1993 F-150 Flare Side

[sly]

The 1993 F150 302 (5.0L) I had was still batch fire. Sequential didn't start until 94 model year. I think they were still flat tappet as well. That truck was a pile though. It had been wrecked a few times and then got hit again in the same spot (right front) while I had it.

[DerekTheGreat]

I don't know for sure what this thing was originally. However, I do know that '92 and down had a different wiring harness going to the engine, which had 3 (IIRC) smaller connectors grouped together, whereas the later trucks have one larger square connecter. My truck has the larger square connector. None of that wiring appears to be butchered, but just because it doesn't appear to be chowdered doesn't mean it isn't. That's where those noid lights would come in. I could see if this thing is trying to sequentially fire all injectors or four at a time (batch) and then verify it's firing the right ones when it is supposed to.

Our truck has a single O2 sensor, so it looks like it was originally batch fire based on what you guys are saying. Fuel for that fire is in the wiring harness itself. If I remember right, the injectors I remember looking at all had red & white wires going to them. I wasn't paying close attention though. However, isn't all of that driven by the ECM? I'm not sure what year my ECM is, but perhaps you guys could tell me? Perhaps my ECM is from a '94 and up truck and that's why it runs like crap...

Here's the information on the ECM:
1) Z2D1
2) EFI-SD47B
3) FZTF-1ZA650-AHB

That's all the information listed on it, well, the stuff that looked pertinent anyway. I think page two of this thread has pictures of the ECM.


UPDATE:
Went to a yard, scored six injectors from a 351 truck. They all smell like acetone, so it's been years since that truck ran. I would've scored all 8, but two were STUCK in the intake. Also scored two transmission bellhousing bolts and the truck specific PCV hose dealio. Would've pimped the ECM as it was a 351/E4OD truck, but someone already beat us to it. I guess that combination is in demand...

How should I clean the injectors before putting them in?
How do you remove the fuel pressure regulator? I would've taken that from the junkyard as well, but it seems like those are a full-time part of the fuel rail.

[gadget73]

my book doesn't have that ECM listed but thats a 1992 engineering number. At least I'm assuming its really F2, not FZ. If its a Frank Zappa model that doesn't compute.

per the list here

https://www.grandmarq.net/oldfuelinjection/page17.html

its SD-Bank which is speed-density bank / batch fire. Not sequential. 1,4,5,8 should be grouped together and 2,3,6,7 are grouped together. Should be able to verify this with wire colors on the injectors. All will have a red, its the other one that the ECM switches.

clean in fuel injector cleaner and hope for the best but if they stink you may be subbing one bad injector for another. Bonus if you have an ultrasonic cleaner to throw them in.


regulator comes off with 3 small screws from the bottom side of the rail. same part boxes use.

[VicCrownVic]

(Existing ECM on left, "new" on right) More on this later.

Definitely F2 part number on that label, meaning you have a '92 ECM. Would a '93 ECM make a difference? I'm a little skeptical unless there is some major difference between the two years.

[sly]

No real difference between 87-95 speed density models. Mass air 94/95 on trucks are sefi.

https://grandmarq.net/oldfuelinjection/truckpinouts.html

[gadget73]

Highly possible a 1993 would have gotten an F2 number. My 1991 book shows one 5.8 calibration with an E9 (1989) ECM. The numbers are just the revision, doesn't say for sure what year it was installed in.

[DerekTheGreat]

my book doesn't have that ECM listed but thats a 1992 engineering number. At least I'm assuming its really F2, not FZ. If its a Frank Zappa model that doesn't compute...

...clean in fuel injector cleaner and hope for the best but if they stink you may be subbing one bad injector for another. Bonus if you have an ultrasonic cleaner to throw them in.


regulator comes off with 3 small screws from the bottom side of the rail. same part boxes use.

"Frank Zappa" model.

Yeah, that's a "2" and I'm just a dolt. Good to know about the SD, I should've already known that as I did look at that website before. But, I've been working on this thing off & on as motivation hits us. Lately, booze, bad food and video games with the wife have been far more appealing. Buuut, my K1500 is in the shop for an axle swap and I'm tired of the Firebird getting driven in the rain, I gotta get this damn thing back up & running, even if it still ends up shakin' like Micheal J. Fox.

Bawls. Those little m-er f-ers were $5/pop at the scrap yard. But, I do have a sonicator!! What would you use, BG44? How long would you "cook" 'em for?

Heh, I saw those and wondered, but was eager to get the hell out of there. Well, go and look at Tahoes elsewhere in the yard for replacement speakers on the wife's truck. Which we did, so two birds with one stone that day. I was actually impressed how quickly I got that upper intake off and all the parts I wanted. I no longer look at V8 Ford trucks and see hateful spaghetti...

@VCV: I'm not sure, but I'm willing to try anything. Did they change the wiring from '92 to '93? Pretty sure the '92 and down trucks got the three separate pig tails going to the engine whereas '93 and up like I've got has that square connector. Hopefully that's just a consolidation thing and not a wiring change....

Thank you for the responses and advice, fellas! Really appreciate it. Leaps and bounds more than I got from the ford truck website I also post updates on.

[VicCrownVic]

My assumption was that although the wiring/connectors may have changed the functions would not change in a meaningful way and the pinout on the ECM is likely the same. Based on what Sly said my assumption seems to track properly.

[gadget73]

sure, try the B44. No clue on time, I've never had injectors questionable enough to need to do this with. The only thing my ultrasonic cleaner has ever been used for is records.

[sly]

I'd say sonicate for 30 minutes to an hour and see what happens.

[DerekTheGreat]

This past Saturday my wife and I were extremely productive, put in a solid 10+ hours of work on 'Lil Red to get it back up & running.

The engine was previously left in state without the upper intake and much of the stuff attached to it removed or pulled out of the way. I had stuffed blue shop towels in the intake runners and other open "holes." Thought that was an OK way to leave the engine for a week or so. Well, glad I bought that noid test light kit, as when I had it hooked up to injector #1 and had Angie crank the engine over (fuel pump & ignition disabled, of course) water spat up out of the intake runner for #3. Ah shit.. Good thing she only cranked for a split second- was enough to tell me that injector worked and that I was going to do a compression test even though I wasn't planning on it. Turns out water only got into #3, fortunately/unfortunately. With all the plugs out, Angie spun the engine over until I was sure it was done spitting rusty water out of #3. Compression was then checked, results were as follows:

1) 134 psi
2) 132
3) 141
4) 174
5) 132
6) 164
7) 154
8) 140

I think we found out why it runs rough.. Not sure what is optimal, but ~130 psi seems pretty damn low, especially when two other cylinders are punching above 160. We set that bad news aside, used the noid tester to verify all the injectors were getting juice (All injectors had red & tan wires, so I just assumed they're firing as intended by the ECM) stabbed the plugs back in, tightened up the one bellhousing bolt that was just finger tight (swapped out the dipstick tube for one not bent and hiding under the A/C box) and put in another which was missing, along with the loop to secure the fuel lines. Cleaned up the makeshift AIR tube plug such that it would hide behind the intake cleanly. Truck still retains the stuff attached at the back of the cylinder heads, but the tubes aren't rusty at all so I said "F it" and left it that way. Everything else to that system was removed by the PO. Plopped in the truck specific PCV deal along with a brand new PCV valve I had sitting on the shelf. Plumbed that to the vacuum tree where everything else connects and plugged the nipple at the back of the manifold. Fortunately, #8 wasn't dead as that TSB says can happen. I decided against swapping the injectors out, due to what gadget said about potentially swapping one bum injector for another, the compression test results and the fact my sonicator specifically states not to use it with flammable materials or let stuff sit on the bottom of it. For what it's worth, they all sounded the same when I tested them before and on Saturday I Ohm'd 'em all out- they were all between 14.2 and 14.3 Ohms. Cleaned the mating surfaces for the intake and plopped that on while Angie went to town cleaning another throttlebody. Connected all vacuum stuffs, put on an EGR valve after verifying it opens and holds vacuum. Busted my Snap-On MT2500 out and then began testing throttle position sensors until I found one that read ~0.5v. I stabbed that one in the freshly cleaned throttle body and then stabbed that on the intake after verifying that it was below 1.0v when installed. Crap, time to fire this pig up!! It lit right off and began spewing something from underneath. I killed it immediately and went to check on whatever was leaking. False alarm, just alot of water in the exhaust, presumably from when it got into the combustion chamber. That stuff didn't look rusty at all. Fired the engine back up, noticed the IAC isn't working again and so I held it at ~1,600 rpm for a couple minutes. Unplugged the IAC and then adjusted the base idle such that the TPS read 0.84v, which resulted in about 750rpm. I don't remember what the spec is on the TPS, I think 0.8 to 1.0v. I'd like to know if it's a bit lower, that way I could bring the base idle down more. Oh, much like Kishy predicted, there is only minimal noise from what I thought was going to be a bum power steering pump. Can't hear it once the hood is closed or while driving. While doing that, I noticed a decent amount of blow-by coming from the breather vent. Not choo-choo levels, but certainly noticeable. Anyway, from this point, I buttoned everything back up, from the fan shroud to the intake tubes and what not. Time to hit the road. It runs considerably better, probably due to the correct gasket being installed between the upper & lower manifold, but still rough around the edges. Angie was ecstatic though, she thinks it's now much better than ever. Off we went! Pleasant surprise, the late shifting was corrected by installing and adjusting that "new" TPS to a value within spec. Although now it shifts a bit early due to the speedometer reading about 5mph too fast. Damn thing felt pretty quick, shifted through all gears nicely and also cruised great. Angie drove it home and it she was grinning from ear to ear. Success!

The rest of our night looked something like this..

The next day, I went to take it for a quick trip to the store. It cranked for about 0.2 seconds and then nothing. Tried cranking again and just a loud click, sounds like the bendix is doing it's thing, but either the engine is hydrolocked, starter dead or my battery connections suck. Going to follow the guy in my avatar's lead by checking simple things first. I hope it's simple..

[gadget73]

The cheat for using an ultrasonic with flammable stuff is you put the flammable crap in a bag or other suitable container with the object to be cleaned and drop that in the water. So long as its sealed all is fine, and if its not sealed there shouldn't be enough flammable stuff to cause a problem anyway.

[DerekTheGreat]

I didn't think of that, but did wonder how the hell BG44 was going to spontaneously combust. My brain cramped for a second while pondering that and then I just plopped the sonicator on the shelf & went to work on the truck.

What do you guys think about those compression numbers? Are we all in agreement that would cause it to run a little rough?

Check out the plugs. No more than five miles and two hours of run time on 'em.

[Tiggie]

130-140 psi would still run okay in my experience. I had a worn 302 in the Rustang when I got it and it was between 110-120psi. It ran smooth, didn't smoke out the tailpipe, but did have a lot of blow by.

[gadget73]

wonder if the 170 cylinder had some oil in it for some reason


For me the container under water thing is partly about asplosion hazards but more because I'm cheap. My ultrasonic holds a gallon and a half, and I'm not paying for that much injector cleaner juice that will need to be thrown away afterward. Also I use it for record cleaning, and I'm not interested in having nasty solvents in it.