new member, first question XR4Ti

[AL8001 at aol.com]

fosterfarms at yahoo.com wrote:

<<My 87 Merkur XR ECU is engineering number is E5ZF-12A650-F1D.  The 86
SVO ECU is engineering number E5ZF-12A650-E1A (also E2A, E3A).  My
question is this:  What differences are there in the ECU's?  I know
that swapping them is simply a matter of plugging one in for the
other, same connectors, wires...  Is the only difference in the E-prom
chip itself?>>

I've got a 85 XR4Ti, soon in my spare time, I'll swap the motor into a 88
Ranger.  From what I've seen so far, all EEC-4 systems have a soldered in
prom.  Some of the early EEC-3 ( 80-83 ish) systems had a bolt on aluminum
prom pack.

The numbers you have are they printed on the paper label?  There are also a
ECM series # stamped on the gray ECM connecter.  If the two match burning a
new prom should not be a problem.

BTW from what I remember the only non 2.3 app that used a air flow meter and
multi injectors was the Ford Escort 1.6 turbo ( 82-84 ish) And 88 up or so 2.3
turbos had a MAP system.

<<I'm hoping that the difference is solely in the E-prom.  I have a
friend with a 86 SVO and can have access to his ECU.  I own an E-prom
burner and can copy the chip easily.  I figure I should be able to
retain the original ECU and simply change out the chip.>>

If the ECM's match the only real problem is removing the prom with out damage.
Has anyone ever used a prom reader such as a Needhams PB-10 hooked up the a IC
clip and read the prom while it's in the ECM?  From what I can figure, Ford
builds the ECM with a blank prom then hooks up to the card edge on the board
to burn the info.

Wonder if this card edge could be used to any advantage? GM also has a unused
card edge as well.

Do you have any #  or brand on the air flow meter?