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EF ecu Transplant into EA 

 

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 Post subject: EF ecu Transplant into EA
Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 7:25 pm 
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Hi guys,

Just need a a bit of expert advice on a EF ecu Transplant into a 1989 EA. Over the weekend i plan to fit EF Xr6 motor and use the EA engine management to run the motor BUT eventually, i want to scrap the EA ecu and run the EF coil packs & Ecu which i have the J3 chip setup in it to bypass smartlock, auto trans, and convert to xr6 spects...

I would like to retain the log manifold as i read in a thread on here that you can run a log manifold with an EL ecu... is it the same for the EF? Do i need to mod the J3 chip to do this, or will it run straight off the Ef ecu?

Also, what wires do i need to mod or swap over for everything to work?

I have ALL the EF gear to transplant into the EA but i dont have any idea of how to go about it safely at this stage.... any help would be much appreciated. :)

Cheers!
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 Post subject: Re: EF ecu Transplant into EA
Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 7:58 pm 
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Welcome to fordmods. The EF ECU has a different number of pins and won't plug directly into the EA ECU socket. The EL ECU is a better option as it plugs straight in. BenJ & Troyman have already done excellent writeups on this. The only wiring you'd need is for the Smartlock Bypass (plus thermofans & BBM vacuum switch if you use them).

benj-s-eb-budget-buildup-t65386.html

I've got an EF engine in my EA with a Bosch dizzy (from the 3.9L motor). Are you retaining the log manifold for any particular reason? These engines have a bit more torque down low when using the BBM. The J3 chip can be loaded with an ELXR6 tune and plugged into a standard EL ECU. Best tuned on a dyno to get the air-fuel ratios correct through the rev range.

 

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 Post subject: Re: EF ecu Transplant into EA
Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 8:45 pm 
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{USERNAME} wrote:
Welcome to fordmods. The EF ECU has a different number of pins and won't plug directly into the EA ECU socket. The EL ECU is a better option as it plugs straight in. BenJ & Troyman have already done excellent writeups on this. The only wiring you'd need is for the Smartlock Bypass (plus thermofans & BBM vacuum switch if you use them).

benj-s-eb-budget-buildup-t65386.html

I've got an EF engine in my EA with a Bosch dizzy (from the 3.9L motor). Are you retaining the log manifold for any particular reason? These engines have a bit more torque down low when using the BBM. The J3 chip can be loaded with an ELXR6 tune and plugged into a standard EL ECU. Best tuned on a dyno to get the air-fuel ratios correct through the rev range.


Thanks for the info, i'll take a look at that thread 2.
The only reason i wanted to go EF ecu & coil packs is because i already have the gear to do the transplant.... but it sounds like its going to be abit of a pain if i do it my way. I also wanted to retain the log manifold as i prefer the look over the bbm... as well just forking out money to have the fuel rail chromed. lol

Is there any notable difference in using the 3.9L dizzy over an EL dizzy?
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 Post subject: Re: EF ecu Transplant into EA
Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 11:32 pm 
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I'm not sure if the EL dizzy is different to the EA. I thought they were the same.... I reckon it's harder to get to the distributor & leads with the log manifold. And then there's all that extra vacuum hoses.

If you really wanted to put the EF stuff in, you could swap over the wiring looms for the entire car plus the dash. A big job, but then others have done it with EL looms. There are other threads detailing these engine conversions. Have you read this one?

ford-4l-and-6-cylinder-f1/about-the-different-ford-6-s-and-engine-retrofit-information-t31883.html

 

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 Post subject: Re: EF ecu Transplant into EA
Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 2:43 am 
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{USERNAME} wrote:
I'm not sure if the EL dizzy is different to the EA. I thought they were the same.... I reckon it's harder to get to the distributor & leads with the log manifold. And then there's all that extra vacuum hoses.

If you really wanted to put the EF stuff in, you could swap over the wiring looms for the entire car plus the dash. A big job, but then others have done it with EL looms. There are other threads detailing these engine conversions. Have you read this one?

ford-4l-and-6-cylinder-f1/about-the-different-ford-6-s-and-engine-retrofit-information-t31883.html


hmmm i would of assumed the difference between the EA and EL dizzy would of been the ignition curve but i'm only guessing at that!? ....It is a bit of a pain with the log manifold to get at the dizzy. lol

(I just had a quick look at ebay and the distributers & Ignition Modules for EA to EL are the same - So you would be right in what you were saying. :) )

The EF Ecu loom set-up would be a big job if i have to remove the dash (again :( lol).
I've just been reading Benj's thread and picked up some usefull knowledge... seems the way to go by using the EL ecu. Theres less mods with only basically extending the isc and tps wires (if using bbm), adding the 2 wires to the ecu to run the thermos, and moding a J3 chip to the EL ECU.
At the end of the day, if i go with the EL ecu, all it would cost is the price of the Ecu and the J3 program install on the chip....

I'll take a look at that link.

Cheers! :)

Last edited by EAXR6WannaBE on Tue May 11, 2010 4:00 am, edited 2 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: EF ecu Transplant into EA
Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 3:00 am 
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That was an interesting read.

Quote:
EL to EA-ED
The EA-ED ECU is not tuned for the broadband manifold and will not be able to switch the runners at 3800rpm. There are 3 options for this conversion
1. Use the EA-ED manifolds, leave everything else the same
2. Use the EL engine complete with ECU and loom
3. Fit EL engine with EA-ED ecu and use a RPM switch to change the runners at 3800 rpm. This will get the runners switching but the tune will still be out. It is the timing that seems to be most affected resulting in either poorer low end performance or pinging on short runners.


Option 3 is more suited to my application but in reverse... If i were to use an EL ecu to run the log manifold would i still have issues to be able to switch runners at 3800rpm with the bbm being absent? Would the timing be affected?

This stuff can do your head in. LOL
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 Post subject: Re: EF ecu Transplant into EA
Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 9:25 am 
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{USERNAME} wrote:
If i were to use an EL ecu to run the log manifold would i still have issues to be able to switch runners at 3800rpm with the bbm being absent? Would the timing be affected?

I don't think the EL ECU has any problems if it doesn't switch activate the vacuum switch (since the log manifold doesn't have any butterflies to alter the runner lengths). Someone on here will be able to confirm or disprove this as I haven't tried it myself.

Once the timing is set manually with a timing light, it can be fine tuned with the J3 on the dyno. It would be handy if you use and EL timing cover instead of the EF cover.

 

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 Post subject: Re: EF ecu Transplant into EA
Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 5:07 pm 
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{USERNAME} wrote:
{USERNAME} wrote:
If i were to use an EL ecu to run the log manifold would i still have issues to be able to switch runners at 3800rpm with the bbm being absent? Would the timing be affected?

I don't think the EL ECU has any problems if it doesn't switch activate the vacuum switch (since the log manifold doesn't have any butterflies to alter the runner lengths). Someone on here will be able to confirm or disprove this as I haven't tried it myself.

Once the timing is set manually with a timing light, it can be fine tuned with the J3 on the dyno. It would be handy if you use and EL timing cover instead of the EF cover.


I thought the EF and El covers were basically the same except for screw holes for the EF sensor.... or did you mean "use and EL timing cover instead of the EA cover"?


Did you change timing covers or did you just mark the timing position on the EA cover/harmonic balancer?
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 Post subject: Re: EF ecu Transplant into EA
Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 5:31 pm 
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Very simple to disable smartlock with the J3 or do this and tune to suit the Log manifold if necessary. As already mentioned, EL is plug-in for your EA loom, only need to add BBM and Thermofan wiring if you like. EF loom would be too much work for very little benefit.

Jason
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 Post subject: Re: EF ecu Transplant into EA
Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 6:49 pm 
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{USERNAME} wrote:
Very simple to disable smartlock with the J3 or do this and tune to suit the Log manifold if necessary. As already mentioned, EL is plug-in for your EA loom, only need to add BBM and Thermofan wiring if you like. EF loom would be too much work for very little benefit.

Jason


definately a lot easier to use the EL set-up in the Ea as ive discovered. :)
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 Post subject: Re: EF ecu Transplant into EA
Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 7:29 pm 
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Sorry, I should have mentioned Jason as he deals with the J3 chips.

I thought the EF timing cover didn't have the timing marks cast into the cover because it didn't have a distributor. Best bet is to have a look at an EL timing cover and confirm if it's the same.

 

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 Post subject: Re: EF ecu Transplant into EA
Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 9:23 pm 
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{USERNAME} wrote:
Sorry, I should have mentioned Jason as he deals with the J3 chips.

I thought the EF timing cover didn't have the timing marks cast into the cover because it didn't have a distributor. Best bet is to have a look at an EL timing cover and confirm if it's the same.



Handy to know! :)

Yeah, its the same i'm sure. From memory i was comparing the 2 covers about 4 weeks ago. The only differences were the tapped screw threads for the EF sensor.
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 Post subject: Re: EF ecu Transplant into EA
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 4:24 pm 
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there are no timing marks on an ef timing cover
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 Post subject: Re: EF ecu Transplant into EA
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 4:39 pm 
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{USERNAME} wrote:
there are no timing marks on an ef timing cover


2 years later and someone is replying to this!?


The Ef timing cover has a timing mark... its identical to the EL cover except for the 2 screw holes for mounting the sensor.

I have both timing covers and just compared them!
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