Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O.

Topic: Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O. (Read 6358 times) previous topic - next topic

Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O.

October 05, 2017, 02:27:49 PM

Hey guys/gals, I'm needing some info on an engine I have. I bought a 30,000 mile donor engine/AOD from a wrecked 1992 Thunderbird to swap into my Ford Ranger. Please don't give me too much grief. The car was being parted by a professional wrecking yard. No saving it.. AND the Ranger thing is the hotrod that me and my uncle always wanted to build together. He's no longer with us..

Is this engine SEFI or batch injected?

This IS an MAF system, correct? That's the only part of my donor that seems to be missing..

I'm currently looking into aftermarket standalone efi wiring harnesses to help with my install and I need to know the injection type. Most harnesses are built for batch fire it seems. Those harnesses also seem to be built only for the distributor mounted TFI, which sucks, because mine is a remote mounted TFI.

I have the entire engine harness, and the ECM harness along with the Thunderbird X2P ECM. To use the aftermarket harnesses, it sounds like I can only use Mustang ECM's. Not much info out there on the Thunderbird X2P ECM or if it's a close equivalent to the Fox A9L, etc... I'd convert the harness myself but I'm not that good with harness conversion work and it seems pretty daunting to me.

Any words of wisdom for a T-Bird 5.0 newb?

GB :)

Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O.

Reply #1 – October 05, 2017, 10:59:00 PM

92 Thunderbird 5.0 is MAF but the engine itself is the same as any 87 to 95 5.0 HO. It'll run fine on speed density or MAF.

All passenger car 5.0s from 86 to 95 are SEFI.

Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O.

Reply #2 – October 06, 2017, 01:52:44 PM

Painless makes a harness for the Windsor 5.0 injected motor like you have. Being that you will not be integrating it into the body harness like most folks so when swapping over to a 5.0 in the Fox cars this would be your best bet.

http://www.painlessperformance.com/webcatalog/fefi

Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O.

Reply #3 – October 06, 2017, 02:00:46 PM

I've looked into the Painless harness. I'd still have to buy an ecm from a mustang, and change the distributor to one with the tfi on it. I could be mistaken here but i called them about it and i seem to remember them saying their harness was only for batch injection. Not sequential. Oh we looked at so many harnesses I'm starting to confuse myself. Lol

Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O.

Reply #4 – October 06, 2017, 02:04:30 PM

Another concern is that i want to add a/c to this truck. So i have to pick a harness that still allows the ecm to shut the compressor off during wot.

Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O.

Reply #5 – October 06, 2017, 02:13:54 PM

If I was to create another thread on modifying my factory Thunderbird harness to work as a standalone, using the Thunderbird ECM, would any of you guys/gals be interested in helping me along the way with all of the stupid questions I'll have??

GB :)

Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O.

Reply #6 – October 06, 2017, 03:33:47 PM

I have wired up two of the Painless harnesses to A9L's and I'll be ed if they did' just work flawlessly. These were 5.0 MAF motors out of Fox Mustangs into other cars for road racing. The TFI on the dizzy is a moot point. Google remote TFI conversion and Fox Mustang.

Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O.

Reply #7 – October 06, 2017, 03:47:04 PM

I have the remote mount tfi but all aftermarket harnesses were built for distributor mounted tfi. I'll have to Google it some more when i get home, but from what I've seen so far getting a distributor with the tfi on it will be the easiest route for me.

Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O.

Reply #8 – October 06, 2017, 04:43:10 PM

So there are several threads on utilizing a remote mount TFI on the Fox 5.0 motor especially when road racing. This helps alleviate the flawed design of the dizzy mounted TFI as it is susceptible to overhearing. I did this on my buddy's NASA AI car with a Painless harness.

Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O.

Reply #9 – October 06, 2017, 06:21:41 PM

Get a EVTM for BOTH vehicles, then look at the wiring diagrams and harness' till you are familiar with both... This is not a 30 min project, if it takes a couple weeks then that what's required... Will save you at least $500, $600, $700 or more for a aftermarket harness...

When I got ready to install the 5.0 in my Turbo Coupe, first thing I did was disconnect everything possible in the donor car.. I got it down till only the grounds remained and computer relay could be powered from a jumper wire connected to battery(you'll be a bit disadvantaged in thi area as you don't have a car)... All I had to do was connect power to computer relay, then jump across solenoid to start the engine... I figured if I couldn't figure out how to connect the 5.0 harness into the Turbo Coupe, at least I could start the engine after swap... All in all turned out to be fairly easy, mostly just matching wiring color for color(most of the circuits have used same colors since the '60s)...

In '99 I was told "we don't reccomend trying the 5.0 swap on a Turbo Coupe"(I think that was Painless)... All that did was piss me off, at that point I was going to swap it no matter what...

Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O.

Reply #10 – October 07, 2017, 02:30:47 AM

Not only that, outside of emissions which you probably won't want/need, there really isnt much that needs to be hooked up.

Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O.

Reply #11 – October 11, 2017, 12:49:14 PM

As of today, I do plan on reworking the factory TB harness to work in my truck. My truck had an ecm in it originally, so wiring up power to the harness should have the same protections built-in as the original truck harness would. All factory wired through the fuse box. I already have both EVTM's and a Ranger 5.0 swap book as well.

I've already removed the air pump, and the piping across the back of the heads. Plugged the holes in the heads too. The EGR valve has been removed and a homemade cover plate installed. There were no coolant lines to deal with in my case. I also picked up a belt to run the engine accessories and bypass the smog pump.

I'm sure I'll have lots more questions along the way.

Thanks everyone for the info so far.

GB :)

Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O.

Reply #12 – October 20, 2017, 09:10:32 PM

Hey all, another quick question for you if you don't mind. So far, from what Google has shown me, my problem is normal and nothing to worry about.

On the 1992 5.0 power steering pump, the hard line can still rotate freely after tightening the fitting. It doesn't seem like it'll seal but I've read it somehow seals under pressure?

Any thoughts? Anything to look out for? There was no plastic ring on the factory threaded fitting (pump end) like the other end of the line had. Am I stuck with buying another line that has the plastic ring on it? I sure hope not because I already built my custom line from this factory one, and those are expensive to build. The ring seems far too thin to actually seal much anyway...?

GB :)

Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O.

Reply #13 – October 21, 2017, 09:01:00 PM

I picked up a new "teflon" sealing ring today for the high pressure line where it threads into the pump. Although I figure it'll make the pressure line spin/rotate even easier. I'm saving it for final assembly.

GB:)

Need info on a 92 Thunderbird 5.0 H.O.

Reply #14 – October 22, 2017, 12:09:55 PM

The two lines on the rack rotate and the one on the high side of the pump will rotate after they have been tightened. You will need to put the teflon ring in hot water and then run it down a tapered punch to get it to expand far enough to get on the line. Once it cools it will shrink back down. I replace these any time I remove the lines. You can find them in the help section at the auto parts stores.