI unit on is like putting a 350cfm carb on, the factory carb is rated at 280cfm.

Mine doesnt thave the fuel problem that his does so hopefully within the next month I will have it driving on the road (new job).

I think my dad may have to get a higher up name in fuel regulator for his. But for some reason, right after shut off (and the 6 seconds that the fuel relay switch keeps the pump on after turn off) it losses fuel pressure imediatly, unlike mine that takes a few days to completely loss it. The only difference between our set-ups are the fuel pumps and tanks we are using. But for right now my dad doesnt care, he just wanted to get rid of the carb. system. I know thsat in the future we are going to have to do valve glides on his as he is now burning a very slight amount of oil.

Mine on start-up can chug at 650rpm (when warmed up its at 800 rpm) and run just fine, as for my dads of it gets to 800rpm, and when you go to give it fuel, it almost wants to stall and it burns rich, so we have it set at 1000 rpm.