This is yet another continuation of my AMG 5.5 swap thread. I decided against chopping up my 62k mile XF, and bought this car instead. The previous thread can be found here https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...ap-thread.html

Alright, picked up the platform car for the AMG 5.5 engine. According to the previous owner, he purchased this car from one of the moderators on this forum.... if anyone recognizes it, let me know. PO's name was Jeff and he lived in Everett.

04 Graphite Gray Auto with a stuck ignition for $800. Tow cost me $200, didn't want to take a chance with an old battery so a new battery, wiper blades, and a bottle of Heet cost me an additional $209.

Completely stuck ignition, had to break out a die grinder with a burr bit to get rid of the pin, ready to re-install now.

Will report back later, should be running in about an hour I imagine.

Jared

 

IT RUNS!!! It also has all of the classic XF issues. Sagging headliner, TPMS light is on, cupholder is broken, drivers seat heater doesn't work.

It didn't want to start initially, took a few tries. Had a couple of lifters making noise for a few minutes but they quieted down.

Discovered it has about 182k miles on it.... PO thought and listed it as having 200k. Close enough I guess.

Aired up the tires, dumped in a bottle of Heet, and headed for the gas station.

Transmission shifts great!!

I filled it up and dumped in a bottle of Lucas and I hit the highway. Goes down the road straight, and I do have to say that the suspension components on these cars seem to age well. Maybe a little bit softer of a ride than my 62k mile XF.... but very surprised with how it drove.

Stopped and grabbed 4 new batteries for both of the key fobs, they both work. Then it was off to the car wash.

It has had brakes put on it in the last few hundred miles I would say... new rotors, calipers, and pads. Whomever did it didn't bleed the brakes properly and the pedal is VERY mushy. I'm going to start bleeding the brakes here in a few minutes.

Anyways, that's what I have for now.... probably going to hit the highway with it again after I'm done with the brakes!!

Jared

 

Nice find, looks in good shape.

 

Thanks, looks even better now that I got it cleaned up. It had been sitting for about 16 months.

I got the brakes figured out, all of the calipers had a few bubbles in them but the drivers rear pretty much had foam coming out.... Got them all bled out and now it stops with a firm pedal.

My wife found just over $6 in change....

Disconnected the Grey/Yellow TPMS wire so that light would go out.

Cut and buffed out the headlights. The drivers headlight is missing one of the rubber covers and has a dirty haze inside of it. I will have to see if I can tear it down and clean it up. I took the picture before I got the drivers side buffed.

I forgot to mention that it had an exhaust leak. I crawled under it while I had the front end up bleeding the brakes and discovered that one of the seams on the drivers CAT has split. Not all the way around, but it will if I don't take care of it.

Tomorrow I will pull the headliner out of it so I can get it to the upholstery shop on Monday.... and I am going to drop the head pipe and re-weld the seam on the cat.

Think that's pretty much it for now.....

Jared

 

We only have 3 moderators here
Me, pizzaguy and Andrew
That car didn't belong to any of us
Nice find though

 

I may have misunderstood what he was saying, or he may have been mistaken, either way.... no big deal.

I ordered a new steering stabilizer and a couple of key fob cases last night. I was surprised the stabilizer was so cheap.... $30 for a Bilstein stabilizer.

I'm on my way out to the shop to drop the exhaust and weld the split seam in the CC, after that I will drop the headliner so I can drop it off tomorrow, and while I am working on those things, my wife is going to work on getting the old rotten clear bra off of the hood and fenders.

Jared

 

Got the Catalytic Converter welded up, it was split about 90% of the seam. I am not going to show off the finished product because well...… I'm not the greatest welder. I am a really good grinder though. Doesn't leak and it's not coming apart again!!

Got the headliner out.... thanks to the YouTube video that is provided in the Crossfire Problems thread. I'll drop that off on my way to work tomorrow.

Also got the Clear Bra removed. Started cutting and buffing the hood and dinner time showed up. I always take my wife and daughter out on Sunday nights.... same little delicious hole in the wall every time. I'll get a few hours into it before work tomorrow... should look pretty good but I am afraid the edge of where the Clear Bra was will always be visible.

Jared

 

Got the steering stabilizer installed, what a difference that makes!! The OEM stabilizer was blown out and leaking and made a slurp noise when running through its stroke.

Also got the headliner back and installed!!

I have put in for vacation from Feb 10th to Feb 14th, this is when the V8 swap will occur!!

Jared

 

I have stretchy black suede for min in got acouole years ago, and have not got to it yet lol

GL, with your swap.

 

that sounds like a great project (swap) who is doing the electronics

 

Josh Chase is rebuilding my ECU, and then he will code it via TeamViewer after I re-install it.

The last 2 things I was waiting for arrived today. O2 sensor bungs for the head pipes.

Used items I have collected for the swap were the C43 exhaust manifolds, CL500 engine harness, S430 Engine Cover/Airbox, S430 TB Elbow, 74mm TB, clutch fan, and the upper radiator hose.

Things I purchased new are, radiator shroud, lower radiator hose, 14" pusher electric fan, exhaust manifold gaskets, the MB Star C4 Xentry program with multiplexer., and the aforementioned O2 bungs.

I bought new spark plugs, valve cover gaskets, injector O-rings, and both idler pulleys as needed maintenance items.

I also pulled the A/T from the wrecked 93k mile XF at my local Pick-N-Pull. Better to have it and not need it I always say. I still have a spare transmission for my 05 Hemi Ram 4x4. Had 81k when I bought it 10 years ago, 160k now..... tranny still works fine.

My budget was $3k..... but that was before I decided to buy another car!! I am just over $3k including the car, with another $100-$150 to spend on oil/filter, antifreeze, rags, crap like that.

I'm getting pretty anxious to do the swap. I have an 88 C4 Corvette Roadster that I love, and it occurred to me that my XF will have more RWHP than my Vette has for FWHP.

Jared

 

that is good info u r doing a great job keep us informed

 

I will keep this thread updated. As I said before, I have Feb 10th to the 14th off work, so that's 9 days total. I'm imagining I will have the V6 out and the V8 in, in 8 - 10 hours or so. I'll spend a day or so on the wiring (minimal wiring with the CL500 harness), electric fan install, and then I will finish up the exhaust and top off the fluids as best as I can.

My ECU is heading down to Josh on the 8th, he will have it for 2 days, and then back to me in another day or two after he ships.

The thing that is kind of killing me about this swap is the fact that the V6 engine in this car runs like a sewing machine.... it has become my daily driver for my 70 mile commute everyday. I imagine after the swap..... I will forget all about the V6 though.

Jared

 

Hello !!
Gret project !
About the engine mount support, is it the same or do you need to do by yourself ?
Why started the project on a atmospheric engin and not using a E55 AMG engin for example ?
Looking for you new pictures Good luck.

 

I will use the mounts off the V6 for the V8. It will be a bolt on part. It was the same deal when I installed the V8 in my S10 pick-up in place of the V6.

I chose to use the engine out of the ML55 AMG because it was available, and only cost $250. This is "The world's CHEAPEST V8 swap".

 

AND WE'RE OFF!!!

Got the ECU in the mail this morning, should have it back by next Fri-Sat.

Started the disassembly and also got the electric fan mounted while I still had room to rock the radiator back far enough to get it in there.

Fan was ordered from Summit, and is a 14 inch 1250 CFM pusher/puller. Four Seasons 36897, and it comes with the mounting hardware.

Also, a word about the OEM fan assembly...… that thing has got to weigh 20 lbs. It is way heavier than you would think.

Jared

 

Engine is out, took about 4 hours and I was really taking my time with it.

I have some clean-up to do, and a few parts to swap over, I should have the V8 at least set in place tomorrow.

I do still have to climb in the engine bay and mark for my O2 sensor bungs, drop the exhaust and weld them on.

I had intended on leaving the A/C compressor and power steering pump hooked up and set to the side in the engine bay.... but realized it is just so much easier to leave them attached to the engine.

I have a vacuum pump and will recharge the A/C system myself.

Anyways, took a couple of Alleve and I am done for the day!!

Jared

 

Incredible project. Continued good luck! A few questions:

• Is the skreem/ecu unit you're having reprogrammed from the Crossfire or the ML55 engine?
• Did you have to pull the tranny forward a bit to remove the engine. (Kinda looks like it from the pic.)
• Will you need to do anything to the driveline to accommodate the extra HP, or are the Crossfire components robust enough?
• What exactly will you need to program with the MB Star C4 Xentry, if the ECU is being re-programmed?
• Will the swap void the warranty? (Totally kidding, obviously!!!)

Sorry for what are probably newbie questions, but I'm fascinated with this. Again, good luck, and I can't wait to see more.

 

The V6 ECU is being built to handle the V8. It involves adding the missing coil and injector drivers and some other things. None of the security data is modified when this happens and the Skreem doesn't know the ECU was modified.

Believe it or not, that is the OEM location for the transmission. They do sit pretty far forward which makes it really easy to get to the bell housing bolts.

I believe the driveline is robust enough to handle the power of the V8.... it is essentially the same driveline as the SRT-6.

I do not know yet what will need to be programmed once I get the ECU back. I am having Josh handle that via TeamViewer.

Jared

 

Started the day today with a good cleaning of the engine bay.

I have some clean-up I need to do in the shop today, as well as some welding and swapping parts to the V8.

If I have the time I will set the engine in place today, if not, I have all week off to work on it.

I'm used to doing things as fast as I can, typically with minimal mistakes (ADHD), but decided that I do need to slow down and pay closer attention to what I am doing. I certainly don't want to break anything.

Jared