HELP, with my 55 V8 swap
 

I took a 1988 thunderbird v8 and auto tranny and put it in my 55 f100. well I cant jump the motor in diog mode so i have no idea whats wrong, i got it running but while its in idle if i give it any % of fuel it dies.....Im stumped :-banghead it sounds like its running at a normal idle rpm but i have not checked the timing yet. Thoughts??????

I had a motor with the computer stuff,,and had to let it reset itself after the battery died.I was told it had to cycle through...not sure if this help's ,that was a bmw 735, I am sure the Bird is just playing with you,,maybe a o2 sensor?? or fuel pressure problem...if you spray starting fluid in will it rev??while it's idleing??

are you sure you have the TPS (throttel position sensor) connected? I know a lot of problems can be caused by the connectors at the rear of the engine (called the salt and pepper connectors cause of the colour). I have to go out to the shop later in the morning and I will look at my notes from running the stang. Most everything goes wrong with a drag car at one time or another.

Are you using an EFI fuel pump? stock '88 ECM?

EFI, TPS..ECM....now i remember why I like my 54 ford flatty,an'65 T-bird..no computers...any luck so far??? I kinda figgered with my answer to your question it would get the smarter guy's in here to help out..

After insuring the fuel pressure is OK, I'd be inclined to go to the ECU harness connector and add the idiot lite, then the diag conn..jump it and let the ECU tell you what it wants. Why not take advantage of the technology already built-in?
You could end up chasing your tail and 'creating' more stuff to fix and adjust otherwise.
The alternative of 'not' installing the two addtl circuits is alot of individual component pin testing and a thorough pin by pin check of your harness at the ECU connector..let the ECU do the work for you..at least it will point you in the right direction..narrow down your search and save you time..Good Luck!

Did you wire in a functioning check engine light? I seem to remember having trouble pulling codes in one of my trucks and found out it was because the check engine light was burnt out. The computer wouldn't even start the diagnostic routine unless it saw resistance through the bulb in the CEL circuit. It's something to check at least.