[mrwiggles2004]

I am currently in the middle of swapping my 97 Intake to the FRPP PI manifold. Just a few questions for you guys who have done it succesfully.

1. Is the second coolant sensor necessary, reason being is I did not drill and tap a hole for it and was just curious if I could get by without it.

2. The PI coolant tube that runs around the intake, how and where does it connect where it runs behind the motor? I cant seem to see or feel where it goes because of the tight clearance.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Bangster]

1) You need both, one is for the computer, one is for the gauge.

2) On the drivers side head there is a threaded hole, on my car the wiring harness was using the hole, it has a plastic christmas tree thing taped to the harness that was pressed into there.

 

[mrwiggles2004]

Ok, I figured that was the case. Do you happen to know which is the computer's sensor? I instaled the intake already so tapping it at this point is going to suck. Also this is going to sound really rediculous but would it be possible to splice the wires from one sensor to both sends? It seems to me if theyre sending the same data there's no reason why they couldn't share a sensor. Just a thought.

I will check the passenger side head and see if I cant find the threaded hole you mentioned.

 

[General Zod]

no, you cant do that with the sensors...looks like you're gauge sensor or your computer will never know the coolant temperature

 

[mrwiggles2004]

no, you cant do that with the sensors...looks like you're gauge sensor or your computer will never know the coolant temperature

That's cool, I was just curious if it would work. Since it won't I'll just have to pull the manifold off and tap it. Or live without a temp gauge. Thanks for the input!

 

[twin turbo 281]

just fit a T fitting to the single bore and plug both of the sensors in

 

[XR7-4.6]

just fit a T fitting to the single bore and plug both of the sensors in

Hasnt this dead horse been beaten already? Air pockets dont go well with coolant senders, the EEC needs correct readings.

The T fitting is a bad idea.

 

[mrwiggles2004]

just fit a T fitting to the single bore and plug both of the sensors in

That's probably what I'll end up doing. I've done quite a bit of searching on the topic, and it seems everybody has a different way of doing the swap. The intake paired with the XE268's should make for a pretty decent setup over stock.

 

[General Zod]

mrwiggles2004, pay no attention to twin turbo 281.......you definitely dont want to take a chance with airpockets wrecking havoc with the coolant sensors.....engine coolant temperature is a HUGELY important parameter that the computer uses for so many things that people can't even dream of.....its not just there to determine when to turn the fan on.......ask any one who has tuning software, just in how many different tables and functions ECT comes into play.....most responses will start with "a LOT".....a 9/16" drill bit is around $10, a 3/8" NPT tap is only around $5.......so for just a little more than the cost of a T-fitting, you can have the peace of mind that your car will be running right

 

[master486]

FYI, the location that is drilled on the PI intake is where the stock sender for the gauge goes. So you need to use the sensor with the GRAY connector in that location and extend the wires with the GRAY connector to that location or else the PCM won't have the signal.

 

[thunderferret]

Seems to me if you drilled and tapped a hole in the T for an 1/8 pipe plug and bled the air out it would work.

Bob

 

[Bangster]

Seems to me if you drilled and tapped a hole in the T for an 1/8 pipe plug and bled the air out it would work.

Bob

With it being the highest point if the entire cooling system, I don't think that would help. I have only heard bad things about teeing it. I should have waited a week to get mine tapped, because I then got a crossover that was tapped on an nPI intake that I don't need two sensors (my 2000 Grand Marquis only has one).

 

[_95badbird]

as was said, do not use a T.

 

[XR7-4.6]

Bled or not, there isnt any negative pressure to draw coolant up the T. The coolant isnt going to take a path it doesnt have to.

 

[General Zod]

Bled or not, there isnt any negative pressure to draw coolant up the T. The coolant isnt going to take a path it doesnt have to.

wow, negative pressure eh?...finally starting to get technical on us!...next thing we know, you're gonna bust out calculations with numbers n stuff! :tongue:

 

[_95badbird]

wow, negative pressure eh?...finally starting to get technical on us!...next thing we know, you're gonna bust out calculations with numbers n stuff! :tongue:

shoulda used this smiley for that...:gapteeth:

 

[mrwiggles2004]

Thanks for the sizes of those bits maestro. I just went to home depot and picked em up to be safe. I'm about to drill and tap the crossover, and then extend the wires so I can see how she runs. I also broke both hard vacuum lines to the FPR and EGR valve so I've got to pick them up as well, they were pretty weak. Not sure if they just tend to be brittle or if over time the heat caused them to fail.

 

[Dusty]

You can also put your temp sensor in the heater hose. I had mine that while for many years until I replaced the intake and tapped the temp sensor by the thermostat. I still have it out in the garage - there is a metal T-fitting with the temp sensor in the tee.

 

[mrwiggles2004]

You can also put your temp sensor in the heater hose. I had mine that while for many years until I replaced the intake and tapped the temp sensor by the thermostat. I still have it out in the garage - there is a metal T-fitting with the temp sensor in the tee.

Wow, I never thought of that. It's all together now and I'm living without a temp gauge at the moment. I'm pretty sure the tap size for the sensor is a 5/8 not a 3/8, the 3/8 tap looked way small. Since a 5/8 tap is something that's not readily available I just went with the only option I had. I had to have the car up and running by tonight because my boss wanted it out of the shop.

So now for my next question... I started her up and she sounds great at idle, but I have a hesitation with anything above about 1500 RPMs. The hesitation comes and goes, and if I push it the problem gets worse sometimes backfiring. Could this be the EEC trying to adjust to the new cam and Intake? Would a tune be in order at this time?

 

[sik97bird]

did you torque the manifold down correctly? you may have vacumm leaks. what about the firing order? did you push the injectors down all the way into the manifold? double check your connections. you may have left a vacumm hose lose or an electrical connection.

on 2nd thought did you use PI gaskets and the RTV for the coolant ports?