I have a friend / potential customer that has a minty 2004 mustang V6 auto. He loves the car and doesnt want to part with it but wants to play with it a bit now. Hes not a huge car guy, but knows enough and like to just hang out and mingle with car guys. I have known him since I was in diapers, so I am not going to bully him into selling the car and getting a v8 one and starting over.
I dont know enough about the Ford ECU’s, but last I heard they are VIN encoded and pass the VIN for inspection. So if I pull a 4.6 from another Mustang, or a 5.4L from say a F150 and swap the ECU’s and harness it needs to get the V6 mustang’s VIN to pass along to NYS for inspections. Then what about tuning on top of that? Is there like a EFI live for the Ford ecu’s?
He just called me and tossed the idea out there, so I am starting my research for him. I have done ZERO mustang swap research so far.
Opinions welcome. Notice this is in the Technical section… and I am a mod here. BS will be moved to trash.
SCT I believe make software for Ford. My EFI Live can change the VIN so hopefully the ford software can do the same. The 5.4 truck engine I believe is a taller deck motor and requires the truck intake and the combination wont fit under the stock hood. If you get a 4.6 make sure it is 01+ with the PI heads. Older heads and intake had round ports opposed to the newer squared oval ports of the PI (Power Improved) Heads.
As far as the physical swap I don’t know. I assume it will be pretty straight forward. If you can get a V8 car totaled in the rear you will probably be all set.
As long as the I can get the VIN into that ecu the rest cant be too hard. I will look into SCT now and see how it goes. Delete’s would be nice too in the ECU if I can do it to eliminate a bunch of crap.
I am sure he wouldn’t be opposed to a 3" or so cowl to fit the taller 5.4l.
I found a 200+ page thread on the 5.4 swaps from trucks.
I always wondered why I never saw 5.4 swaps and I was told due to deck height and hood clearance. I would love to see one tho. Deck height also makes the heads further apart so header clearance could be an issue but I’m sure that’s addressed in the swap thread.
I know with the motor I’m putting in, i can use my stock ecu, so tuning isn’t an issue. I’m not sure about the ecu’s for the v6 vs. the v8. I’ll ask around for you though
you can use SCT software for tuning, not too sure on getting a vin switched or etched into a new ecu. but you also wont be able to “delete” any monitors. all you can do is turn them off and they will run in open loop and the OBD2 inspection will see that they all read INC and prob fail it. you can only miss one monitor for his year without a CEL. the 5.4 has a taller deck height and the heads also sit wider apart than a 4.6. all SOHC and DOHC 4.6 and 5.4 motors will fit, but unless you put spacers in the k member, the DOHC 5.4 will require another hood. that v6 hood doesnt sit high at all. the ac might get in the way on the passenger side of the engine compartment too with the DOHC 5.4. but with the 5.4 you are also limited on intake manifold selection. how much is he looking to spend?
Yeah the 5.4 is a cool idea but way more than I am sure he wants to go.
scratch that idea.
4.6 donor car and bolt it together like legos. Some guy on NYstangs says he “thinks” he can swap the vin and hes an SCT dealer. Bummer on the “deletes” too. What are you doing with our Cobra, you dont have EGR and all that crap still do ya?
i actually put an egr back on and put the rear o2s back in. i pass without turning anything off…i even got the evap monitor to pass without the stock returnless fuel system. took me a while to get it all legit, but it was worth it. i could only have one monitor that was INC without a CEL b4 it would pass me. it sucks you cant just turn it all to OK like HP tuners
Makes me love my Unitronic VW tune so much more now. Sensors turned off, open or closed loop, Maf or MAFless, and best part was the readyness was hard set to all PASS. Should see the face on the inspector when the car passes all 8 without even running! lol
no, the donor doesnt have to be the same year. the biggest thing is getting the new vin etched onto the ecu u will be using. OR its a long shot, but you might be able to use the v6 ecu and somehow tune the new motor with SCT. no clue on that tho. the best swap/amount spent would maybe be a 03/04 DOHC mach 1 motor and trans. personally i think that would be a fun ride. ud be able to use factory ford parts aswell. but i dont know how far ur friend wants to go and how much power he wants to make. im assuming that he wants a modular OHC motor right?
The Mach 1 Motor is a nice piece of machinery. With some gear and sticky tires they go high 12s easy. The one motor that could rival the LS1 back in the day without being an over the top blown monster. Much Mach 1 respect here for a GM guy. I think it was the best stang until the 2011 GT 5.0.
Just Procharge the 3.8 like Inline Performance in Rotterdam did and it will be just as fast/powerful as a stock 2v 4.6 without the trouble of a motor swap/passing inspection.
If you do the motor swap youll also need a tranny and a rearend swap (v6 has a 7.5 and v8 has an 8.8).
Its really not worth all the trouble on such a common car.
but if u wanted to spend a little more coin, id buy a terminator swap. thats a tough swap to beat if you consider what you get and how far you can take that stock setup.
You have to change a few other things but can get it to pass NYS emissions. My friend got his 03 Cobra to pass with rear 02 off and no EGR. SCT/Diablo/Sniper are the 3 major ones but there are other options such as using a Moates QH chip along with Binary Editor to tune in real time. This is what I use in my Mustang. I also have Diablo CMR full Ford tuning suite but that’s $2500. The Moates is like $235 and BE is only like $80 I think right now, it has been awhile. You can also get EEC Analyzer which allows you to run your logged data through it and it has preset maf curves in it.
Fords are not like GM as far as vin locked in the ECU. The issue is the PATS system. You can disable that via a tune though as well but the light will be lit on dash.
I’d just toss a supercharger on it if it was me and a traction lok differential with some gears.
