5.0 swap no fuel

January 22, 2013, 03:10:19 PM

I know ive seen it somewhere but cant find it now. Finished the wiring in the 88 tc and no power to the pump. I remember reading a while back that the tc fuel relay is different than a 5.0. I have been looking all day to find what i need to do to get this fixed. Any help or links?

5.0 swap no fuel

Reply #1 – January 22, 2013, 03:11:38 PM

Should have posted. Its an 88tc with a 87-88 eec and harness.

5.0 swap no fuel

Reply #2 – January 22, 2013, 11:29:57 PM

You need to cut in a new fuel pump relay.

5.0 swap no fuel

Reply #3 – January 22, 2013, 11:32:43 PM

Grey connector plugs into your harness then find the pink w/black stripe wire that powers your pump and splice it into the relay.

5.0 swap no fuel

Reply #4 – January 23, 2013, 05:11:40 AM

Great i knew someone had this issue. I read it before just couldnt remember

5.0 swap no fuel

Reply #5 – January 23, 2013, 05:12:29 AM

The grey connector is pass side by eec?

5.0 swap no fuel

Reply #6 – January 23, 2013, 12:13:21 PM

Wright Up By Dominator
Hey 88tc i've been waiting for a thread like this to share my knowledge with someone,i just did this to my black 87 TC and ran into a few problems that no one could provide answers for even turbocoupe50(no offense to tc50 but he did his swap many years ago and forgot some stuff).
Let's start with the obvious
5.0HO engine complete
Trans, your choice of auto or stick(i did the auto as my car was an auto).
87-88 5.0l tbird drive shaft, 7.5 or 8.8 rear does not matter either will fit
Mustang 5.0HO computer.
Now for the not so obvious.
87-88 tbird 5.0 fuel lines to the fuel filter.The rear lines from the tank to the filter are the same so you can keep those.
Dual hump trans cross member out of 5.0 bird or mustang.
Trans cross member bolts,unique tc dose not have these.
Motor mounts for 5.0 tbird,must be for a bird,mustang won't work.
5.0l evap canister for fuel tank vapors,tc ones are different.
You can use your TC rad as long as it's in good shape.
If your going to run A/C you'll need the reciever dryer at the firewall and the 2 lines that go from the dryer to the to the conderser in the front,your evap core in the dash and tc condensor out front can be reused.
Engine harness from the computer from an 87-88 5.0l tbird(the mustang harness is totally different and a nightmare,don't even bother with it,it must be bird or cougar)
Injector harness on engine(this can be bird or stang,doesn't matter)
5.0l fan and shroud
5.0l air box,mounting studs and air inlet tubes.
Tad and tab sensors from pass rea side of strut tower(these control egr and thermactor air opening/closing)
Vac balls and lines from inside pass fenderwell under splash shield.
your baro sensor will work as a map on the 5.0l(sensor #s are the same for 4 or 8 cyl, i checked).
Reuse the TC vac tree.
All rad/heater hoses for 5.0l mustang or bird.
coolant overflow tank for bird or stang
Ign coil is the same so it can be reused
Batt mount is also the same
Mustang or LSC exauste H-PIPE and intermediates(these have to be made to fit,for the rear exaste after the h-pipe it's best to go custom and get one built,there is no direct fit for this,not true duals anyways).
For the shifter it depends stick or auto,if auto you need a 5.0l bird or cougar floor shifter(impossible to find)I went with a mustang one and i had to modify it severly to fit,used the TC leather handle and bezel though.
If stick,well i'm not sure as i don't have one.
5.0l throttle and cruise cables,tc won't work.
Aod tv pressure cable if going auto.
Thermactor air pipe from a stang for the h-pipe.
Fuel pump wiring harness from the computer to the rear form an 87-88 bird or cougar,with relay(TC's don't have these wires as the relays for the fuel pump and fans are in a box on the pass strut tower and you will be removing them).
5.0l o2 sensors(the sensor wires may need to be extended,mine did)
Your abs and ride control will stay intact without any mods if you don't touch there harnesses.The eng harness and the abs/ ridecontrol harness run into the firewall together and must be seperated at this point,i cut the rubber groment and some factorry tape and that seperated the harnesses, you can now pull the eng harness out of the dash into the eng bay leaving the abs and ride control intact,forgot to mention there is a gray rectangle connector under the dash/carpet near the firewall pass side that must be disconnected before removal of the eng harness.It is not used for the 5.0l it's just a bunch of computer sense wires for the 4 banger.
The only loss you'll have is that the riude control will not sense hard accel and braking and automatically switch to firm,(irrelevant really as i like firm ride anyways,and the auto mode acts as soft like in the SC t-bird)
Wheh that's alot of writing,forgot how much work it was
Now comes the fun part,the wiring!
All the wiring from the computer to eng is plug and play
On the drs side there is 2 connectors that go to the dash,one gray and one black, both 8 pin connectors.
These control all the gauges a/c,ign switch,etc
The connectors are the same on the 5.0l bird/cougar harness but some wires are in the right spot and some are in the wrong spot.
This is preey easy just remove the red pin hold downs in the eng harness connectors and change the pins around to match color code for color code.
You will be left with 3 poss 4 wires that don't match the connector colors on the eng harness(don't worry about open pins in the connectors coming from the dash,they where for things such as turbo overboost and such)
The colors of the wires you'll be left with are

Black-A/C clutch ground(cut the pin off,install an eyelet and ground it tothe wiper ground bolt,without this the A/C clutch won't come on)worked for me.

GreenPuple-A/C low pressure cut out switch(this one's tricky,the original a/c compressor was on the pass side(5.0drs side) so stranglely enough you will find the car's greenpurple wire in a grey 4 pin connector near the pass headlamp assy.What i did here was cut the greenpurple at the switch and soldered in a new wire and ran it down the pass side to the grey 4 pin,then i stole the connector from my 4 banger harness and inserted the pin and soldered it.
GreyYellow-o2 sensor heaterwire,i have yet to really connect this wire.It's supposed to go to the greyyellow in the grey rectangular
connector i spoke of in the begining but any switched 12v source will do(mines connect to the hot in run wiper motor wire.

RedGreen i think,not necessary

trans will have extra wiring if you have an auto,as the A4LD was electronic and the Aod is hydraulic,But speed sensor and neautral safety switch plug right in.

Fuel pump wiring is a different story it must be cut and spliced at the rear color for color and the pinkblack must be looped(this is the only part i'm not 100% on,can't remember how we got mine to work)
Now if all was done according to plan iot should fire pretty quickly if not check for fuel,that was my first problem.
If it fires SWEET!
The next few months will be spent working out the bugs,believe me.
Once everything is rightthough you'll enjoy it alot more than the 4 banger,even with a setting of 18psi boost like i had.
The fastest guy on turbocoupe.org is the moderator glenn88tc and even he is only running a 12.5 quarter.
With all the money he spent (and it's alot) he could be going 11s with a 5.0l and it would be 100 times more reliable, (no blown head gasket etc).
Don't get me wrong i love ford's and i think the 2.3l turbo is an awsome engine for what it is( a 4 banger on steroids),but the 5.0l is much more reliable and way easier and cheaper to add performance to.
Anyway's i hope this helps anybody and everybody that wants to do this swap, i took me 3 days of 12 hour days to get it in and running and i'm a liscensed tech,with all the necessary tools+ i had an 88 5.0l doner t-bird that already had all the parts pulled(by me).
This swap is very time consuming and can have you cursing and swearing, but it's worth the pain.
There's nothing like mashing the gas and eating every little ricer you come upon.

5.0 swap no fuel

Reply #7 – January 23, 2013, 09:08:52 PM

Great info, but now should i get the sport harness or can i use the stang one? I get both answers on which to do. Im looking for the easiest and the best. Im not scared of the wiring but time is an issue

5.0 swap no fuel

Reply #8 – January 23, 2013, 09:11:55 PM

If so, who can find me an 88sport harness cuz im striking out.

5.0 swap no fuel

Reply #9 – January 23, 2013, 10:45:40 PM

salvage yards....I think there are some minor difference between 87 and '88 years though I can't be sure as I've only ever had 1988 cars to play with.

Ive read the connectors are different, but i'd imagine you could pull the matching connector from the donor car and repin your existing wiring into that if there IS a difference. Take your time, do one wire at a time so as not to eff things up. And a EVTM is mandatory, if nothing else, pull the pages up on a laptop or tablet, and take out to the car with you. Beats running back and forth 50 times, unless your shop is a lot closer to your house than mine is lol,

5.0 swap no fuel

Reply #10 – January 23, 2013, 11:00:12 PM

The 88 is the one you want its connectors match up with the tc for all of the wiring going to the dash and ignition you just have to move a few of the pins around

5.0 swap no fuel

Reply #11 – January 24, 2013, 06:02:33 AM

I understand that you are/were stuck, but seriously, why all the thread bombing? You've got, what, 3; 4 threads asking for help on this problem?

5.0 swap no fuel

Reply #12 – February 01, 2013, 10:32:55 AM

Cannot find an 88 harness, going to go with the stang one. I am still confused on fuel pump. I got ignition to work, and i understand that the relay needs to be added, but is there an additional harness used for the fuel that a tc doesnt have? Or can i splice the relay in at the rear. Is the connector behind the rear seat?

5.0 swap no fuel

Reply #13 – February 02, 2013, 08:04:16 AM

FOUND ONE!!!! YES!!! Was 280 shipped. Should be here next week. I did get the fuel relay in and working.