e4od to zf5 wiring...

Hey all,

Got the e4od to zf5 swap done. The mechanical aspect of it, that is. Unfortunately the truck wont start. I have read up on this a lot, and I think I can fix it while leaving the e4od wiring installed. However, if not too difficult, I would prefer to swap the zf5 wiring into the truck with the other transmission parts. So my question basically is, how do I do this? Up until today, I thought that the standard transmission trucks didn't have what I called the 'transmission computer', which I now believe to be a pcm. However my reading leads me to believe that the manual trucks do in fact have a box in them with a bunch of wires coming out of it, mounted down on the firewall on the drivers side. If that is correct, I assume if I unbolt the pcm from the formerly automatic truck and remove every wire that comes out of it, then replace with all of the same wiring from the manual parts truck, this should fix the problem, right? Any advice and help is appreciated, the more detailed the better. Thanks

The ZF S5-42 that I have only has two wires connected to it, those being for the reverse lights. Check the following thread for some info, it may help.

https://www.oilburners.net/threads/93-f350-e4od-to-zf5-electrical-specific.80443/

I did this swap on my 94 F250. Transmission came from a 95 f super duty w/ 460 gas engine. There was no computer or pcm associated with it. There were a few wires for the reverse lights and that was it. From what I recall the e4od was wired into the switch on the brake pedal and something with that had to change to overcome the neutral interlock, the circuit that forced you to be in neutral or park to start the truck.

I just did the swap about 5 days ago. If you use the manual transmission harness out of a manual truck, then you should be fine, its just plug and play. Disconnect the three plugs on the driver inner fender. Plug the green plug from the manual transmission harness into the green plug on the inner fender. You shouldn't have to jump anything out. There is a harness in the cab that has a jumper for the e4od in place of the clutch switch. If you choose not to use the clutch switch leave it alone. Also, if you didn't use the steering column out of a manual truck, and modified the auto column make sure the shift lever is in park if all your doing is removing the shift lever like I did, or you wont be able to get the key out.

The manual trans harness I have has two plugs that go down by the trans, one for the transfer case 4x4 4x4low light, and the other is a 2 pin connector going to the upper left driver side of the ZF5 for the reverse switch.

Yes, I kept my auto column and I had to take a piece of mechanics wire and tie the lever at the bottom of the column under the hood in the up position. If it falls down, the column thinks the auto tranny is still in gear and won't let you turn the keyswitch all the way back to take the key out.

If you want your truck to start, all you need to do is find the two neutral safety wires and tie them together. On the older trucks it was two red/blue strip wires.

I don't know what year truck he has, or I would look it up to make sure the color of the wires if I have the right diagrams.

I didn't keep the auto column and ask the linkages came out with the help of an angle grinder. I don't think tying it into neutral is an option. I am curious about this neutral safely switch deal. To be clear this is not the switch on the clutch pedal, right? I did plug that in. So if I understand correctly at this point, I have to somehow convince the truck that it is in neutral? By jumping two wires in one of the pigtails/ plugs down under the truck that used to plug into the E4OD?

Also a side note, what in the heck is a pcm? Power train control module right? I have read many forums and posts where people talk about swapping the manual pcm over with the ZF5? How do I do that?


Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk

IDI's manuals do don't use a coputer of any kind, that is the beauty of them. Just a clutch safety switch. Those go bad so even if you have wires hooked to it could still not work. Need to check and see if got power coming to it then when depressed got power coming out.

Does that mean I can remove the computer mounted into the firewall, as well as all of the wires that come out of it? Or will this cause other issues?

I don't see any green plugs in the manual truck. It is an 87. The 91 (formerly automatic, now manual) has the three plugs you are talking about. I tried putting the manual lever position switch into neutral so I could tie it up to the frame but still no start. There is a wierd switch/ sensor on the clutch pedal that I plugged in, I don't know what it is though. Any ideas if that could be part of the problem?

jonleroy2506 said:

There is a wierd switch/ sensor on the clutch pedal that I plugged in, I don't know what it is though. Any ideas if that could be part of the problem?

Click to expand...

That should be your clutch switch (as I call it). That it what makes it so that you have to push in the clutch pedal in order to make the starter engage and start turning the engine over. Personally, I don't like them and bypass them on all of my standard transmission vehicles. The only exception to that was with my 1995 ******. I left that alone.

Did you check for power in and out of the clutch switch?

I ended up also bypassing that clutch safety switch deal. I realized I was confused about what it was because most of the forums I found on the issue were about slightly newer trucks, in which the clutch safety switch is mounted to the master cylinder. However bypassing it still won't allow the truck to start.

Can anyone confirm or deny that the only three things in that circuit that can cause the truck not to start would be either the ignition switch not closing the circuit, the clutch safety switch not closing the circuit, or the mlps/trs not closing the circuit?

Last note is I spoke with my dad about the issue and he suggested taking a heavy gauge wire and jumping power from a hit battery terminal to the small post on the starter relay. His thinking was that by doing that, no sensor inputs would disallow the truck to start. Is that accurate? If so, how difficult would it be to run a separate starter switch and completely bypass all that crap permanently? Sorry for the long post

Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk

Okay lets back up a little. When you say the truck won't start, do you mean it wont turn the engine over? Or it cranks and turns over and it won't start?

No crank at all. Absolutely nothing when I turn the key

Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk

I should say nothing from the starter or relay. Lights and such do work

Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk