V8-Ranger.com

Got a guy at another board I've talked with and now he has a problem. Don't know why your name was the first to pop into my head but

4.6L ECU on a 5.0. Anyone heard of such?
I'm pretty upset with the limited support for the OBD2 explorer 5.0 ecu's. While most of the parameters are adjustable (MAF, injectors, timing, PATS) they just don't run correctly with a manual transmission.
I have been down the road of OBD2 tuners and the support just isn't there.
The thing runs lean when cold and there's no way to fix it. I know for a 100% fact it's the tune.
So... I've done my research into wiring, sensors, and Ford strategies and I'm leaning toward a 4.6L 5 speed OBD2 ecu and adapting it to work with my 5.0. I'm pretty sure I can pull this off.

Anyone done it or heard of it? I'm about to pull the trigger on it and give it a shot.

Dave

There is limited support unless you buy a def file that has the Explorer EEC(s) broken out better. The EEC-Vs are tricky because Ford's programming technique changed some around 96-97ish. Back in the EEC-IV days, if a value was needed in 5-6 places in the tune, Ford referenced the same memory location for each of those instances so you only have 1 place to change that parameter. However in the newer EECs, the same value was literally located in each location where it was used. If the reverse-engineer wasn't careful, they would only change one or two locations, not ALL locations the value was used.

The best guy to talk to about getting good tuning support for these EECs is Adam at POPSRACING. Contact him via the username POPSRACING on the EECTuning.org website. His fee for using his def files is fairly steep (~$200), but they are broken out well and he stands behind them with support.

Given you are working with BinaryEditor, a Moates Quarterhorse, and a def file from Adam, you should be able to get any EEC-V (Mustang 4.6L or Explorer 5.0/4.6) to do whatever you want on whatever engine you got. Any limitations in engine performance won't be a limitation of the EEC support. It'll be a limitation of the tuner's familiarity with tuning on that strategy and/or limitations in the engine. For example, a radically cammed engine is not going to idle smoothly at 600RPMs. That's not the tune's fault, it just is what it is. Likewise if you have a tuner that doesn't explore what all is available to be tuned in the strategy, he may modify things that fix one problem, but cause other problems at other running conditions.

The EEC-IVs like the Mustang A9L I have are relatively complex. But compared to the newer EEC-Vs, my EEC's strategy is a child's 10 piece jigsaw puzzle. There's well over 4x the number of settings to tinker with in the newer EEC-Vs. Adam was telling me about his efforts to break out the new 2011 Mustang 5.0 EEC. He said it is insane the number of functions and tables available to tweak in those things...some 13 different spark tables 4 and 5 of which can be referenced at any given time with varying levels of significance on the final spark advance the EEC applies to the engine. The complexity has to do with the variable valve timing the EEC is in charge of. As the EEC changes cam timing, the corresponding spark timing also has to change since variable cam timing is literally changing the engine's dynamic compression ratio on the fly as needed by the RPM/Load/Fuel/Engine Temp at any given moment. He said Ford did such a jam-up job tuning that new 5.0L, he struggled to get another 10hp out of it in stock form and that was the best he could do.

Again, contact Adam for more details if you are serious about wanting to tune with an Explorer EEC. And tell him I sent you. He broke out the Explorer strats because I told him they'd be used by Ranger conversion enthusiasts. But he's set to even hear from 1.