Cummins common rail into an Excursion

[clamgulch]

That would be ugly as sin. There's some guy who lives in the Seattle area that supposedly knows how to make the stock unit work well as a stand alone. I'm inclined to believe that there is probably a way to pick up signals between the engine and tranny because I have a hard time believing that Motorola would actually spend the money to reinvent the wheel. I'm just running on a hunch, and only time and experiments will tell.
I just wish that the ECM and the PCM were "open source" software instead of proprietary to the Nth degree.
But Cummins isn't going to release their software, Motorola isn't going to divulge their secrets an neither is Dodge or GMC, and they would all have to agree for that to happen to benefit me. It would also put the makers of aftermarket programmers out of business, but I've spent $1,200 or more already programming the 7.3 and it's now junk- and the truck only has 117,000 miles on it.

As an aside, I'm going to be pissed if all of my PM's got dumped in the change over to this new software, and so far, it looks like they are gone.

[clamgulch]

June 27, 2008 update: Been busy and broke, but I'm pecking away at it. I've moved the firewall back 6" adjacent to the steering column to make room for the engine mounted air compressor for onboard air. Don't do it- it's not worth the effort.

Last night I finished installing the shift kit in the Allison 1000 and I also installed the super heavy duty output shaft housing from Suncoast so the transfer case won't break off the back of the tranny. I bought a rebuilt transfer case that is the same as my stock 273F, but it has the correct input spline (manual tranny) to match the Allison automatic. It also has the reluctor wheel installed in the tail shaft so the tranny will get the right output speed signal in 4 high and 4 low. The Suncoast housing is drilled to match the 273F at the correct angle for the Excursion.

Today I went to the wrecking yard and got the pigtail for the go pedal, necessary for the 2005 cummins ECM to operate. I won't have to bell crank the TPS that way. However, I'm striking out so far in locating a wiring harness for the Allison. Been to the dealer, wrecking yards and Allison, but nobody has one. Not sure what to do at this point. St.Clair Technologies builds the factory harnesses but I'm not sure if they will sell just one.

I'm going to test fit everything this weekend and deal with the mounts. I still need a bunch of small stuff to get it running, but at least I'll have it out of the garage...I hope.

[coldair]

you a mean one MR gulch

[MT56POWERSTROKE]

Hey,
There is a company near where I live, its in Kalispell Montana and its called fordcummins.com and they do cummins conversions into fords. They have all kinds of mounting kits, etc for putting a cummins into the ford. I just talked to Dave there today, and they are finishing up a Excursion conversion and they are using the ford 5 speed torqueshift tranny. He said it had a v10 too at birth. Just thought this might be some help as they have done it a ton of times and sell parts to do it. Hey, I was even thinking of selling my powerstroke x and looking for a limited v10 for dirt cheap and going with the cummins but this is a daily driver right now. Hope this helps!

[clamgulch]

I'm determined to do mine myself- the hard way, and certainly the most expensive way...so it would seem.

I'm working out final details on my firewall mods today. Engine, Tranny and T-Case have all been in together to check clearances and motor mount locations. Final trim and patch work going on now and I'll dress the engine with the accessories before it goes back in and gets bolted into place. Tranny mount arrives tomorrow, but I have to build a whole new cross member because the T-case is in a different location and rotated down far enough that I can't use the stock one.

[barlowcw]

Have you considered converting to a manual transmission in the Excursion? I wonder if that would be cheaper and very unique

[Zaphod]

I feel the need to make a comment on the manual transmission issue.

I admit that at first I was thinking of getting a manual transmission (I was looking at pickups in addition to the X), but a few test drives with the torque shift convinced me otherwise. There is no longer any palpable advantage to manual transmissions --- modern automatic transmissions are smart and efficient. Add to that the fact that any clutch dealing with 500+ lb/ft of torque is going to be a bit of a bear to work with and it pretty much makes sense to use automatic.

Add to that the fact that many fleets of large trucks are converting to automatic transmissions as they last longer and are easier to service (all the smarts are electronic rather than oodles of little parts (like what make up modern syncromesh))

And you're left with a manual tranmission simply being a status symbol and a method to discourage people from wanting to borrow your truck.

[clamgulch]

I'm really looking forward to having this Allison 5 speed mated to the Cummins for the reasons Zaphod names. I installed a shift kit which meant dismantling almost the entire tranny, but I was able to reassemble it quite easily with a tranny book. It's a lot easier than I had ever imagined. If I needed to rebuild it, I now know I could do it myself. But I'd leave the older trannys and even the manuals to a professional rebuilder.

I think a torque shift behind a Cummins would be an outstanding option if the truck originally came with one, and I'm sure someone will do one sooner or later. Mine came with a 4R100, which I had BTS build, but I sold it because it has one less gear than the Allison. Also, if I change the valve body, I can bump my Allison up to a 6 speed (double overdrives).

[therabbittree]

any news? ..I just bought a 12V Cummins repowered excursion. I am finishing the previous owners unfinished stuff etc and Taking the Truck in a slightly different direction. The Excursion has a 5 speed NV4500 in it now . I am debating swapping a new '07 G56 I have set aside for my first gen dodge ..into the excursion. This would help bring the gear spacing on the shifts closer, and would be nice for my wife (the intended daily user ha). The G56 has a new southbend Fe clutch here in the box..while the nv4500 has a enterprise dual disk in it now and that is a nice shifting setup when you don't use the clutch..Thats fine with me from using the big trucks, but my wife is still not used to that yet. whereas the G56 and single disk south bend FE would be like a regular manual trans etc.
Hope to hear see more about your conversion.
Thanks
Deo

[clamgulch]

Well, I quit my job July 25 and moved from Washington State to South Carolina. I finished the sheet metal work on the firewall and glassed it in that same day. Soon as I finished, I dashed to the airport so I could start my new contract job on July 28. Guess where the Excursion still is. I'm hoping to get my son to finish it, or at least get some things done on it while I'm here. I have to send the Suncoast tranny housing back- they misclocked it for a monster show truck. If my son doesn't work on it, I won't get to it until probably June or July...or maybe August, then I'll spend another year's vacation pissed off because I have to work on it instead of driving it to Alaska.

[DR.billZ]

I've done some crazy things but that just looks like W O R K to me

I'd love to see the look on a Ford mechanic's eyes if he took that into the shop to be 'looked at' for a problem. Might be a great practical joke!

[clamgulch]

Yep, it's time consuming, it's work and it's nightmare expensive. So was the mistake of buying Cunningham Rods.

[garryk6]

WOW Clam! Washington to South Carolina!!! I was hoping to run into you one of these years in AK, as we have now ventured off "The Rock" a few times driving to Anchorage from Homer after the 14 hour ferry ride. Saw the signs to Clam Gulch. Right now we are having another nasty wind storm. Todays is mild compared to Fridays. Today the gusts are only to 60mph. Friday sustained winds were 60-70mph and the gusts were 90+ and with temps in the teens, the windchill is BAAAADDD... But on the good side, the fire is going strong, the house is warm and there is lots of Halibut, Salmon and King Crab in the freezer. Take care, and hope you get back to the PNW soon.
Garry

[clamgulch]

Here we go again, just in case anyone cares- Tomorrow (Monday July 20, 2009) I fly from "Home" in South Carolina to "Home" in Washington state so I can begin work on this project for a couple weeks. Hopefully, I'll be able to get it completed in that time. Then I'll fly "home" to Alaska for a couple weeks before flying "home" to South Carolina. If I can get it running quickly enough (never happen) maybe I'll drive it to Alaska so I can take my F-250 up and bring the Mercedes back in the trailer.
Why is it that everything I do and say makes it appear that I'm doing drugs?
BTW, I worked on it in February for a week and the engine is currently bolted in. I probably should yank it out and insulate and sound deaden the firewall though.

[Stewey]

Clam, all I can say is that you've got bigger pearls than me.