So I've gone through just about every thread on here thats related to the 4.9l and I'm having trouble finding the information that I'm in need of, Decided it's time I join the Forum, I own a 1977 Bronco and most recently a 1987 Bronco, I had a wreaked 1996 F-150 Eddie Bauer 4x2 that I bought from a guy for $300, It had 301k miles, frame damage and all the gear syncros were going bad in the Mazda 5 speed, I drove it home 45 miles regardless and it ran like a champ, The previous owner really loved and cared about the truck, It was amazingly clean considering the mileage and year, The guy I bought it from however never did anything with it, It was his bosses old truck, He couldn't figure out how to even open the hood or get in the truck with the keyless entry because of dead battery (slider windows are easily popped open), The starter ended up being bad so I tow started it down the main road.

Anyways though, My plan was to part the truck out which I did, The guy I bought it from said he just had the 4.9 rebuilt and I believe it, All new top end gaskets, New alt, New smog pump, radiator, etc etc, Well a 1987 Bronco had been on craigslist forever, 4" superlift, Rock sliders, Bumper, 33"s (even though 2 were completly shot from the Split I-beam front end) Came with subs and a stereo, hilift jack, CB radio, Off road lights etc, Well he said it had a cracked block and ended up sitting for 4 years, He originally wanted $1500, I got it for $700. The only reason I bought the truck was because it had the 4.9l as well, as a freshly rebuilt E4OD.

My plans are to put the 1996 4.9l into the 1987. Since the 1996 was a Manual I quickly lost the option of swapping the entire system over with ECU etc. Just from quick inspections of both engines side by side the differences I noticed were mainly the throttle body and sensors, The EGR set up and the exhaust manifolds, So I took all that top end gear off the 1987 with intent to pretty much put all of this on the 1996 block and head.

My main concern from what I've found on the forum is the Dist. is coil is all mounted on the 1996 block, vs the 1987 the coil was mounted on the fender well. Can I maintain the coil on the 1996 block and plug it into where it goes into the fender well mounted coil on the 1987 or is it different?

I also noticed that the vaccum lines going into the vaccum reserve are different, I took the new style one off the 1996 to replace the "coffee can" style from the 1987, There was a another assembly on the 1996 just behind the Vaccum reserve, looks like part of the smog pump set up, There's one in the 1987 but it is different.

I guess I need a little bit of help, Some of the electrical looks different and I'd like to redo some of it just because Some got cut removing the 4.9l out of the 1987, I will need to redo all the plumbing, Vaccum, coolant, fuel lines were cut ( but I removed them from the 1996 all the way past the fuel filter and cut them just past the fuel filter), The EGR set up on the 1996 is plumbed differently as well it appears.

Once I get this engine roughly back in the truck (mounted and hooked up to the TC, cooling system and fuel hooked up, I'll be playing the guessing game past that, I've downloaded both wiring diagrams for both trucks so I may be able to trouble shoot most of that, But I'd like some help with Emissions equipment, vaccum and ignition stuff after that. Any one willing to walk me through some stuff I could greatly appreciate it!

Thanks Everyone, Hope to get this beast back on the road again than I can get back to my 1977 restro

Eric

 

I just realized it said I need to be a member for 10 days and make 5 posts, I apologize for not noticing this, I've been on this site for well over 40 hours reading and researching. I will begin to interact.

Thank you

 

Bottom line is you cannot use any of the OBD2 equipment from the '96, that includes all the wiring, the EGR system, and the smog system. Best course of action is to strip it to the bare longblock and install all the '87 EFI components if that is possible.. not sure if there are any differences with the older intake that would prevent that.. if there is then you will have to use the '96 intake but that should not be a hugh deal. Best to use the '87 distributor too so that you don't have to hack the wiring, it is possible to convert to the later remote TFI setup but you want to minimize changes until you get the engine in and running and then decide if it's really worth the trouble to change the ignition system around. Are the factory cats still present on the '87? If not then you can safely delete the whole smog system including the air pump and all valves and tubing connected to it. Only parts that must remain are the TAB and TAD solenoids. The EGR should remain or you will get check engine codes.

 

Excellent info, Thank you, The only reason I wanted to keep the dist on the 1996 is so I wouldn't have to re-time it. I have everything off the 87 as far as smog and all that goes, Would the smog pump on the 96 be different as well? I noticed the intake was smaller on the 96 than it was on the 87, the cavity that says "Electronic Fuel Injection" is not as tall at the 87, I doubt its relevant to the swap, just noticed that if Ford changed little things like that between 87 to 96 that there was going to be more significant changes as well. Someone really hacked the wiring up in the 87, glued the connector to the dist and rewired it all black wire, I had to cut it to get it out, but i'll be able to trouble shoot all that via the wiring diagram, Do you think I may be better off replacing most of the engine harness, or just clean it up and figure out which ones are which? Looks as if all the bolts from the intake/exhaust manifolds on the head of the 1996 are the same, I'll get to swapping parts over and keep you updated on status and future questions I may have.

Thanks again for the reply

 

Ideally if you could find another '87 engine harness you would be better off, the '96 harness is totally different so it won't be any good to you except for parts... which might be enough of you're good with wiring.

Removing the distributor is no big issue either, before pulling it rotate the crank to TDC on the compression stroke on #1 cyl so the crank pointer lines up, remove the cap and note the position of the base with respect to the rotor button, and then swap distributors so that the base lines up the same when fully inserted. The rotor button is keyed so it can only go in 1 way.

 

Sounds easy enough, I've always done it the hard way and pulled them and re-timed it afterwards, I appreciate the tip, I'm 22 and have had my '77 since I was 14, bought it to fix up and drive at 16 with lawn mowing/snow shoveling money. Unfortunately I was caught driving it at 15 with no permit and they suspended my driving privileges til 18 . Gave me plenty of time to tinker on stuff though. Any tips on mating the engine back to the trans when I go to drop it back in? I don't have a tranny jack, Luckily the truck sits hight enough I could use my motorcycle jack and blocks of wood to support it, I've always pulled the trans with the engine though, this will be the first time I'm mating a block up the trans while still in the vehicle.