I call it the Monolith. I have plans for it.

[ootdega]

Hm. Okay. That would explain why RockAuto has output shaft speed sensors listed for it.

Speedometer retrofit it is. That's a lot less complicated. Probably a little more expensive, but it's a cleaner solution.

[gadget73]

yea, its a matter of telling the ECU where the VSS is, and how many teeth it should see. Probably easier to do that vs modding the differential to add a sensor.

[sly]

Getting a tune on the new ECM would sort the VSS issue if you used the tailshaft one. Playing with different toothed gears may also solve it. If we had the math to figure out how many pulses it expects per mile on the exploder setup, we could ficure out what would be needed for the tailshaft setup.

[ootdega]

It's going to be a very long time before I get any work done at all, so no worries there. I'll have more information when I have all the parts out of the vehicle. I'll also have to remember to take a picture of the door sticker and VIN.

[Brown_Muscle]

I know nothing about the ECU you are using, but if it is shared among other vehicles that have a VSS in the tailshaft, a tuner may be able to tell it where the VSS is with a simple keystroke. Just something to research before you go too crazy trying to get custom work done.

[ootdega]

The problem is I'm pretty sure to use the tailshaft VSS, I would need a different ECU, which would turn everything into a convoluted mess as I scramble to make everything else compatible with that ECU. The tailshaft VSS is before gear reduction, and the differential VSS is after it, directly reading the wheel speed via the carrier. Cutting a hole is simple, I would just need to find a shop that could do it right. It shouldn't be too much of a task if I provide both differentials assembled with reluctor gears and just ask a machine shop to replicate the hole.

Preferably not on top of the housing, so I can retrofit a watt's link later.

If it doesn't matter which one I use, then I guess it would be the easier solution, but then I would have to retrofit the speedometer, and I'm not sure what cans of worms that would open up. Dash wiring is really not something I want to have to deal with more than I absolutely have to.

I've seen the externally-mounted VSS systems while I was looking for other solutions. They're pretty bulky and jury-rigged systems that I'd rather not have, especially considering how quickly the sensor would get dirty. They're more intended as workarounds for offroad vehicles.

Looking at the pump assemblies on RockAuto, it looks like 99 was the first year of the returnless fuel system. It's also when the fuel pressure was increased from 40 psi to 65. That should be a really easy workaround, I don't think I'll need to worry about having a return line.

[gadget73]

use a tailshaft from a vehicle with a VSS in it. Problem solved. Any RWD vehicle has the right one.


I know at least some of the Explorers did not have a returnless system. The fuel rail we used to put the 5.0 in a 92 Grand Marquis came from a 96 Explorer, and it had return lines. No idea if/when that actually changed.

[knucklehead0202]

Tailshaft housing method sounds like the best idea. The shop I deal with also pioneered the use of reluctors on the driveshaft for VSS which has been handy for them I guess. It's all black magic to me but they were showing me and talking about it when I was there one day checking on the car.

[ootdega]

First and probably only major snag.

The vehicle speed sensor is located in the rear differential. There are several ways I could go about solving this, but the simplest would be to just drill a hole for that sensor and the bolt for it, and add a reluctor wheel to the carrier. The problem is I have no idea who might be able to do that. I certainly can't.

It isn't complicated or difficult, you just have to know what you're doing. I dunno if anyone does.

In any case, I will need to grab the differential for both parts and reference.


The speedometer will also need to be retrofitted with a digital motor for this to work completely, but Redline Gauge Works can do that. It's cheaper and simpler than using a digital to analog converter thing.

EDIT: Actually, I could just get a tailshaft housing with a VSS hole and use that for the speedometer gear...let's do that.

[ootdega]

Okay, I asked around on explorerforum.com, which seemed to be the most active and knowledgable place.

So far I have learned that the harnesses should not be difficult to remove and don't involve the interior, and I will have to disable PATS in the ECM.

They've been wrong about everything else that I didn't already know, but those two things are helpful.

They also mentioned the returnless fuel system, but I knew about that. I'm pretty sure I can retrofit the relevant parts from the truck's fuel pump assembly onto the car's without much of a problem and just delete the return line. Should work just fine unless the ECM behaves differently when it thinks the fuel is low.

[ootdega]

It does have more wiring, but perhaps not as much as you might think. Most of the extra is on the engine itself, so that doesn't much matter. The stuff external to the engine is trans related or to the evap system. The trans is one harness, just fatter than the existing one. Not really a big deal.

Only one you'll really need to deal with is whatever the evap stuff is. I have absolutely no clue where it is on an Exploder. Might be easier to integrate later Panther stuff in for that if the placement of parts makes more sense.

Plus of course any interfacing that has to go on with the body harness, stuff like the fuel pump wiring, key-on stuff, check engine lights, etc. If you aren't using the air bag or ABS stuff, you can skip that wiring. I think its all databus or some similar name to allow all of the various things to communicate through the obd2 port. Probably will need a wiring diagram for both your car and the donor vehicle to figure out what needs to connect where.

Thought about the trans, you may be better off with a donor 4r70w from a 3.8 Mustang or Tbird. It will already have the proper output shaft and housing. You can in theory convert a 4x4 trans to 2wd, but you basically need a 2wd trans for donor parts. A 4.6 one won't bolt up, but it could yield up the parts. Just thinking it will probably be more cost effective to rebuild one vs taking 2 to make 1.

Ah, okay. That makes the wiring part less intimidating.

Don't worry, I've got the Ford shop manual, wiring diagrams, electrical and vacuum manuals, and specification book for the car as well as the gigantic two-volume Mountaineer shop manual, and I've got the electrical manual for it in the mail along with a massive Ford .pdf manual library on disc. FORD, TELL ME YOUR SECRETS.

I do plan on getting both the engine and transmission rebuilt. I wanna use a BCA rebuild kit and valve body with a force lubricated tailshaft housing. The output shaft is like 30 bucks. It's no extra work to put a different shaft and housing on during a rebuild, so that's the route I want to take.

For the engine internals, aside from the rockers and cam I just want to do rings, bearings, and a valve job.


I really appreciate the insight, by the way.

[gadget73]

It does have more wiring, but perhaps not as much as you might think. Most of the extra is on the engine itself, so that doesn't much matter. The stuff external to the engine is trans related or to the evap system. The trans is one harness, just fatter than the existing one. Not really a big deal.

Only one you'll really need to deal with is whatever the evap stuff is. I have absolutely no clue where it is on an Exploder. Might be easier to integrate later Panther stuff in for that if the placement of parts makes more sense.

Plus of course any interfacing that has to go on with the body harness, stuff like the fuel pump wiring, key-on stuff, check engine lights, etc. If you aren't using the air bag or ABS stuff, you can skip that wiring. I think its all databus or some similar name to allow all of the various things to communicate through the obd2 port. Probably will need a wiring diagram for both your car and the donor vehicle to figure out what needs to connect where.

Thought about the trans, you may be better off with a donor 4r70w from a 3.8 Mustang or Tbird. It will already have the proper output shaft and housing. You can in theory convert a 4x4 trans to 2wd, but you basically need a 2wd trans for donor parts. A 4.6 one won't bolt up, but it could yield up the parts. Just thinking it will probably be more cost effective to rebuild one vs taking 2 to make 1.

[ootdega]

it'll be fine, just don't keep it running for too long.

The alternator bolts to a bracket that hangs on the front of the motor. If you use the Panther accessories, it will not fit with the rest of the parts. The spacing is all wrong.

What I mean about fitting into the engine bay is the layout matching what you need, not so much about the physical size of the engine bay. I don't believe the battery and ECM are in the same locations for example, so you'll have to screw with the harness to make it fit, or screw with the car to alter where things are. A harness that is made so that the parts physically match where the connectors are goes in a lot easier than something that doesn't match up. Imagine putting your left shoe on your right foot, you might get it in there but it doesn't want to go.


I would not recycle brake parts. Its just a bad value. The other variable is the size of the bore in the master cylinder. If its different, it affects how the pedal feels. I would really stick to stock panther parts in that realm, they are known to work correctly. I'd also buy new ones. Besides, this thing hit something in the front end. I wouldn't trust brake parts on a vehicle that smacked a pole. For all you know, thats why it hit the pole.

I thought the spacing might be the issue. Well at least a 3G will plug in and get the same amperage.

I see what you mean now with the wiring. I thought you might have meant OBDII just had that much more wire to deal with. Shouldn't be many worries about wiring lengths. I'm not too shabby with a soldering iron. I've made dozens of repurposed PC cables.

(...To the point where I had to reverse-engineer my own wiring the last time I had this PC open.)

Allegedly the collision with the tree was fueled by bridal fury (and probably drugs), but you make good points. I'll only keep the rear backing plates.

I should probably be taking as few parts as I know I will need, honestly. Especially if I'm going to need somewhere to put a set of tires.

[gadget73]

it'll be fine, just don't keep it running for too long.

The alternator bolts to a bracket that hangs on the front of the motor. If you use the Panther accessories, it will not fit with the rest of the parts. The spacing is all wrong.

What I mean about fitting into the engine bay is the layout matching what you need, not so much about the physical size of the engine bay. I don't believe the battery and ECM are in the same locations for example, so you'll have to screw with the harness to make it fit, or screw with the car to alter where things are. A harness that is made so that the parts physically match where the connectors are goes in a lot easier than something that doesn't match up. Imagine putting your left shoe on your right foot, you might get it in there but it doesn't want to go.


I would not recycle brake parts. Its just a bad value. The other variable is the size of the bore in the master cylinder. If its different, it affects how the pedal feels. I would really stick to stock panther parts in that realm, they are known to work correctly. I'd also buy new ones. Besides, this thing hit something in the front end. I wouldn't trust brake parts on a vehicle that smacked a pole. For all you know, thats why it hit the pole.

[ootdega]

Okay, great.