5.0 Liter swapped from V6 and dined by Joe Dasilva not working properly for 3 years help

Aviator Guy · Feb 6, 2019

Hey Guys,
I had my car which was a V6 originally and I did a swap engine, I tear down a 5.0 block and put new internals like piston, rods, Aluminum heads trick flow, upper and lower trick flow intake, new K&N air filter, high volume fuel pump, 24 lbs injectors and a big aluminum radiator. After I did all the work, on my first crank the car start beautiful idling, running good, then I make a mistake to take it to Dasilva for a tunning so I drove it there without any issues no overheating, the car got there on its own. As soon I left the shop with my new tune I called him from the side of the road to let him know my car overheated and coolant came out. after I try to ask him if it was something from the tunning, He said no. On my head I said it can not be so I start changing thermostats, bleeded put new coolant and still the car runs like shit, I parked for 3 years and I decided to try to fix it this year. I need some input where to start, I fired up 2 days ago and the car is popping and misfires like crazy.
I want to put new head gasket to see if that fixes the problems, please let me know your comments.

Thanks!

07GtS197 · Feb 6, 2019

First off start with the easy stuff, check codes (if the new ecu is set up like factory), pressure test cooling system if you can and do a compression test. Dont just start throwing money/parts at it.

ttocs · Feb 6, 2019

its not a big surprise that it ran fine there and hot on the way back after being strapped down and run up a few times. As he said start simple, check all the little stuff to be sure its not a problem. Do a smoke test to look for vac leaks

01yellercobra · Feb 6, 2019

How did he load the tune? Is it chipped or did he use a hand held tuner?

ttocs · Feb 6, 2019

I am not aware of a handheld tuner for the 94/95. I thought it was chip only or replacement.

01yellercobra · Feb 6, 2019

I honestly have no clue about the earlier stuff. If it's just a chip he can always pull it and see how the car acts.

evilcw311 · Feb 6, 2019

Hasn’t been stated what computer is being used, or harness? What’s it being controlled by is important to know to help you.

You told us it’s a 5.0 and the mods, that’s a good start. Take us throug the rest of the details. Such as what did you pull all of this from???

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Aviator Guy · Feb 6, 2019

01yellercobra said:
I honestly have no clue about the earlier stuff. If it's just a chip he can always pull it and see how the car acts.

Yes it is a chip, I already pulled out last year and it runs like shit, it almost didn't want to start, it is weird cause I though if I remove the chip it will be like stock computer but since I change the injectors too maybe that's why? IDK

Aviator Guy · Feb 6, 2019

evilcw311 said:
Hasn’t been stated what computer is being used, or harness? What’s it being controlled by is important to know to help you.

You told us it’s a 5.0 and the mods, that’s a good start. Take us throug the rest of the details. Such as what did you pull all of this from???

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what do you mean with "Such as what did you pull all of this from???" you mean the computer and hardness? computer I got from eBay and harness got from a guy who has a lot of mustang cemetery near my area.

Aviator Guy · Feb 6, 2019

ttocs said:
its not a big surprise that it ran fine there and hot on the way back after being strapped down and run up a few times. As he said start simple, check all the little stuff to be sure its not a problem. Do a smoke test to look for vac leaks

How to you do that leak test?

ttocs · Feb 6, 2019

there are a few different ways and vids on youtube to show how.

This is easy but I have also seen just a water bottle modified to hold a cigarette so you don't have to smoke if you do not already.

evilcw311 · Feb 6, 2019

Aviator Guy said:
what do you mean with "Such as what did you pull all of this from???" you mean the computer and hardness? computer I got from eBay and harness got from a guy who has a lot of mustang cemetery near my area.

2 problems here, computer could be bad. Computer could be the wrong one. Verify that it’s a 94-95. Harness hopefully came from a 94-95 mustang. There’s other vehicles that would of had the similar harness for 5.0’s but may have been pinned differently.

Also, was the harness thoroughly inspected to make sure there’s no damage. Very easy to damage them when removing and putting onto another vehicle.

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Aviator Guy · Feb 6, 2019

evilcw311 said:
2 problems here, computer could be bad. Computer could be the wrong one. Verify that it’s a 94-95. Harness hopefully came from a 94-95 mustang. There’s other vehicles that would of had the similar harness for 5.0’s but may have been pinned differently.

Also, was the harness thoroughly inspected to make sure there’s no damage. Very easy to damage them when removing and putting onto another vehicle.

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No I didn’t go through the harness but why it didn’t happens after the rebuild? Why happens after da Silva did the running? I told da Silva shop to check his running and his answer was I have to undo all your build to check what’s wrong I said thanks but no fucking way I will pay you for that!

So I will keep trying to get it done myself, I had taken the car to 2 places and it wasn’t touch at all, I don’t understand these shops in canada don’t want to work on old cars anymore!!

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ttocs · Feb 6, 2019

this is the joy of going to the dyno. Sometimes the go and sometimes they blow but its not normally the fault of the tuner. Its fairly common from what I have heard from others to find problems on the dyno when you think everything is perfect. The two trips I have taken to the dyno, once was after I had a shop called "The mustang shop" install a set of heads/cam as I was not ready to do it myself yet, then took it straight to tuning. After the 2nd run it started to knock and it was after that I replaced the motor all at my own expense paying them to do it. the 2nd time it went back they found some ignition probems that ended up being a small crack in the dist cap. You said it was running prior to taking it but were you flogging towards the redline like they do on the dyno? It sucks but he is right that to figure out what is wrong he needs to start simple and then work into it and could be waste deep before he finds something simple and stupid like maybe the harness came from a bronco/f150 and there is the slightest difference that we do not know about. As logan said if you spent an hour just visually inspecting the harness at the least, or better yet getting a meter and checking continuity on each pin.

So the best advice i can give is get over the idea that the shop did it and get your hands in and start checking it all out. Start simple with a smoke test, check the battery/ground/electrical connections and hopefully you will not be waste deep when you find it. Its shit like this that made most of us learn what we know now and the stories above are EXACTLY why I started learning how to do it myself. If you screw up at least you can learn a lesson and hopefully not do it again. When a shop screws up, you just pay $$$$ and learn nothing.

96blak54 · Feb 7, 2019

Sort of like a routine surgery and dying on the table. Who's fault was it really? Or was the patient ready to go? Who really knows if the Dr made a wrong move.

07GtS197 · Feb 7, 2019

The biggest issue I see is that it overheated, Im wondering if it was low on coolant when the top end and radiator was installed which caused it to overheat.

What Im getting at is while there may be something wrong with the wiring or something else because there are a lot of unknowns with the motor being swapped, to me it sounds more like a cooling system problem like low coolant or a blown head gasket. A quick compression test will rule that out and is minimally invasive. Another thing I didnt think of is the fan not coming on especially if using a fox wiring harness.

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evilcw311 · Feb 7, 2019

I ask about the wiring cause of ccrm function. If fan isn’t coming in then it’s gonna overheat.

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07GtS197 · Feb 7, 2019

Didnt even think about it, nice catch

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ttocs · Feb 7, 2019

it very well could be a simple wiring problem from a corroded terminal from sitting a while to who knows what kind of problems from old age or where it came from. As logan said fire it up and be sure the fan is still operating on low/high speed, check all the fuses(under the hood and the dash).

Aviator Guy · Feb 25, 2019

Ok guys thanks all for your comments, I guess I did a mistake not checking the old harness, I wanted to buy a new harness but couldn’t find it, I will start getting my hands dirty once this freezing weather goes away. I will keep you updated, I should do my own brand new harness! I will keep you posted!