FB isn't great tech support. All that's different as you can see are unlused outputs like for the Cobra air pump, but the actual pinout is the same, as they would be both are the same physical CDAN4 hardware.
My 3650 swap
- Thread starter Doxnoogle
- Start date
FB isn't great tech support. All that's different as you can see are unlused outputs like for the Cobra air pump, but the actual pinout is the same, as they would be both are the same physical CDAN4 hardware.
MadMikeyL
Administrator
I just looked on Alldata to verify the connector views, and everything is identical, with the one exception that the Tbird PCM has an output on pin 19, which grounds out if you are exceeding 75mph with the shifter not in OD. Obviously you don’t care about that. That catch code does decode to a 96 Mustang GT 5-speed, so it should work. It’s possible you got a bad PCM, or you may have another issue. See what happens with the factory computer. It will throw codes with the trans not being there, but it should fire up and run and drive.
Doxnoogle
1st Gear Poster
Lol, im all too aware, but when brainstorming... I knew i knew better than to put that damn box back up where it goes....
MadMikeyL
Administrator
Well if just testing, you can leave it up there and just plug the old one in and let it sit on the passenger floor.
Grog6
Moderator
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- 2x 1996 Cougars, 1997 Tbird 4.6's all.
With it laying in the pass footwell, I put a grounded wire to the chassis. It keeps down the noise on the stereo wiring, that runs right thru there.
Doxnoogle
1st Gear Poster
Test drive complete. Didnt get too carried away as i cant hear if the driveline is rubbing due to block plate still rubbing a bit on the flywheel, but that 1-2, got damn son. Set the dakota digital thing to .25 and speedo is off exactly as much as it was before. Was pleased to find after it warmed up that it will actually close the IACV and whoa down when coasting. Rev hang between shifts is of course obnoxious af. It did buck / miss / weird thing once right after i left the driveway but i went on a 2-3 mile shakedown and other than having a giant hole in my floor and my car littered with interior pieces, id say its plumb drivable. Clutch feel is surprisingly good, bleeding went a lot smoother than i was expecting.
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MadMikeyL
Administrator
I see what you mean about the shifter being so high up. When I got mine, that rear blue piece was missing, so I fabricated a new rear shifter mount, and mine sits much lower! The way I made mine was a piece of angle iron that bolts to the body of the car where the rear 2 bolts for the boot plate go, and faces down. That then has 2 holes drilled in it for the rear mounting rods, and those are insulated with some heater hose that fits tightly on the rods and in the holes so nothing moves. Doing it that way keeps the whole shifter lower, and makes sealing the floor much easier, and mine has been that way for years now, probably close to 50k miles, and no issues, and I constantly shift as though I’m trying to rip the engine through the firewall!
Good lord I knew MGWs were high quality but that’s higher quality than the shift rods and forks on the transmission itself! 
Doxnoogle
1st Gear Poster
I do like where the knob is, comfortable to rest your hand on with your arm on the console. Cant really go much lower, as it is now the square shift linkage is only about 5/8" from the driveshaft. As i design something to attach it to the tunnel im going to try to drop it a little, but 1/4" isnt going to make a world of difference. Do you have any pictures of your setup? I have a quarter sheet of 18 or 20 gauge and an idea how to start on this but its not going to be fun nor quick for sure.
Good lord I knew MGWs were high quality but that’s higher quality than the shift rods and forks on the transmission itself!
Its skookum for sure. Super nice bushings in it.
MadMikeyL
Administrator
I don’t have any pics, but I’ll try to take some. I have some new cluster surround and radio bezel pieces to install, so whenever I get around to that, I’ll pull the boot up and take some pics. I do know that the clearance between my shifter and driveshaft is probably only about 1/4”-3/8”
Doxnoogle
1st Gear Poster
Thats what was going to aim for in 5th / reverse where its closest.
Doxnoogle
1st Gear Poster
Made some progress on the cover, revamped where the shifter sits. Did drop id down, it is TIGHT. 1/4" between shifter and balancing weight might be generous, i had a piece of 1/8 or 3/16 plate that was able to slip in there with play, checked in all gears. Guess it will become real apparently real quick if its too close lol. Time consuming af, but its getting there. Not sure if its going to be ready to drive to work tomorrow night or not, need to make hole in cover bigger and ding around with the block plate more.
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Doxnoogle
1st Gear Poster
Had to get pretty creative to get the block plate to stop rubbing, hopefully this is the end of it, if not, it may become a wear to fit item. Got my computer put back in the kick panel and put together. Had to do some heat gun work to get the rear vent pipe to mush over enough to clear the "new" shifter cover. All that should be left now is making the hole in the cover bigger, massaging it around my shifter bracket. Gotta at least wait till 5 or 6 before i make that much noise though.
On another note, wtf is this thing, i think yall told me a while back that it was possibly responsible for me not having cruise control. Looks to be adjustable, cant get it to adjust, seems kinda crunchy. Is not at full travel when brake is up, how is it supposed to be set? Brake lights do not stay on when theyre not supposed to and work like theyre supposed to.
On another note, wtf is this thing, i think yall told me a while back that it was possibly responsible for me not having cruise control. Looks to be adjustable, cant get it to adjust, seems kinda crunchy. Is not at full travel when brake is up, how is it supposed to be set? Brake lights do not stay on when theyre not supposed to and work like theyre supposed to.
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Doxnoogle
1st Gear Poster
Got the interior all buttoned up, still need a boot to seal the top and fancy one for the inside. All the universal aftermarket ones are huge though, 5-6". Took the fiance along on another shakedown, flywheel rubbing is gone finally, have a not terribly concerning noise under load, but a noise all the same. Cant tell if its "just noise" or something rubbing i dont want to rub, i guess time will tell. Going to take a little getting used to driving it as a manual for sure. Had another miss around the same spot goin down the road then was fine the rest of the way again. I guess now we get to play the game of "will it get me to work". Thanks again Mikey and XR-7 for the help.
MadMikeyL
Administrator
No problem! Always glad to see another manual swapped MN12!
That’s the brake travel switch for cruise. See that metal hose clamp looking piece on it? That holds tension between the white clip end and the black plunger, and that’s specifically where it can be adjusted; if the plunger is too long it’ll signal to the cruise that the pedal is depressed when it isn’t and cause cruise to be inoperative. To adjust you just shorten it all the way and the pull it only as long as you need to clip it to the undepressed pedal.
I don’t know why it would be crunchy, not much to it afterall.
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- 1997 Thunderbird 4.6, 1998 Mark VIII LSC
Really easy to fix, as Matt said. There's just a little compression-fit electrical contact at the end of the plunger that, when said plunger is pulled out (towards you - e.g. brake pedal not depressed) closes the circuit. You can test it by checking for continuity - if it's open, it's out of adjustment.
I had issues with that ages ago. At one point my foot got caught under the brake pedal and I pulled it up, which slid the contact further up the plunger inside the switch. It was hyper-extended, which caused the normal at-rest position to read open, a depressed brake, and... no cruise!
That switch has nothing to do with the brake lights though, that's strictly the brake on/off switch (which also will prevent cruise from operating if that switch is closed).
I had issues with that ages ago. At one point my foot got caught under the brake pedal and I pulled it up, which slid the contact further up the plunger inside the switch. It was hyper-extended, which caused the normal at-rest position to read open, a depressed brake, and... no cruise!
That switch has nothing to do with the brake lights though, that's strictly the brake on/off switch (which also will prevent cruise from operating if that switch is closed).
Doxnoogle
1st Gear Poster
Idk what I did different with that switch I didn't adjust it but have cruise back, almost as good as the manual. Even got me to work, sitting on cloud 9. Rev hang is atrocious, the miss thing is if you're rolling into the throttle soft below around 2k.
I'm assuming that's some of the bucking others have mentioned. Can I expect Rev hang to get better with a tune? Would like to mitigate that, have tried the iacv restrictor plate before, too noisy and affects idle.
I'm assuming that's some of the bucking others have mentioned. Can I expect Rev hang to get better with a tune? Would like to mitigate that, have tried the iacv restrictor plate before, too noisy and affects idle.
Yes the rev hang bucking etc can be tuned out.
Doxnoogle
1st Gear Poster
Do 3v's have a different imbalance than 2v's? Have vibration between 2k-3500, nothing crazy, but definitely wasnt there before. Finally got around to pulling the order info and it seems i ordered and 05-10 flywheel.
No, all modular engines are internally balanced, there’s no weights on the flywheel or at least there shouldn’t be
Doxnoogle
1st Gear Poster
Kinda thought that was the case when i couldnt find any info on it, hmm. Dont think its getting worse, just getting more annoying because im 3/4 autistic when it comes to rattles and stuff in my vehicles.
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I ended up with an imbalance like that on my 98 after the shop freshened up the trans and replaced the TC. I think the TC is out of balance. It's minor but noticeable. If your flywheel is also out slightly, I could see that being the source of your vibration.
IMO sounds like the flywheel. Mine has no vibrations... but on take off it has some clutch chatter. It's nothing bad but can be a bit annoying sometimes. I was talking to another guy on the FB group a few years ago, he used the same aluminum flywheel as I did; he has the exact same issue.
Doxnoogle
1st Gear Poster
No clutch chatter, was meticulous about breaking it in. Free revving you feel it, and its enough to make the dash bezel or change in the cup holder rattle a little bit 2-4k, especially noticable at 2500-3k. If i have the old lady rev it up and i have my hand on the engine its practically impossible to feel it, also dont feel it through the shifter. Above 4k it smoothes back out, or just gets high enough frequency its not noticeable as bad. If you push the clutch in and do it, its (probably in my head) slightly less noticeable. Its annoying though, almost as annoying as the prospect of pulling the trans again. Dont really want to fatigue the crank flange though. Wire brushed the flange, everything went on good, no reason to suspect its anything other than the parts came out of balance which is surprising given my experience with LuK. At first i assumed it was related to the (lack of) tune but as ive driven it more ive noticed its consistent whether under load, free rev, or decel. Not even sure if you can have a flywheel and pressure plate balanced at a typical machine shop? Usually done as a whole with the rotating assembly.
Doxnoogle
1st Gear Poster
I found an unmarried bdx nearby for a good price. When i look it up it says its not compatible. Is that only applicable to the canned tunes that are on it or it just wont work period? Says it works with 96+ mustang sans v6 and cobra.
Sans V6 and Cobra suggests to me it’s a canned tune device not programmable. I’d stick with your search for an Xcal
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