Installed a Tremec Magnum XL in my S550

[aleccolin]

What behavior did it exhibit?

Bowler got back with me today, they're sending out a replacement.

Hopefully I can just splice it together a little bit downstream and avoid a bunch of rework.

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[aleccolin]

In other news, the poly isolators/spacers worked out well. I've got some more heat shielding to install on the exhaust, should protect them pretty well. It's not as close as it looks.

 

[Ashtar]

Hello Everyone. I've been following this thread for sometime now. Thanks to everyone for all the info and @db252 for sharing all the pains as well.
On my swap I have the Abbot box. And I am having issues with getting cruise control setup. While I did not do the swap. I'd like to know if the abbot box was not setup/installed correctly. Would I see any other issues besides cruise control not working? And by this I mean: Doesn't the speedo work off the front tires? I've see talk about a "Rev Hang". And this has been taken care of by the tune.
The tune (HPTuner) has had a lot of work done to it regarding the cruise control. I'm looking to see that if I can see something that would point to the Abbott box being either not installed correctly or, the dip switches need to be changed.

Regards.
Dave

 

[aleccolin]

Have no experience with the Abbot box, but I know that the Vehicle Speed Sensor is in the transmission, so the signal conversion (pulse count/revolution) is between there and the ECM. If it's hooked up at all, the speedometer should function - if it's correctly set the speedo should be accurate.

The ratios for each gear need to be set in the tune, because the car uses RPM for cruise control, not vehicle speed.

 

[aleccolin]

Actually, that begs the question, how does the car know what gear you're in?

 

[Ashtar]

So I have noticed that I'm off by a few mile per hour. Not much, just a few. And obviously at higher speeds the variation is much bigger. I'll see if I can go the next step up with the dip switches. As for what gear its in... I have no idea.

 

[Ruiner46]

The speedometer uses a wheel sensor, not the transmission VSS. The Abbot box should not affect the speedometer at all.

If the VSS conversion using the Abbot box is not right, then cruise won't work, and you will get some funny behavior, like the rev hang getting worse.

If you have HPTuners, then you can fix the VSS conversion without using an Abbot box or Bowler harness. Your tuner just needs to set the right pulses/rev number in the tune, and enter the right values in the two locations where gear ratio is used. Then you can wire signal/ground from the T56 sensor into the signal/ground in the OEM wiring harness (don't use the power wire at all).

You can test if your Abbot box is setup right by datalogging the VSS and RPM.

VSS x (current transmission gear ratio) = RPM

 

[Ashtar]

The speedometer uses a wheel sensor, not the transmission VSS. The Abbot box should not affect the speedometer at all.

If the VSS conversion using the Abbot box is not right, then cruise won't work, and you will get some funny behavior, like the rev hang getting worse.

If you have HPTuners, then you can fix the VSS conversion without using an Abbot box or Bowler harness. Your tuner just needs to set the right pulses/rev number in the tune, and enter the right values in the two locations where gear ratio is used. Then you can wire signal/ground from the T56 sensor into the signal/ground in the OEM wiring harness (don't use the power wire at all).

You can test if your Abbot box is setup right by datalogging the VSS and RPM.

VSS x (current transmission gear ratio) = RPM

@Ruiner46 Thank you for the information.
From what I've seen the new gear ratios have been entered in and the VSS is set to 12. But I do believe that the Abbott box is fully connected (as I am not sure 100% how it is connected, but it does look like that the power is connected). I'll pass along your information.

Regards,
Dave

 

[aleccolin]

The speedometer uses a wheel sensor, not the transmission VSS.

If that’s the case, why is the adjustment for indicated speed, including tire diameter, final drive ratio, and even a fine adjustment to dial it in, present in the Bowler software which is reading from the VSS on the transmission output shaft and has nothing to do with any wheel speed sensors nor does it manipulate anything in the ECM programming. The speed signal is coming from the trans.

 

[Ruiner46]

If that’s the case, why is the adjustment for indicated speed, including tire diameter, final drive ratio, and even a fine adjustment to dial it in, present in the Bowler software which is reading from the VSS on the transmission output shaft and has nothing to do with any wheel speed sensors nor does it manipulate anything in the ECM programming. The speed signal is coming from the trans.

The Bowler harness is used for more than just Mustangs, and has nothing to do with Ford's system or programming. All it does is convert one speed sensor format to another, and manage the reverse lockout based off of that sensor. Most cars do use the transmission sensor for the speedo, so it makes sense for Bowler to include those options.

I'm just repeating what I've heard on this forum, but as I understand it, the S550 speedo itself uses a rear wheel sensor, while the VSS is used by the ECM for torque-based control of the engine. I have not personally confirmed this, but it has been mentioned in this thread, and has popped up a few times while I was doing research on this swap.

Here's a few threads where this is discussed:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/speedometer-correction-after-gear-swap.130440/
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/which-wheels-drive-the-speedo.137366/
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/3-15-to-3-55-rear-diff-swap-speedo-correction.104742/

 

[Norm Peterson]

In other news, the poly isolators/spacers worked out well. I've got some more heat shielding to install on the exhaust, should protect them pretty well. It's not as close as it looks.

That has to be changing the driveline angles a bit even if you lowered the engine. Did you have to do anything with them?


Norm

 

[ponie1992]

Hello Everyone. I've been following this thread for sometime now. Thanks to everyone for all the info and @db252 for sharing all the pains as well.
On my swap I have the Abbot box. And I am having issues with getting cruise control setup. While I did not do the swap. I'd like to know if the abbot box was not setup/installed correctly. Would I see any other issues besides cruise control not working? And by this I mean: Doesn't the speedo work off the front tires? I've see talk about a "Rev Hang". And this has been taken care of by the tune.
The tune (HPTuner) has had a lot of work done to it regarding the cruise control. I'm looking to see that if I can see something that would point to the Abbott box being either not installed correctly or, the dip switches need to be changed.

Regards.
Dave

My cruise control did not work at first. PBD had to manipulate something in the tune to get it working, but I don't know what they had to do.

 

[aleccolin]

That has to be changing the driveline angles a bit even if you lowered the engine. Did you have to do anything with them?


Norm

I dialed in the driveline angles first using washers and then ordered these to suit. They aren't a very high durometer, so they compress a bit. I backed them with fender washers and the stackup when compressed is right about .550" which sets my angles pretty much dead nuts. Since I can only get around 15 lb-ft of torque on the bolts without over-compressing the isolators I used a good bit of loctite and marked the heads, if anything starts to rotate I'll drill and safety wire everything.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I dialed in the driveline angles first using washers and then ordered these to suit. They aren't a very high durometer, so they compress a bit. I backed them with fender washers and the stackup when compressed is right about .550" which sets my angles pretty much dead nuts. Since I can only get around 15 lb-ft of torque on the bolts without over-compressing the isolators I used a good bit of loctite and marked the heads, if anything starts to rotate I'll drill and safety wire everything.

Good information. Thanks.


Norm

 

[aleccolin]

The Bowler harness is used for more than just Mustangs, and has nothing to do with Ford's system or programming. All it does is convert one speed sensor format to another, and manage the reverse lockout based off of that sensor. Most cars do use the transmission sensor for the speedo, so it makes sense for Bowler to include those options.

I'm just repeating what I've heard on this forum, but as I understand it, the S550 speedo itself uses a rear wheel sensor, while the VSS is used by the ECM for torque-based control of the engine. I have not personally confirmed this, but it has been mentioned in this thread, and has popped up a few times while I was doing research on this swap.

Here's a few threads where this is discussed:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/speedometer-correction-after-gear-swap.130440/
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/which-wheels-drive-the-speedo.137366/
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/3-15-to-3-55-rear-diff-swap-speedo-correction.104742/

I searched through the FSM and there's definitely data from the ABS wheel speed sensor system that's being used, but the speedometer is driven by the PCM which appears to be referencing the VSS. Below is an excerpt.

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