UPDATE: It RUNS! 87 mustang & 88 Tbird Turbo swap

[blueflameford]

Man o' man.... I am so happy I found this place.

Whew... Great site & Job well done Matt.

We have a 1987 2.3NA Mustang race car (5 speed).

(no lights, no dash, no doo-dads etc) Just a stripped out 2.3na race car.

BUT...


We bought a 1988 TBird Turbo Coupe (5 speed) and have decided to swap in the 2.3 turbo engine into our 1987 2.3 na Mustang.

So, when we stripped the Tbird, we pulled the entire wiring harness & loom out of the Tbird very carefully, took out the computer brain LA3 & then removed the engine & tranny.

Now... We have 5,000,000 miles of this giant Tbird wiring harness spread all over the garage floor. We don't even remotely know what it is that we need to get the new engine running & stay running.

EDIT: Sooooo.... using the advice given on this forum:
We decided to keep the existing 2.3 NA Mustang wiring loom/wiring harness & do the 4 pin swap thinggy.

since it's a dedicated race car, we don't need emissions, power windows, dome lights, stereo & the other bajillion connectors on this huge glob of wires.

what exactly does the 2.3 turbo need to fire up and stay running? Or... Does someone already build simplified harnesses for applications like these? Or for dune buggies and Rails?


Help...

[FRANK/TurboTempo]

Yes but its 450$ USD not cheap but its new and will do engine only.

here is a link.

www.thedetailzone.com/ford%20replacement%20harnesses.htm

scrool a bit you will see it.

Not too happy your taking a Tc apart . I took my engine at the salvage yard .
just take good care of it and make us proud

[blueflameford]

thanks mate!

We gave the donar car (tbird turbo coupe) to a well deserving ford fanatic (bobs fords) here in portland OR,

they have quite a few tbird tc there too. I actually enjoyed that car.

thanks for the link. that loom is pretty spendy & it'd knock us out of our class at that spec & cost. I guess we'll just have to find a schematic and start hackin away

[Stinger]

Does your 87 Mustang still have the factory harness in it? If so, the swap will be extremely easy as there are only 4 wires different for the engine. See our 87-90 turbo swap page for a step by step guide.

If you don't have the factory 87 Mustang harness, I'd suggest not using the 87 TC harness as it's got 10 times more "crap" built into it than the earlier harnesses. I'd pick up an 83-86 TC engine/ecu harness or an 87-90 Mustang engine/ecu harness and your 98% done.

[oneowner88lx]

If you want to see a post turbo swap wiring diagram go the following link, click on 85 How Tos, scroll down, then click on 2.3T Swap and there is a link in there which shows all the wires. There is also a diagram of a stock 2.3NA wiring too so you can compare:

www.flemworld.com/

[merc460]

If you use the 87- 90 Mustang harness make sure you grab the vam plug from the 87 Tbird harness.

[blueflameford]

Thanks gang,
I'll print your great posts and take them to the shop on Monday. I want to show pics of our progress!!
Again,
Thank you

[blueflameford]

Jan 23, 2010 0:34:14 GMT -5 Stinger said:

Does your 87 Mustang still have the factory harness in it? If so, the swap will be extremely easy as there are only 4 wires different for the engine. See our 87-90 turbo swap page for a step by step guide..

Alright Ford guys... This will make you all extremely happy to hear:

So, we finally get the 2.3T installed into our 1987 Mustang. We use the pin relocating info and the VAM/ new LA3 computer swap tips from this site.

We hook up all of the relevant wires, plugs, add oil, water and finally reconnect the battery. Just for S&G's we decide to simply see if it will turn over (I doubted it would) but... Not only does it crank over, it FIRES RIGHT UP! Not only did it fire right up, it sounded in time, smooth and purrs like a kitten. Kid you not. All of us were like "NO WAY IN H#LL!?!?!?!" It started right up and ran.... for about 3 minutes. Then sputter sputter,,, gag.... and it died. We tried to fire it up but it just cranks and doesn't fire.


Welll anyway, we know it runs!

We are thinking that we either ran it out of fuel, or the computer somehow said it was hot & shut itself down?

Not sure... Any ideas?

[Stinger]

Probably just ran out of fuel. The computer won't shut it down for any safety reasons.

[oneowner88lx]

If it has gas pull codes and check fuel pressure. Make sure timing belt didn't slip too.

[blueflameford]

It's Alive!
I went on a fuel run this evening & added a few gallons of premium. Again, She fired right up but now kinda idles like crap and eventually dies after a minute or two. but she starts



So, I am curious now. I keep hearing "check codes" and "check fuel pressure" all over this forum. Well, since it's a all hacked up dedicated race car, I am unsure where to check for codes. Is there a test port somewhere in the harness? If so, I am fairly certain we chopped it out long ago. But, even if we still have it, is there a software provider or disc which we download into a laptop that you guys use?

Fuel pressure... It is the standard stock oem intank fuel pump. We were told this would be adequate for our simple stock 2.3 turbo requirements (no added HP or boost etc).



Guys...? [crickets.....]


Thank you all for your input

[Stinger]

You use a $20 EEC-IV code scanner and plug it into the harness (test port was behind the driver's side strut tower). If you cut the test port out, I'd suggest putting it back as it's a vital part of diagnosis.

Fuel pressure is controlled by the regulator, not the fuel pump. Checking fuel pressure just verifies the regulator is working correctly (test at idle or key on engine off), and if used when under wide open throttle, it can verify whether the pump is large enough to supply the required fuel (pressure doesn't taper off at high rpm).

It shutting off after a few minutes is a bit odd but without more info it's very hard to diagnose. When it shuts off does it start back up? If so, how long does it run then? If not, does it have spark after it dies?

[blueflameford]

Rechecked the "4 pins" and checked ground for pin 49 as o2 ground. Resnugged everything. Hopped in, fired up, runs excellent! Did a few speed laps: unbelievable!!!!

To be safe we bought the EEC IV (lob1) ? Code puller thing from napa. We initiated the pretest set up, engine off ignition on stuff. But once we hit the "test" button the black square and triangle appear but then it just sits there. Doent pull anything. We did the ground jumper wire too.... Hmmmm although it runs great, I'd sure like to verify this and have code 11 to proove it! Ha!


Thanks guys .

[oneowner88lx]

Here is a link if you get no codes:

www.fordfuelinjection.com/?p=44