Ford guys, let's talk 2000 Ford Explorer 5.0 Fuel injection 5.0 roller motor

OK, so here's the deal. A long time ago I had a 5.0 roller motor out of a 2000 Mercury Mountaineer (Explorer) built for mama's 55 Ford custom that is on eternal backburner. It's basically bone stock but has a Trick Flow Stage one cam. Pretty tame.

Tonight, I started cleaning out the shop for our big move and ran across the lower and upper intake complete in my junk. I pulled it off because years ago there weren't a lot of options for the newer stand alone harnesses, but since the LS swap craze hit, the aftermarket wiring world blew up. They now make a complete harness for this engine setup. https://www.stinger-performance.com...es-8/mg-91E-4.6-5.0-explorer-harness-telorvek

I kept everything apparently. Looks super complete. My question is this: Is this a good system, reliability wise and if so, are there things I need to pay attention to. It looks like the majority of parts are still available. I plan on replacing everything to make sure we start off with a good baseline.

I just don't wanna spend money collecting new parts if this is a dud system. I am in the middle of building a house, so all I can do is collect parts and box them up for later.

I plan on using the serpentine system, the coil pack ignition setup etc. It's about the ugliest intake I have ever seen, but this is a hood down custom (as it should be) and I will detail it out to make it look presentable.

Anything I should know?

 

I have lots of info, too much to type in one setting. Here's the overview. What you have is EEC V ecu setup. It has a single feed fuel system. Most have changed to either eec iv which you can use a Painless harness but requires a distributor instead of coil packs or you can do what I have done. I used a 96 explorer wiring harness and ecu. It has the earlier dual line fuel system. 96 and 97 don't have anti-theft, later versions do. That is a gt40p cylinder head that not all headers will allow spark plug access. I have used several of these and been satisfied with the end result. Most everyone I have torn down has had very little cylinder wear. Berry hone and install rings, bearings, oil pump, chain and gears and if you want it to rev at all, install a Trickflow valve spring kit which should have been done when the cam was installed. One of the engines I did I used LS behive springs and retainers. With a stock cam that worked very well.

 

The Explorer 5.0 makes a nice driver engine in a lighter vehicle especially when you use the OD transmission, I’m sure there are other intake’s out there by now.
I guess I’m to cheap and lazy because I would use a 600 Holley , Edelbrock performer or performer air gap and a MSD stand alone distributor, performance will be equal or better fuel economy depends on the guy tuning the carb but if you’re driving less than 5k a year, two or three mpg shouldn’t matter much. I guess I’m a believer in the keep it simple stupid mindset.

 

I have an aluminum Edelbrock intake on it currently, but this car is going to be driven a lot.

We are looking at retiring in a couple years and we wanna take this thing on the road and make all the shows I have only read about.
A perpetual vacation. It’s going across the continental divide etc. so something that’s bulletproof at14k feet is what I am after.

I had Ricks build me a stainless tank a few years back with the GM style drop in fuel pump and filter. It’s a work of art. It’s a returnless system.

The goal was to start off with a carb and then convert to a Holley Sniper, but I am not sold yet. They are still suffering from issues. I thought I had sold all this crap, but it all showed back up, so maybe….

 

What do you do about an oil pan? I bought a windsor rear sump pan, but there is no oil dipstick provision. I bought this kit, put using the stock oil pan would be ideal.
https://www.autozone.com/external-e...NiqzJxCmmXLF-3HV8ZBoCPeEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
It has than funky dual sump pan on it now.

 

The dual sump pan would work the fox body platform.... Mustang...

 

Look on the left side of the block. You should see a hole for the dipstick behind the motor mount towards the bellhousing mount. The reason that I choose factory efi is what you just stated. I had a sniper on the project before the one in the pic. After reading on the Holley forum, I don't know that I would have done that. If the ecu dies, you call a tow truck. Unless something has changed, you send the throttlebody back to Holley and you get it when you get it. Same thing with the Hyperspark ignition. I have to drive 400 miles to a lot of the places I go. I want the best I can have. I think a carb at the top of Pikes Peak might not be too good. Years ago, the Harley riders went to 4 corners for a rally. They had to cross a pretty high pass. After the 1st trip, they carried spare spark plugs until the bikes went to efi. I have thought about using a Fitech unit for a project but I would buy 2 and have a spare in the trunk. Where I live there is no triple A so you have to be resourceful to get home. I know you aren't a beginner so you will spend time before making a decision. Happy thinking.

 

Cars we’re doing those passes a hundred years ago, a fifteen minute jet change and a little fiddle’n with a screw driver twice isn’t that big of a deal.

 

I bought the motor, tranny and rear end. For all practical purposes, it is an Explorer.

 

I have the hole, but the problem is that if I move the sump, the dipstick is measuring the most shallow part of the pan. Not where it should be.
Since it is going in a 55 Ford pass car (which came with the Y block, it was front sump) it's the double sump that makes me wonder if it will clear. If anyone has done this swap, feel free to chime in. I hate go go to all this trouble reinventing the wheel if the stock pan will fit.

 

If you use a Carter, VERY easy to swap to leaner rods for altitude. While I don't recommend this procedure; to prove the point, I have changed the rods on my 390 Ford more than once WHILE THE ENGINE IS RUNNING. Takes longer to remove the air cleaner than to change the rods.

Jon

 

I drilled a hole in the front cover on one of my conversions. This wasn't the explorer front cover but I think it can be done without too much work.

 

Honestly, a guy could just change oil every 3k miles and put a known qty in and probably be ok. Not that I will do that, because I am a mechanic by trade for the last 40 years. Mechanics like verification.

You could even go 1 over for those that fret over consumption. These newer engines don’t seem to burn as much until they hit 200k.

My 5.4 has 155k on it and I very rarely check the oil….bad owner I know.

 

A few items for anybody contemplating this engine. The explorer has the shortest front dress of any of the windsors. Everything is different. If you look at the water pump, it has a threaded fan boss. There is a adapter sold to use a conventional fan but it's reverse rotation. You don't have to use the 90 degree elbow on the intake. The throttlebody bolts to the intake with the same pattern. You can dispose of the egr system. Plug the air ports in the back of the heads with short bolts instead of the pricey plugs. The upper intake manifold is reversible on the efi engines if needed. The wiring harness under one side of the intake can't be removed with the upper on. Not every valve cover will clear the upper intake. They sell different spacers to remedy that. When installing the cam sensor, make sure it's on no.1 on firing stroke. It does make a difference. There is a special tool to line up the sensor. I think everybody knows this but all of the one piece main seal engines are 50 oz. balance. The explorer engine comes with the same camshaft as the efi truck engines. If you want to use the factory efi harness, there is a series of 3 videos to explain how to do that. This link is for the 2nd in the series: . The eec v ecu does not handle camshaft changes well. It is possible to tune around it as the ecu has a port that tuners plug into as well as using the obd2 port. If you are going to the salvage yard and searching be aware that there are way more v6 explorers than v8. The harness and ecu are different. The engine harness does not contain the trans harness and one o2 sensor wiring. Most do not use the rear o2 sensors. It is possible to remove the coil packs and convert to coil on plug. The wiring info is on several mustang forums. That's enough incongruent rambling for one session. My desire is to help, not tell anyone that there is only one way to do anything.

 

So if you buy an aftermarket ECU, will it accept the tuning?

 

The unit I'm most familiar with is the DIYautotune unit. The 96 mustang unit is a plug and play deal. The mustang and the explorer have the same pinout on the ecu and are both eec v.

 

You can keep and use all of the original EFI stuff. The stock intakes are fine for around 300hp, tons of aftermarket options for those if you wanted to change the look or performance. Stay away from single plane carb style intakes unless you've got a blower or turbo or can tune fuel/spark in individual cylinders, as those intakes usually run the corner cylinders lean. The Holley EFI intakes are beautiful and perfect for higher HP, but are $1000! Professional Products makes a chinese copy of the Edelbrock Performer EFI intake that works great and is affordable. Trick Flow would be my first choice, because I can't afford the Holley.

The GT40-P Heads are great for a mild SBF. Stock 19lb (orange) injectors will run out of duty cycle at around 320hp at the rear tire (ask me how I know). A good aftermarket throttle body will make throttle response a bit snappier than stock.

There are tons of options for the ECU, using the stock EEC-IV with a TwEECer or Moates setups. Or aftermarket like Stinger PiMP XS, EFI Source MS3, DIY Autotune and now even Holley has the Terminator X/X-Max systems for these Fords, which is the cream of the crop.

Personally, for a reliable driver and on a budget, I'd keep it pretty stock, use the EEC-IV, Stinger, or MS3 system. If you want to upgrade and expand tuning capability on the fly, Holley Terminator X/X-Max. I wouldn't put a FiTech or Aces on anything of mine, but that's just my opinion.

 

What valve springs best for the X grind cam ? What’s everyone using ? I think time for some new ones in mine .

 

I did a 5.0 out of a 2000 mountaineer into an early ford. Runs fuel injection with the coil packs. Used the computer from the mountaineer but it’s been modified and the pats is deleted. Used the mountaineer wiring harness and power distribution. Wired that into the ignition key only and left the original 60’s wiring to the body. Been running for a few years with no problems.
If you need help send me a PM
I basically took the 5.0 and trans out of the mountaineer stuck it in the 60’s ford hooked up the wiring and did the plumbing and fuel pump with a return line. Then waited and waited for my computer to come back. If I were to do it again I would send the computer off to be redone before I started taking the motor out.

 

Call a cam company and get their opinion and actual part numbers. On my last 8.2" I had GT40X Heads and the X-303 cam with Scorpion 1.72 Roller Rockers. I had Crane 44308 valve springs. There was some experimenting with pushrods, retainers, and locks to get the math right, but my car ran great and was quite rowdy for a mild SBF.

 

I have the Explorer intake on my 56 Victoria. I am running one of Stinger's PimpX computers. My son actually designed the board and builds the computers. He and Shannon @ Stinger Performance work together on these. My son does the customer support for the computeres.

The Explorer intake is acutally a cast version of the GT 40 intake. It is a good EFI intake to use. I recommend it.

 

Thanks guys. I just wanted to make sure before I start polishing on the intake to clean it up a bit.

 

The harness stinger sells is made by Ron Francis. I used one on a 2.3 Ford Turbo engine with a PimpX ECU. Worked well.

 

Do you normally keep the EGR or delete it?

 

Ditch that stuff, no need for it.

 

Delete it

 

Question fer ya......
If the Y-block used a front sump pan.......why not use a front sump pan for the 5.0/302/289 engine ?
Most of the front covers for the SBF has a circle cast into it where the dip stick usta go
(before they went to the mid-engine dip stick). drill the hole and press in the dip stick sleeve.
Maybe a little RTV if the hole is to big..
6sally6

 

I have a similar but different setup in my FFR, I kept the complete engine with factory EFI from a foxbody Mustang.
I had a complete parts car so I figured I’d try and use everything I already had.

it runs great and has been 100% reliable.
there are only 2 things to be concerned about,
First, the capacitors in the computer can fail. I’m told they are an easy fix with a soldering iron.
Second, you have to put up with all the know it all’s who don’t understand EFI and tell you the reasons they think a carburetor would be better lol

 

I have one. Look at post #6.
I am using the 2000 Explorer timing cover. I tried using the Windsor timing cover, but it none of the other stuff works with it. I am keeping all of the serpentine belt stuff.