I did the swap by making my own pigtails out of the male connector of the 19# injectors. I sawed the connector off as far down as possible then soldered the newly purchased female connectors which are available everywhere. This made it so I didn't have to cut any wires or re-pin anything. The results were nill. No noticeable anything. I just had an excuse to practice my soldering.


I have sense solved the issues I was having with the truck. I was running colder plugs and higher octane fuel which I after researching thought was correct. I also ran timing advanced to 14*. I did all this figuring due to my compression ratio it was necessary turned out to be wrong. With the rich condition the colder plugs were fouling out at idle or under a load at low rpm's.

I then went with a hotter plug and updated the wires, cap, rotor, and Coil with MSD. I gaped the Autolite 3926 to .040. Prior to installing the new plugs I did another Compression check which the results were awesome. all eight cylinders ranged from 162 to 169 psi. I then brought the timing down to 12* and replaced the old O2 sensor figuring the system was going to need all the help it could get with trimming the 460 computer.

This made the engine run smoother and the acceleration is a lot quicker sooner(its still sluggish at take off but picks up really quick now). I have only put about 40 miles on it sense this change but I feel there is still more I can do to better hone this thing in. I am going to take a few trips to north Georgia soon and figured that would be plenty of time to let the computer do its thing.

89F2urd how long did it take your computer to make a noticeable difference in the fuel curve and fuel/air ratio?



I can hear a very faint inconsistent popping in the exhaust at idle. I held a piece of paper to the tail pipe and noticed when the pop happens the paper is pulled toward the tail pipe instead of being pushed away. I have had a burnt exhaust valve and this is no where near as violent plus with the compression test I figured thats not the problem. I read somewhere that an exhaust leak close to the engine could cause this if so I do believe my headers are working there way loose .



The other item on the book I wanted to tackle was the idle. now that I believe its the proper setup I am going to try and find the solution for the dreaded idle surge. I want to first find the proper Factory Idle reset/relearn process. I have tried several without success.

The symptoms are as follows:

The first crank of the day will always die. The truck will crank then fire within an acceptable time idle up to 1100rpm and drop to zero without even hesitating. This whole proccess takes 3 seconds from key turn to 1100rpm to dead.

The second crank is then normal with the idle going to 1100rpm then immediately dropping to 850rpm and then very slight surging +/-25rpm once warm and operating the idle will stay at 850rpm but still surge even less +/-10rpm

If I put a load on the engine while in park and idle 850rpm stable (ie.. A/C or turn the wheel) the engine will then start to surge violently dropping below 500rpm and going up as high as 1200rpm. If I give it throttle the engine will calm down for about twenty to thirty seconds then go back to surging.

If im at an idle and I put it in drive the idle drops to 750rpm and holds steady.

I replaced all the power steering lines as well as the A/C components. The new PS lines didn't come with the bung for the idle up switch for power steering load, so the idle dropping while turning I know what that is. The A/C is all brand new fully functional and holding a perfect charge so its not that.

It feels as if the engine is not controlling the idle with the IAC. The surging in idle under load continues even after I unplug the IAC what else is the computer controlling to rapidly adjust the idle? Could it be the ignition timing the Computer is adjusting under load?

I would like to get a direct answer for the correct way to set the idle screw back to factory settings if anyone has it on hand. I have looked and found at least three different ways and all of which some basic and some complex all failed.

Thank you all in advance and I am again grateful for this amazing resource.

 

You have a large vacuum leak, enough to keep it running at idle with no IAC

OR

you need to close the throttle blade some with the adjuster screw. I had to do this as well, except mine was the opposite....I had too little air passing by the blades but it was obvious that someone messed with my screw at some point so our conditions cannot be compared. Close the throttle blades so the IAC has to perform it's duty and see how that works.

Are you sure the ignition module from your donor computer is the same color as the one that is in your truck? I've run different colors, and they've always ran...just never run right.

Lastly, any codes?

 

No Vac leak just checked it again.

I closed the Throttle blades and with the IAC unplugged I started opening them until the motor would try really hard to stay running but eventually choke out. I then re-adjusted the TPS so that .981v at closed throttle. I then unplugged the battery and waited a good thirty minutes. I then plugged the IAC back in then the battery. She would crank and start then die instantly. I did this about three times until it finally picked up and idled steady @ 750(ish)rpm (about two minutes). I then ripped WOT and it dropped a little below idle and picked back up to 750rpm. I then slowly opened the throttle and back to steady idle. I let it sit and idle during which time it randomly started surging and a slight amount of smoke (blueish) came from the passenger tailpipe and when the surging stopped the smoke stopped. Is this unburnt fuel igniting in the exhaust pipe?
What would cause a plug that is 2 steps higher than average to not burn the fuel?

I am going to drive it around a lot for the next two days hopefully the ECM trims a lot of it out.

 

Blueish is usually oil. Black would be from running rich. Are you 100% sure your intake manifold gaskets are not leaking?

 

I purchased the Fel-Pro Performance oversized port Gaskets and cemented them in place prior to install. I then used LONG carb mount bolts as an install guide in the four center mound holes. I lused the lower intake to press the gaskets in place (Just snug not torqued). 10min later I removed the lower intake and double checked fit and trimmed intake gaskets. I then remounted the lower intake. I really doubt my intake is leaking

I was thinking along the lines of valve guides or seals. I don't see how being everything is practically new. The smoke only happens when the motor starts to choke out and surge.

I stopped by the ford performance shop down the road to pick a couple brains.A tuning tech there told me to upgrade the Throttle body to the BBK 61mm and then bring it in to be tuned and all my problems would go away. I was told in the mean time to drill a small hole in each throttle plate starting with 1/32 and slowly moving up until it starts running better. He believes the whole idle surge is due to the rich idle condition. Is this something anyone has done before?

 

I'm sorry, but those guys are not pointing you in the right direction. Don't buy anything, especially not a throttle body. I'm driving now, I'll elaborate later....just don't want you to spend money in the meantime uselessly.

If they will tune speed desity, that is a plus though....but with advice like the above, I'd be sure they know it's speed density at all.

 

Something else to note, idle is controlled by air....not fuel. Will it surge if fuel is introduced? Probably, but it's probably a result of the computer being confused.

You obviously have more issues. I've never had an idle problem and my idle afr lingers ~16.5-17.5. Rich? For idle, yes....fume me out? No. Idle surge? No, smooth as stock.

 

The blue smoke is definitely oil. I suspicion you have a fit up issue between the intake and the head. Could be caused by decking the block, heads, mixing different year block that has a lower deck height, etc. All the symptoms are consistent with a vacuum leak, and if the leak is on the bottom side of the intake gasket, it will suck in oil. Only other possible source for the oil to get in the intake and cause blue smoke is the PCV valve. If you don't have the baffle in the valve cover for it, it will pull a significant amount of oil in through the PCV valve/hose.

 

Can't rule out rings either. Just cuz it's new, doesn't mean they're good. Compression and leak down test will indicate that, OR, the easy way; pull oil cap and rev to see if there is a ton of blowby coming out.

 

Ok let's go over some stuff here....

I think you have a number of problems contributing to your issues, and/or you've lost a cylinder.

your hard start (shutoff and idle problems) sound like a bad ect sensor. Have you checked that to confirm that it is good?

You should check everything that is free/cheap and easy first, in a methodical fashion, even if it's re checking what you've done previously.

Things to check: fuel pressure regulator, vacuum leaks (solenoids, hoses, sensors [a broken egr diaphragm causes a vac leak]), fuel pressure, *vacuum, pcv valve, and compression/leak down test.

*vacuum: hooking up a vac gauge can tell you a lot. Low vacuum indicates a vac leak, which would cause idle and running issues, or bad piston rings. It also confuses the computer resulting in poor idle. low vac reading would point you in the right direction.

-just like vac test, compression test allows you to confirm engine health. If a ring is installed improperly or is broken, you'll have issues like yours. With a low vac reading, don't be surprised if you find your problem here.
I
-leak down test: engines can have decent compression but fail leak down test. Leak down might be crucial in your situation if you can't find anything else wrong.

if your shop indeed will tune your truck, get it running right first or you'll be **** in your money away not only with their shop time, but also in buying whatever parts they try to sell you in order to fix your issues.

You can also try unplugging the o2 to force open loop, see if that changes anything.

Still no codes present?

 

Well I know im not perfect so lets go through this thing again.

I pull a vac reading of 18-20 bounces back and forth between the two.

Cylinder Pressure test:
1=169 5=166
2=165 6=168
3=167 7=165
4=162 8=163

I have located a small amount of oil in the bottom of the throttle body.


I will be running to Summit tomorrow to pick up a thicker intake gasket then I will be pulling the intake off again to figure out why the oil is there. I pulled the PCV hose its dry and not oily at all. There are baffles in the valve covers and the pcv valve is functioning properly.

I am renting the Leak down test tool so why im in there tomorrow ill do the leak down test.

I will be doing a complete run though with results tomorrow.
I appreciate the imput guys.

 

Oil on the intake side of the tb? Only way that can happen is the breather from valve cover. If your pcv is stuck closed, or blowby is so bad that its overwhelming the pcv, that'd explain that. Pull hose from breather and see what that looks like.

Also a good idea to let it run and look at what comes out of that hose, should be little to nothing.

 

The PCV I have is small for the valve cover hole. Is there such a thing as too small a PCV?

 

Alrigth, Checked ECT sensor its good.

Ran with PCV unplugged and hose plugged. There was no oil in the pcv hose and the pcv was not blowing a noticable amount of oil.

I then checked and the TB gasket is saturated with oil so is the TPS sensor. The oil in the intake must be caused by a bad mount. I am killing myself over here with this intake. I am picking up a thicker intake gasket and going to use nail polish to map the matting surfaces prior to mounting. The intake sucking oil and air out of the lifter galley would account for ALL of my issues right?

There was no blow back with the oil fill cap out so I believe the rings are good.

 

Are you checking the breather line to the intake/airbox??? It's not the pcv tube.