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How hard is it to swap a 4bt into a 2000 f150 4x4

21K views 24 replies 11 participants last post by  2000fordf1504x4 
#1 ·
the truck has an auto trans and a 5.4
what would i have to buy to make the swap happen and a ruff estimit of the cost plus the cost of the 4bt
 
#2 ·
Ahhh, that is the holy grail of questions. Trying to get a good estimate is tough there are a lot of factors, do you plan on buying all the parts to do the conversion or can you fab some up. There are several F150 running around with 4bts, there is even one for sale in the classifieds here, so it can be done. but it could cost anywhere from 5,000-13,000 to do a conversion it just depends on what you want. For my conversion, I might even make money on my conversion but I did have a 6.0l diesel that I parted out. It really just depends on how much time and effort you want to put into it. I can tell you this the 4bts can cost more than the 6bts. There are several places that sell conversion parts for all kind of trucks you will have to do a whole lot of reading.
 
#5 ·
2000fordf1504x4, I just recently watched a vid on youtube where a 4BT H1 whoops up on a 7.3 Powerstroke. That was a mostly stock 4BT too. Oh yea, are you on F150forum.com under the same name? If so I believe we were discussing this on a mileage thread or something.

My question, how do you convert the tach signal in order to get the crusie and tach to work? I have an 02 4.2 2wd and some have suggested Dakota Digital but I'm still a little confused on how that works and how it would work with the PCM. For all the other gauges I've been told just swap the sensors over. Can that be done on the tach sensor if its near the flywheel and I reuse the 4.2 flywheel for my transmission?
 
#7 ·
For the tach I hear Dakota Digital is the way to go. It will convert the system from the diesel by counting and timing teeth on the flywheel and turn it into a gasoline 4cyl signal that will be read by the computer. That and the gauge sensors are all you connect to the ecm, just need a separate controller to control you transmission. I met a nice Canadian who had swapped a 4bt into a tahoe and he was telling me about the part he has the controls his tranny and it even has a built in tach output that will get the cruise to work. fordcummins.com is saying the compushift is what you will probably want, but i don't remember what the Canadian had, give me some time though and I'll find out.
 
#15 ·
For the tach I hear Dakota Digital is the way to go. It will convert the system from the diesel by counting and timing teeth on the flywheel and turn it into a gasoline 4cyl signal that will be read by the computer.
Not sure about the Dakota Digital converter as used on a flywheel. The ford PCM is looking for 35 pulses on a 360-degree pattern (missing one pulse out of 36). See earlier discussion here: http://www.4btswaps.com/forum/showthread.php?18221-01-F-150-stock-tach-sig-wire

CR
 
#12 ·
M5R2 outside the Ford community. M5OD-R2 is the official designation. Literally, Mazda 5-spd with overdrive. The R2 designates it as the med. duty, R1 is light duty and is found in Mazda B series. The R2 was found in most half ton rated standards that had something 351 and below in the 90's and up...most of the time.
 
#17 ·
That's how it worked for me. I'm not sure how many teeth the 6-cyl crankshaft has. I did not see a specific description for the 6, so one could assume it is the same as the V8. There is a document that Ford produces to describe the engine controls for model year 2002 vehicles here: http://www.motorcraftservice.com/vdirs/diagnostics/pdf/obdsm208.pdf. See page 40.

I would want to be sure of the number of teeth, since it is a lot of work to machine or waterjet-cut a tone ring out, only to find the scaling is off. If you can get a good view of the crankshaft postion teeth on your engine with the sensor out, you could just count the teeth while barring the engine. The sensor on my V8 was in a place that made it hard to get a peek down the hole while in the truck.

CR
 
#20 ·
Like that 59CC conversion;)
 
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