How does our front 4x4 work?
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From: Windsor,Ontario,Canada
What Bluegrass said is true. A lot of wiring issues will be coming up that you will need to overcome. There are 104 pins on the PCM that need to be wired to the proper components. Simplest way to go about it is to pull the harnesses from your truck and replace them with the Navi harnesses. Use the complete Navi dash with the GEM that come with it and the Navi PCM. Short of that you will have to get the complete wire schematics for both vehicles and go over each and every one of the circuits to make sure they are compatible with each other. And if they are not you will have to re-pin connectors and maybe add circuits or cut and splice.
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Joined: Jan 2014
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From: In the middle of nowhere
Much better my apologies
I wish you well on this but my reply #4 is coming around now that your beginning to see all the issues and questions for which I was criticized for bringing up under the term 'hassle'.
Back yard engineering takes a lot of research and understanding and even then it may not all work out.
You have to look up the differences between transmission control, harness etc.
The Gem may be different. It has nothing directly to do with the PCM in an F150.
What about 4L? That's another issue that takes special handling by the GEM .
And the GEM does control a lot of other things. Is there going to be compatibility on that as well if changed out?
You have to know both systems to have any chance of knowing what can crossover and work.
It took dozens of engineers to work out the systems and your only one person going to try and cross breed two versions yet?
Good luck. I wish you the very best.
Back yard engineering takes a lot of research and understanding and even then it may not all work out.
You have to look up the differences between transmission control, harness etc.
The Gem may be different. It has nothing directly to do with the PCM in an F150.
What about 4L? That's another issue that takes special handling by the GEM .
And the GEM does control a lot of other things. Is there going to be compatibility on that as well if changed out?
You have to know both systems to have any chance of knowing what can crossover and work.
It took dozens of engineers to work out the systems and your only one person going to try and cross breed two versions yet?
Good luck. I wish you the very best.
all the way around
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Joined: Dec 2013
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From: NJ
I wish you well on this but my reply #4 is coming around now that your beginning to see all the issues and questions for which I was criticized for bringing up under the term 'hassle'.
Back yard engineering takes a lot of research and understanding and even then it may not all work out.
You have to look up the differences between transmission control, harness etc.
The Gem may be different. It has nothing directly to do with the PCM in an F150.
What about 4L? That's another issue that takes special handling by the GEM .
And the GEM does control a lot of other things. Is there going to be compatibility on that as well if changed out?
You have to know both systems to have any chance of knowing what can crossover and work.
It took dozens of engineers to work out the systems and your only one person going to try and cross breed two versions yet?
Good luck. I wish you the very best.
Back yard engineering takes a lot of research and understanding and even then it may not all work out.
You have to look up the differences between transmission control, harness etc.
The Gem may be different. It has nothing directly to do with the PCM in an F150.
What about 4L? That's another issue that takes special handling by the GEM .
And the GEM does control a lot of other things. Is there going to be compatibility on that as well if changed out?
You have to know both systems to have any chance of knowing what can crossover and work.
It took dozens of engineers to work out the systems and your only one person going to try and cross breed two versions yet?
Good luck. I wish you the very best.
The fact that I'm swapping in a Navigator engine is what's possibly causing a problem for my 4x4 and no it's really still not all that scary of a swap. Figure out pin outs, figure out what pieces are needed and make it work. It's really not such a big deal. There are guys who have swapped their lightnings to AWD so I know this can be done; it's just a matter of how.
There are plenty of people who have done Navigator engine swaps too, I'm not the only one trying this swap either. Ever heard of a Lincoln Blackwood? It's basically an F-150. So the Ford engineers did make all this work (not the 4x4 in the Blackwoods case obviously), you just have to not be a baby about it and not be scared to get your hands dirty to figure it all out. Too many people think everything is so difficult and abandon all cool projects because they're scared to do the legwork.
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Joined: Dec 2013
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From: NJ
What Bluegrass said is true. A lot of wiring issues will be coming up that you will need to overcome. There are 104 pins on the PCM that need to be wired to the proper components. Simplest way to go about it is to pull the harnesses from your truck and replace them with the Navi harnesses. Use the complete Navi dash with the GEM that come with it and the Navi PCM. Short of that you will have to get the complete wire schematics for both vehicles and go over each and every one of the circuits to make sure they are compatible with each other. And if they are not you will have to re-pin connectors and maybe add circuits or cut and splice.
EDIT: Heck, worst came to worst I could just wire up a manual 4x4 cable to pull the front axle into lock, and a switch to kick over the transfer case motor.
Last edited by 1998f150xlt; Mar 31, 2014 at 09:04 AM.
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Joined: Dec 2013
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From: NJ
Thanks. I appreciate all the support guys. Since the Navigator is ripped apart and my engine is off at the machine shop, I guess I should start one of those now huh? Stand by.
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From: NJ