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Messages - marianadeeps

1
Electrical Tech / MSD ignition box......now no tach....
This is an interesting thread.  I was just wondering if anyone had installed a fully electronic ignition in our birds.  Rip out the dizzy and plug the hole?  It would be sweet to just dial in timing on the fly.  Not sure if there are other advantages worth the money i.e. performance.
2
Engine Tech / A9p, a9l, a9m?
Quote from: jcassity;465775
you said something................

"ie- no fuel shut off signal"


are you saying as you typed "the fuel pump remains running while KOEO?
-if yes...........

someone by accident or by trial and error was either ...
A- injecting 12vdc on the tan light green wire at the
...1- Self test diagnostic connector
...2- Fuel pump relay in the trunk passenger side near the hinge 

which means pin 22 on the eec,, that circuit on the board is fubar.  (see my diy link and look into the EVTM,, like 87evtm around page 54 or 55.


it is very easy to inject 12v on the tan light green wire if while pulling codes the instructions on how to do so were not clear to the person doing the test....
or...
while in the trunk trying to force the fuel pump to run by jumpering around the fuel pump relay.

you can yourself open the eec and trace the run on pin 22 as far as you can till you might find a blown run perhaps?

if the ebay repair guys are not actually testing for this possibility then they may not find the issue.
they may have a few levels of diag tests and did a quick test on your eec.

in theory this is not a problem the general public should ever have  so its not really a common fault.  its people like us here who generally have this problem because we are technically confident but pr0ne to making simple mistakes with broader odd ball outcomes generating problems rarely seen.


THe eec uses the tan light such that the eec supplies the "ground signal" reference for fuel pump relay coil.

i have never studied if adding a diode to the tan light green at the eec would help prevent the problems associated with back feeding 12v battery or not.



Could be a blown run.  I didn't see anything on the top side of the board but maybe some issue on the bottom.  Who knows what they test for.
3
Engine Tech / A9p, a9l, a9m?
Quick update on this thread.  I had been chasing down hesitation under load and a backfiring issue when my A9P went out.  After changing out the caps, it still wouldn't function properly at key on/engine off i.e. no fuel shutoff signal.  I also was getting no spark but that turned out to be my TFI that died after three months.    I sent the A9P out to a repair shop on ebay where they won't charge you if it can't be repaired.  In the meantime I bought a refurbished dizzy and new TFI.  I also bought another A9P off CL to have as a backup in case mine couldn't be repaired.  The shop sent mine back and said it was fixed.  I put the new TFI, dizzy and computer in and it started up but it still had hesitation/back firing issues.  So I tried the A9M from the junkyard  -- lo and behold, started up and no hesitation or back firing.  I had been working on this problem for six months trying different sensors etc... until my TFI died.    Just for grins,  I took the A9M out and put in the other A9P I bought from CL.  It's never run better.  It might be my imagination but the A9P performed better than the A9M -- at least for my car.  No hesitation, no back firing just strong, smooth acceleration. 

Learnings:
My 'repaired' A9P must still have a problem -- the same problem it had before the TFI died and it went into LOS.  The A9M works, but not as well as a working A9P.  There probably was nothing wrong with my old dizzy (I was thinking it was the Hall effect sensor) so I'll keep the old one as a spare. 

Hopefully all these gyrations will help others on the forum.  It's been a frustrating journey.  My thanks to all who chimed in.
4
Engine Tech / A9p, a9l, a9m?
Quote from: ThunderbirdSport302;465746
I can tell you right now that the EEC doesn't give a flying fart whether the car has a roof or not...

The O2 sensor wiring is another thing, but as stated, doesn't really apply to a (stock equipped) 5.0 Tbird.

(because they only ever came with an AOD).

On MY Sport, once I did the HO and T5 swap, I used an SD1 EEC, thing ran like a taliban with a squad of SEALS shootin at his ass. Or, in other words, as hard as it could.

On my current car (stang, in signature below) I've changed some things around with an eye to a procharger install later this year. Probably going to use current engine, but I'm prepping a block for a complete and blower friendly build. Lowered compression, etc. It's also got more displacement than a 5.0.. ;)


My understanding from reading the Mustang forums is that the convertibles were lighter so the A9M has just slightly different tables than the A9L -- probably nothing you could detect.    You're project sounds like a lot of work but very cool.  I'm probably going to buy a crate engine when my finally gives up (might be sooner than later).
5
Engine Tech / A9p, a9l, a9m?
Interesting.  I'm troubleshooting another problem right now that seems to point to my TFI or dizzy.  Once I figure that out,  I'll swap out my A9P for the A9M and see if I can notice any difference.  Good to know that some folks are using an A9L with an AOD without issues.
6
Engine Tech / A9p, a9l, a9m?
Went the junkyard today and found an '89 Mustang that still had the computer in it -- turns out they had just put the car in the lot yesterday.  I have an AOD and this was a manual Mustang.  The ECU was an A9M.  Scanning the Mustang forums I found one article that says that an A9M was for manual convertibles while the A9L is for notch and hatch.    Not sure why convertibles would need to be any different.  Apparently there is very little difference between the two.    So my question is, can I use this A9M for my bird with an AOD?  On the Mustang forums, it says that the mustang O2 harnesses are different (manual vs AOD) and you'll fry your O2 signal rtn if you do that.  Is that also a problem on our cars?
7
Engine Tech / Engine died on freeway -- ECU?
quick update.  opened up the ECU.  sure enough the positive lead on one capacitor had disintegrated and the other lead wasn't much better.  The other two caps looked ok.
I replace the bad one only but it didn't fix the issue.  Maybe the other capacitors are bad but just not showing any signs.  I think what I need to do at this point is get another A9P and make sure that it fixes my problem.  Then I'll replace the other two caps and see if I have a working spare.
9
Engine Tech / Engine died on freeway -- ECU?
Quote from: Haystack;465292
I'd run through an ego no start, it shows you the proper grounding points for the computer and all the sensors. The grounding pins to the computer are 20 40 and 60. If you verify all the grounds are correct, you can check for a blown cap (what usually fails) by applying a ground to any or all of those pins. If you can get the computer to work again that way, then its time to pull the computer out and go over it real well

Hopefully its just a bad ground or connection.

http://sbftech.com/index.php?topic=588.0


thanks Haystack.  I didn't know what you meant by blown cap until I stumbled on this:  http://support.moates.net/capacitor-repair-ford-a9l-ecm/

Coincidentally,  I had been using a bunch of those cheapo battery tenders on my other vehicles and after a year or two they started to fail.  I ended up replacing the 'caps' in the failed ones and they work fine again.  It's definitely worth a try with the ECU -- better than paying $350 for another one unless I have to.
10
Engine Tech / Engine died on freeway -- ECU?
Background -- the engine was hesitating a bit the last couple of months (I was trying different things to troubleshoot) usually when warmed up and under load i.e. accelerating from low rpms.  It always runs well on the freeway.  Today it just died all of sudden while driving 70 mph on the freeway.  I thought maybe it was my fuel pump because when I turn the key to run, the fuel pump just runs continuously.  When I got it home, I checked the schrader valve while the pump was running and gas came spraying out.  Pulling codes no longer works when connecting the proper jumper and the car will not start.    I found this comment on the forum that does describe my situation (except my car won't run at all).  Does this mean my ECU (A9P) is blown?  Is there a way to get it out of LOS?  Thanks in advance!

You said the pump runs continuously when you try to pull codes.
Does it also run continuously with the ignition in RUN without the STI grounded?
It should shut off after a second or two when the EEC senses that the engine is not running.
The pump running continuously can mean the software in the EEC is not running and the EEC has gone into a hardware only mode called LOS (Limited Output Strategy)
This means the EEC cannot look at any of the input sensors. The TFI goes to base timing (just like the SPOUT being unplugged) and the injectors are pulsed at a fixed pulse with.
It is supposed to be able to run like this to 'Limp Home" but not very well. It will run rich at low RPM. Does it smell like it's flooding?
11
Engine Tech / Bad lifter?
no doubt.  but I guess the rattle is still a mystery.  I'll crack it open again and readjust.  Thanks for the advice.
12
Engine Tech / Bad lifter?
Quote from: Haystack;463662
Is this the car with scorpion rockers and tw 170's?

How was the pushrod measured and how did you set the valve lash the first time?


Right at zero lash and just a tad tighter (maybe 1/8 of a turn).  Yeah same car.
13
Engine Tech / Bad lifter?
I had a small rattling noise under my valve cover (driver side by the firewall).  I though the exhaust or intake rocker arm could probably stand some adjustment.  After I had gotten the intake valve up all the way, I was able to move the push rod slightly up and down so that it clicked.  I adjusted the rocker arm for zero lash, tightened the locking screw.  Just after doing that, found that I could still move the the push rod up and down the same as before.  I adjusted again and tightened.  Same thing again.  I could move the the push rod slightly.  I ended up doing that 5 or 6 times.  Then moved on to the exhaust rocker arm.  That had less play but I tightened up anyway.  Checked some of the others but none had any play like that one.  I buttoned up the valve cover and replaced the intake etc....    Started the car and it idled much rougher than before.  I can still here the small rattling noise just has it had been before I adjusted it. 
Do you think the lifter is bad and I just tightened the rocker arm too much causing the valve to stay open or something?  The car has 160K on it and I never changed out the original lifters although the rest of the valve train has only 30K on it.  I did notice that when I twisted the push rod around (like they tell you to do when adjusting the lash), it would get stiff and then easy -- possibly slightly bent?  The push rods are relatively new and the hardened type.    I'm kicking myself for not changing out the lifters when I had it all apart installing the heads!    Anyone have any experience with this?
14
Engine Tech / zero oil pressure scare
Update:  It happened again yesterday morning but my buttstuffog gauge was reading correct oil pressure.  I think in my shock the first time it happened I must have been looking at water temp instead of oil pressure -- it was dark in the garage.  It must be as Haystack and Foe said,  just a bad sender -- at least I hope so.  I will be taking off the valve covers soon (got to adjust the lash on one rocker) so I'll follow jcasity's advice and check the oil on the rockers.  Thanks again.
15
Engine Tech / zero oil pressure scare
Thanks guys.  I'd plugged the pan sensor long ago because it kept leaking oil (went through three of them from the junk yard too).  The engine sensor is also connected via a 'T' to my buttstuffog oil pressure gauge that also read zero.  My buttstuffog gauge is an electrically sensed gauge not a oil tube pressure gauge.  That makes me a bit more suspicious but I'll change it out anyway.