[Augustine1]

I just finished installing my new 03 GT engine and 03 auto tranny into my 97 bird but am having some problems. When turned on the car idles fine, it does however tend to get a little hotter before the fan comes on but thats about it. Now, when I try to shift into Drive, Reverse, or any position, the cars dies. You have to keep your foot on the gas to keep the engine from dying. If its put in Neutral it will idle back up and stay constant like in Park. Even while driving it, if I come to a stop it will just die. The new tranny harness/connector is wired correctly(checked several times) so I cant figure out what it could be. The tranny just didnt seem to want to shift properly either while driving. Could this maybe be that the car needs to be tuned because of the PI motor? Since it idles fine while in Park, does it mean that the problem has nothing to do with the engine itself or what? Everything else with the swap looks great so Im a little lost here.

 

[General Zod]

could very easily be a broken/disconnected/severed vacuum line that is causing your idling problems....did you use the MAF that originally came with your Tbird? if not, then this would also be a problem

did you drill and tap the aluminum coolant crossover for the second coolant temp sensor?

assuming that the tranny is indeed wired up correctly (how did you end up doing it to get the signal to the VSS, did you swap the output shafts?), you might want to look into checking your TPS sensor with a voltmeter, since the shifting is mostly based on TPS counts and MPH......TPS signal should be strictly less than 1.0V....so if either or both of these signals are incorrect or non-existent, it will never shift properly

also, the stock 97 EEC-V can control an 03 GT motor perfectly....there is no absolute need for a tune to make it driveable

did you use spark plug wires and coil packs, or did you attempt to switch to COP?

 

[Augustine1]

i used all the t-bird stuff. i did however use the mustang throttle body/upper intake which includes the TPS from the stang. sine the mustang plenum is missing a vacum line fitting, we put a T in the vacum line in the back of the plenum, reused my egr. other than that , it has all my stuff. The output shaft was swapped by J L from the older tranny, i used my plugs/wires, and the aluminum crossover was taken off the non pi intake and put on the 03 intake so it has both sensors.

 

[91bluecoupe]

It sounds like you have a bad throttle position sensor.

It has happend to me twice in 4 years, had the same exact symptoms.

My EEC did not throw a code either.

 

[Augustine1]

well since i left the gt plenum with its TPS could that be it??? ill try to swap my TPS onto the plenum/throttle and go from there, because like i said i reused all other t-bird items and the tranny has to be wired correctly. Sure hope this works. does anyone else know if the TPS' are different from the GT and the Tbird?

 

[General Zod]

the newer ones are probably revised versions, but should still work....either way, it wont hurt you to put on the original TPS.....but be prepared, those screws are tight......get a drill and apply a lot of force so as to not slip the bit on the phillips heads and strip the heads......then when putting it on, you have to set the voltage by rotating it prior to tightening the screws, to less than 1.0V with the ignition on...preferably 0.98-0.99VDC

http://www.blueovalchips.com/tech/throttlepos/throttleposadj.php

 

[Augustine1]

so if the GT tps should still work, then what could it be? every connector is on and well connected. same for vacum lines. do you think that maybe the vacum line we split (in the back of the plenum) is maybe the problem?

 

[timb]

The vaccum line you split shouldn't be a problem as long as there isn't a leak. Do you hear a vacuum leak when it's in park? Are you possitive you repinned the trans harness correctly

 

[General Zod]

im not absolutely positive the GT TPS will work.....i would think it should, but just for the hell of it, you should put on the Tbird one

it still sounds like a vacuum leak and there is a problem with the tranny and/or wiring if it ends up not being the TPS

i know a lot of this sounds repetative, but its hard to actually tell when we're not there

 

[miller1995]

Why not use your original throttlebody and plenum? They are the same size and volume as the mustang one and they have all the correct hook ups.

-Miller

 

[Augustine1]

yeah, i'll just put my plenum/throttle body on it instead and hope that helps. i rechecked it and the wiring is all straight. i did notice that the mechanic put a piece of rubber hose for the vacum line coming from the drivers side valve cover that is too big and bends--almost restricting all the air flow.i turned it around as so that the hose would not bend as much and let it breathe better. now it idles better but still not correctly. hopefuly when i swap over the t-bird plenum everything will be normal. i am still having the problem with the fan taking a long time to come on, and when it does the motor/fan seems to move up and down and hit the shroud making noise. the fan is bolted on tight but and nothing is in the way-strange. could it be that the motor is bad on the fan? the car did have 131,000. P.S. the TPS from the GT should be ok the car only had 16,---miles when taken out. ill still swap out however.

 

[Johnny Langton]

Fixed now-Augustine made the drive down yesterday,and we found his injectors were clogged. It was making the trans shift so strange,I'd have even suspected that there was something wrong had I not checked a few more things.
JL

 

[Embalmer]

Fixed now-Augustine made the drive down yesterday,and we found his injectors were clogged. It was making the trans shift so strange,I'd have even suspected that there was something wrong had I not checked a few more things.
JL

That's great JL! I kind of talked him into the swap and I bet he's glad he was close to you down there!