Hey guys, thought I abandoned this project didn't you? Life's been very rough for me lately due to a number of things, but its starting to come back together. So I'm ready to start working on the project in the up coming weeks and figuring out what I want to do. The van is in need of a tune up and has a slight vacuum leak in the intake manifold that needs to be addressed. I did my first fuel economy test the other day and returned poor results, 15 city/hwy mix, and 11 short tripping it around town. This has got to go so I'm weighing my options, the easiest would be to keep the van and repair and turbo the engine. other possibilities include an engine swap or mod a different van. we only have two vehicles at the moment so downtime must remain at a minimum. I could downsize the engine to a 4 or 3cyl, I think the 3.0 vulcan has the same bellhousing bolt patern, which would make things alot easier to swap in a zeta engine according to this thread:
Two questions. Gen 4 cheap coils? Eco engine swaps? - Taurus Car Club of America : Ford Taurus Forum
Using the same trans saves a lot of fab work like axels and trans mounts and shifter.
I also thought about a metro 3 or 4 banger or vw 1.8t but that would require some machine work, I have experience in complex rewiring and motor mount fab, I normally leave the stock PCM in place and feed it just enough inputs to properly shift the trans, the tps signal can be played with as well to encourage soon upshifts and tc lock-up. But the adapter plate department I have left alone due to the precise measuring and machining required, but may give it shot as the ones that can be purchased carry a high price tag. I think a tiny 3 banger would be cool under the hood, and donor metros can still be found cheap, but I wonder if it would be dangerous to get out into traffic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oil pan 4
AX4N transmissions found on those cars are garbage.
At minimum I would recomend a canister style hydraulic oil filter and air to oil cooler.
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This is true, it has the ax4s, same junk, if I roll with it I will look into the filter/cooler setup. This and the down time involved in a motor swap makes me want to buy a cheap broke down van off craigslist and mod from there but with a smaller engine the ax4 may live a little longer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oil pan 4
I have K03 down pipes if you need one.
And coolant lines.
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I do need the flanges, I'll will keep you in mind if you want to sell them