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Re-Filling a T5 Transmission
Refilling the T5 can be a harrowing experience because of the cramped quarters up in that hump. Here's a method that I've found to work pretty well.
I've found this process to be much less frustrating than trying to worm a funnel and hose down from the engine compartment. I recommend trying Red Line Synthetic Dextron II or Mobile 1 Synthetic ATF fluids. I think they give much smoother shifts than your ordinary dino-oils.
The EEC IV is a wondrous piece of engine management. However, along with computer control comes some pretty mystic maintenance. Any time the 'Check Engine' light comes on during normal operation, the computer is trying to tell you that something is amiss. Don't let it scare you though...it's not as tough as you may think. If you like to wrench on the 5.0 yourself, one of the best tools you can have in your tool chest is a scanner such as the Sunpro (I bought mine at Sears). It will help you easily diagnose engine related problems.
A common problem indicated by the 'Check Engine' light is a fouled Exhaust Gas Re-circulation (EGR) valve. The EGR re-circulates exhaust gas back to the intake manifold for emissions purposes. Since it is redirecting hot, spent exhaust gases, it can become fouled over time, reducing its effectiveness. Over a long period of time, it can even become clogged to the point of inoperability.
A dirty or failing EGR is usually indicated by a Code 31 returned during the 'Key On Engine Off' (KOEO) portion of testing [although it may also be indicated by Codes 32, 33, or 34]
Once the problem has been diagnosed, its fairly simple to correct. The EGR valve is located on the intake plenum between the throttle body and the upper intake. The valve itself is mounted on the EGR spacer and faces towards the firewall. To remove the EGR valve, follow the following steps:
The late model 5.0 engines used exhaust gas re-circulation (EGR) to improve emissions performance. This involves taking exhaust gas flow from the exhaust ports and re-circulating it back into the intake air stream. The process of doing this has a couple of drawbacks for the performance minded individual. First off, it raises the temperature of the cooler intake charge as it is mixed with the re-circulated exhaust gas. Second, it fouls the intake runners with carbon deposits from the spent flow. And third, in routing the exhaust flow it heats the intake substantially, again killing the cooler, denser intake charge and robbing you of horsepower in the process. The only good thing the Ford engineers did in this scheme was spare us the re-circulating gas under wide open throttle (WOT). At WOT, the EGR valve closes, shutting off the flow of exhaust gas into the air intake stream. The EGR can be short circuited with the following three steps:
Now, the EGR spacer can be removed and replaced with an EGR spacer such as those offered by UPR Products. However, without the actual EGR valve in place to complete the computer's circuit, the EEC IV computer will repeatedly report EGR codes. If you're running an EEC modifying chip, you have have the EGR function shut off in the computer to solve this problem or you can simply leave the EGR spacer and valve in place and the computer will continue to open & close the valve even though there is no actual EGR flow. If you do leave the spacer in place, I recommend disconnecting the coolant circulation lines to the EGR spacer which will help keep things even cooler yet. Without the hot exhaust flow, they serve no purpose.
Since the EGR doesn't flow at WOT, you won't actually pick up anything as you're barreling down the track. What you will notice is that while idling to and from the staging lanes, none of the EGR flow is present so your intake will stay cooler. All us Mustangers know that a cooler intake means a little more horsepower!
I had the opportunity to flow some intake combinations with the help of Ray Banyas & Bill Klein from Victory Engines. We were interested in comparing the flow of my unported GT-40 intake against that of an unported Explorer intake that Bill had managed to get his hands on. The results may surprise you. We flowed both intakes using my GT-40 lower which is box-stock except for the gasket matching at the head ports which was done to a Fel-Pro 1250 intake gasket and is limited to less than 1" deep into the port. I normally run a 1/2" phenolic spacer between the upper and lower so that my upper clears my taller valve covers, so we bolted that between the upper and lower for all the flow tests. Attached to the inlet side of the upper was my Accufab 65mm throttle body and UPR EGR delete plate. We flowed the GT-40 first, followed by the Explorer combination. All work was done on a SuperFlow SF-600S flow bench using the Intake controls on the 298cfm setting at 28 inches of water. Here are the results:
These results really surprised me since the Explorer intake was completely 'as cast' which is REALLY rough in comparison to the smooth nature of the tubular GT-40. The difference isn't really that much, but there's an unwritten rule-of-thumb that the intake runners should flow AT LEAST 30CFM MORE THAN THE HEADS. Out-of-the-box GT-40P heads with stock components will flow around 185cfm on the intake side so neither intake really lives up to the rule; much less so for the better flowing GT-40P heads that we're running in Trophy Stock.
I collected to following off the Windsor Power message board at the Mustang Works. The information was presented by one of the members (StreetStang37). I can't confirm, nor deny, it validity but it does make for some interesting reading. Presented along with these flow numbers was some additional text regarding gains made/lost on the dyno. The full story can be read here or by searching the Mustang Works archives.
Likewise, the author also listed the following throttle bodies and their flow rates.
When stomping around the local swap meets and junk yards, it can be pretty tough to know exactly what you're looking at unless you've got some idea of how to decode the Ford casting numbers. The following is a short tutorial on how to decipher the cryptic casting numbers: On Ford small blocks, the casting number is located on the passenger side of the block, down near the start mounting. It will take the form of:
E3AE-6015-CA17
with a smaller number cast underneath this in like 7E13.
The first group of four alphanumeric characters decode as:
The second and third groups of four alphanumeric characters in the main number are really meaningless to the average person other than to know that the last set indicate the engineering revisions of the castings. The original engineering release of the casting begins with the "A" designation. So in the example ID shown above, the important information is that this would be a block from the Ford Engine line with a casting design dating to 1983. The smaller group of four alphanumeric characters located just beneath the main casting ID is the actual date of casting. This decodes as;
1st Digit = Year (may differ the second digit in the main casting ID) 2nd Digit = Month (A = January ..... L = December) 3rd & 4th Digits = Day of Month
For example, 7E13 = July 13, 1987 on an E series block.
You may ask, "Why doesn't the year in the first casting ID always agree with the first digit in the smaller casting ID?" This will happen when the year of the actual casting engineering release doesn't correspond with the actual casting date. For example, the block casting can be engineered and released for production in 1984 and used continuously through 1987. Therefore the primary casting ID will read as "E4" while the secondary will read as a "7xxx".
Now you know that when someone speaks of an E7TE head that they are referring to a Ford Truck head dating to the 1987 series of casting designs. |
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Copyright © 2006 CRT Performance, LLC |
