Should I buy it or not. Decisions, Decisions

LordVngr · Jul 13, 2008

So I got a 89 STX Supercab 4x4 with a 2.9 v6 and a 5 speed manual tranny. My truck also has the Electronic push button transfer case. I'm pretty satisfied with my driveline now and dont really take the truck 4 wheeling. I would like to be able to tow a boat or 20-25 foot travel trailer in the future though.

I've come across a 94 Explorer 4x4 with a manual tranny and push button transfer case for sale. The owner wants about 700.00 for it. I'm thinking of buying it but not 100% sure and think 700 is to much for it.

On the plus side if I did buy it that would give me a 4.0 engine to drop in if I want and the Mazda 5 speed to replace the original Mitsubushi. It would also give me the Dana 35 for the front and the 8 inch for the rear. Not sure of gear ratios yet or if there limited slip. The Explorer also has all the same options my ranger does like crusie control, Power windows, etc, etc. Finally the battery is located on the right side just like my ranger.

In Short, buy buying this explorer it would give me All the parts I would need to do a motor swap, tranny swap, and driveline swap Plus all the extras such as wiring harness, radiator, engine computer, etc ,etc thats needed when doing the 4.0 swap.

My hesitation is because of the asking price and I'm not Even Sure I want to Hassle with trying to swap out the motor/tranny/driveline in my ranger. Seems like it would be the Perfect Donor Truck though if I decide I want to go that route in the future.

What do you guys think, Should I buy it or not and what type of money should I offer the guy if I do decide to try and buy it. If I do buy it and decide I'm never going to do the swapouts could I make my money back on it by selling the parts to other ranger owners. Tell me what you think. The floor is yours.

LV

Ranger44 · Jul 13, 2008

If you do alot of towing it'd be worth it.

$700 isn't bad for two axles, engine and tranny. Who says you have to give him $700 for it? Offer him a little less.

LordVngr · Jul 15, 2008

So I finally called the dealer on that explorer today. I Told the guy it was worth about 3-4 hundred to me for parts but no way I would go 788.00 bucks on it. Also told him I needed the axle code off the door before I made a final decision on the buy. He came back with a counter offer of 625.00. I was going to come back with a counter-counter offer of maybe 550.00 But the axle code stopped me cold. He stated it had a axle code of 41 on it which according to the info posted here is a Standard rear end with 3.27 gears.

Needless to say I was Bummed. 3.27 Open gears in a 94 4X4 Explorer with a 5 speed. I was hoping for a 3.73 limited slip like in my ranger now. It would have been nice too. A 4.0 motor with everything needed for the conversion, a Dana 35 front end and 8 inch rear end And a Mazda 5 speed to top it all off. All for about 550 bucks. Dam Dam Dam.

Below is the link in case anybody else is intereted in it.

94 Ford 4x4 explorer

AllanD · Jul 15, 2008

For you to convert your '89 Ranger to a 4.0 a 1994 is not the most
desireable organ donor for the engine.

The things that are different on the engine could be changed off.
For instance the 1994 Explorer is SEFI, but the SEFI depends on
a Cam position that is often a problem point.
Along with that the 1994 has EGR, and the Pressure feedback sensor
is the problem item on that.

Actually any year 1991-1994 can be made to work and each has it's advantages and disadvantages.

In my case I decided I wanted to use a 1993 engine , it has better head
castings than the 1990-92, but doesn't have the trouble prone SEFI or EGR.
and I simply dealt with the issues, of course my swap was considerably more complicated than your proposed swap will be because I was doing my swap
into a 1987 Ranger.

I literally had three weeks of tracing and splicing to do.

In your case you'd want the computer and EEC harness (from the PCM out
through the firewall and onto the engine) and once you have that the
conversion is nearly plug and play.

the fact that the explorer is optioned the same is nearly irrelevant
because though it's got power windows, cruise, etc, most of the wiring
is routed differently in the explorer, and that creates confusion and
annoyance.

Putting a 4.0 in where a 2.9 has been in an '89-92 Ranger is one of the
easiest swaps you can do.

the stuff that's the same is greatly in excess of the few things
that are actually different.

AD

rickcdewitt · Jul 16, 2008

i took the headlight harness too and there were only 8 wires different at the firewall plug(mostly because the donor was loaded and my truck has no power options).it was easier for me since the cpu harness plugs into the headlight harness and i could do all the swapping right at the firewall plug by just moving pins around

i used a non-egr 93 motor(not CA) and 92 cpu and wiring since 90-92 have only one o2 sensor(which i reused from my 91 2.9l) and CA 93 models have egr.

AllanD · Jul 16, 2008

Did you use '92 injectors with the '92 CPU?

Because the 1993 injectors are very different.
(different flow rate and different electrical characteristics)

CA-EGR '93's were also SEFI.

I think that might have complicated your wiring work.

AD

rickcdewitt · Jul 17, 2008

hmm,the donor explorer was a 49 state truck(no egr).are the injector differences related to the egr?
the 92 engine harness plugged right in to the 93 injectors.i haven't used a sniffer on it yet,but i hope i don't need to swap in the 92 or 91 injectors i kept.my truck hasen't thrown any codes but i don't know if the one o2 system would tell me.gahh!

alleng · Jul 27, 2008

i done a 2.9 to a 4.0 on my 89 ranger and used a 91 explorer, it was basicly a plug in job with the harness swap. exept for the rear tail light, the explorer tail light wires run inside, the ranger run outside the truck from the engine compartment back. i had to make a pigtail to make them work. and on the fuel lines, they are a little differant. i had to cut the connection piece off of the fuel rail to addapt it to the fuel line to make it work. if you can find a ranger with a 4.0l it is a direct bolt in, its gives you everything you need.

rickcdewitt · Jul 30, 2008

rickcdewitt said:
hmm,the donor explorer was a 49 state truck(no egr).are the injector differences related to the egr?
the 92 engine harness plugged right in to the 93 injectors.i haven't used a sniffer on it yet,but i hope i don't need to swap in the 92 or 91 injectors i kept.my truck hasen't thrown any codes but i don't know if the one o2 system would tell me.gahh!

Actually ALL '93-up injectors are 24#/hr "disc pintle" injectors while the earlier 4.0's used 19#/hr "stem pintle"

It's POSSIBLE that the range of the computer to adjust is capable of adjusting for the larger injectors
but if something goes wrong the engine won't simply go "pig rich" but rediculously past that.

AD

EDIT:so i have red top injectors and i hear that the 93's have 19# injectors on explorer forum.so who knows? i'll look into it later

Should I buy it or not. Decisions, Decisions

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