Hello,

I need help improving the performance of my 1997 F250HD, 4x4, 5.8 E4od, 4.10LS axel. It has speed desity and I would like to convert to MAF. The GVWR is 8800#. I saw a thread that said 1996 f150 5.8's had MAF, would putting a 1996 MAF on my 1997 be an easy swap? Would this give me SFI also, I think I have bank/batch FI now. Has anyone modified this year 5.8?

Thanks

 

your 97 should be mass air. mass air was on all rigs past 96.

 

Not on F250's and 350's. They were still OBD-I and speed density.

The 96 F150 is OBD-II and is wired differently than the F250 that you have. It can be done, but it's a little more difficult.

 

figures that the f250/350 would be different. what mods are you wanting to perform. the stock speed density can handle a good amount. at least the type of mods a truck would need.

 

Many bolt-ons can be done; headers, exhaust, CIA, ignition, pulleys and bump the timing up a couple of degrees. The should net a sizeable improvement as per your seat-of-the-pants dyno. I would suggest getting some wideband readings to see what your A/F ratios look like, and see if you may need to install an aftermarket FPR.
With the help of aftermarket tuning, you can also install a set of heads and a cam that is speed density friendly.

 

you dont need tuning to install heads and a cam thats sd friendly. pulleys are not recommended for a 4wd and sd doesnt like it when the fuel pressure is messed with which would mean a tune is in order $$$

 

Small adjustments in fuel pressure won't hurt anything. I'm not a big fan of underdrive pulleys either, but it's something that can be done.

 

they must have been carbed, if they were efi some sort of CEL would need to be working.

 

Nope. My truck is factory EFI and the light was not wired, stock. I'm sorry you don't believe me, but I own such a truck, and know for certain that a few EFI trucks came without CEL's. The codes can be pulled without one, plus, the light doesn't come on for most codes anyway.

 

not that i dont believe you, its i dont believe ford. no consistency it seems with anything. frustrating

 

Thanks for all the input. I looked in my owners manual today and it described the steps to conduct testing of the "OBD-II PCM". I am going to look on the PCM harnes to see if I can find the EEC-IV or 5 designation. My goal is to improve low to mid range torque/horsepower, idle to 3,500 rpm. It seems like most of the mods discussed produce most of the gains at WOT and higher RPM. Most of the time I never pass 3/4 open throttle when towing. I can understand increasing the flow into and out of the engine would increase WOT power but it doesn't seem that it would help at lower RPM and part throttle conditions. The most noticable change I have done is advance the timing to 12 BTDC, much better throttle response off idle. And installing a jacobs ignition box provided instant starting, smoother running and about 1-2 MPG improvement. Right now I'm thinking that staying with SD is my best choice. I read that increasing intake runner length improves low end torque so I thought I would install a 1" BBK spacer between the upper and lower intake. While I have the upper intake off I was thinking of installing 1.7 ratio rocker arms? Any thoughts on this? My main concern is the valves would be opened farther than ever before and deposits on the valve stems would damage the valve guides? I have used Mobile 1 in the engine since new, it does not use any oil now and seems to be in excellent condition (90,000mi). My RH exhaust manifold has leaked twice (head to manifold) and is now leaking again. Ford did not install a gasket from the factory? I installed a cheap gasket (paper only) the first time at about 40,000 and it lasted to 40,000. This time I installed a Felpro metal/composit and it leaks after 5,000 miles. I am thinking of installing Ford motorsport headers but am afrade they will hurt low end torque?


Mods so far:
K&N replacement filter
Jacobs ignition box
Bosch Plugs
timing 12 BTDC
3" cat-back
Thanks

 

No you don't "need" tuning, but why spend the money, and time to install heads and a cam, and not get the most out of them. SD experiences a very nasty tip-in-lean condition when you start messing with the airflow, and the more air that passes through the motor, the worse it gets. Tuning can minimize or eliminate it.

For simple bolt-ons, an adjustable FPR will work fine for and the pcm WILL operate normally. If it is adjusted properly, it'll help the performance and prevent a lean condition at WOT.

I ran underdrives on my 90 F-250 5.8 4x4 for many miles and didn't experience any problems.

 

The 85 and 86 EFI trucks used the same dash as the rest of the 80-86 trucks, so there likely wasn't a provision for a CEL. As for my 87, the dash is printed with the yellow cutout that says "Check Engine" and the printed circuit runs a connection to where the light should be, but like you, I don't understand why Ford didn't wire it (maybe it was due to the 351 and 460 being carbureted). Maybe the trucks later in the 87 model run got a functioning CEL, I dunno. I do know the 88's had one, though. Far as I know, all trucks after that had CEL's, it's just the very early ones that didn't.

 

Bigred, look into cam 35-255-5 its CompCam for speed density that will give great gains from idle-5500rpm . also the edelbrock efi truck intake is a great torque upgrade as well. installing some shortie headers wont hurt ya only improve. jba,gibson,edelbrock,bassini and bbk all are great. and getting a new bassini Y pipe with hi flow cats would round out your setup. I would also recommend getting rid of the bosch plugs and just run motorcraft copper plugs, they are far better and cheaper.

Blurry, the purpose for not running underdrive pulleys on a 4wd is your causing the water pump,alt to run slower which in offroad or towing situations may cause hi engine temps and low output by the altinator. if your running a winch,lights etc.. thats even more of a reason to not run them. the hp they would free up is minimal in our heavy rig applications.

 

I understand where you're coming from, and with heavy current draw (winch, lights, snow plow etc...) it isn't wise to use them

I pulled horse trailers (loaded and unloaded), boats, and farm equipment while these pulleys were installed. I've taken that truck into the mountains on hunting trips, and it hasn't given me any problems, charging or cooling. I know my old truck doesn't represent all of the other owners, however, my brother is also running a set on his 94 F-150 5.8 4x4 ext cab and he hasn't experienced any problems with them thus far. Neiter of us have a winch, or aftermaket/off-raod lights either so that does help.
The only time charging was ever an issue, is at a stop, in gear, and it was minimal. As soon as the motor went off-idle (1k and higher) everything was fine. The performance increase was noticeable, and the thottle seemed to be snappier and the motor seemed to "bog" a little less than with the stock pulleys.