87 ranger 4x4 engine swap HELP

[hillbillydeluxe89]

Brand new to the forum and honestly just getting into the thick of the mechanic side of things. I bought the ranger from TN and brought it to Ohio. Was told it ran good just needed tranny work. Long story short the engine was junk. I did have the A4LD rebuilt though. Lots of lessons learned in this project lol. Anyway, I have a 96 explorer but unfortunately it’s OBD2. Is this a possibly swap without having to swap the dash? What’s the best recommended route? I was given the explorer so it would be nice if it worked out. Thanks in advance for the help!! Work in progress!

 

[franklin2]

Here is some info on it.

Ford Ranger 4.0L Engine Swap FAQs

www.therangerstation.com

 

[franklin2]

More.

Wiring Write Up for 2.9 to 4.0 Swap with Original 1983-1988 Ford Ranger Dash

www.therangerstation.com

 

[gaz]

@hillbillydeluxe89 ,
Go Zombie!!

I love Cooper Discoverers; while the SST's are not my favorite model, they lk AWESOME on your Ranger, especially with the WOL facing out! I love the shade of green you chose. Cool looking truck!!

Too bad about your engine, the 2.9l makes for a very affordable rebuild, should you chose to rebuild it. Your 96 Explorer OHV 4.0l will bolt right in. As you appear to know, it will benefit from the complete engine bay/cab wire harness but...I feel it would be simpler/easier with the Explorer dash/steering column/PCM.

Because of this, though I very much prefer the look and function of the 1st gen dash but decided to use a complete 94 Explorer dash/column/PCM/with complete cab/engine bay harness in my 87 BroncoII.

Aside from the issues related to the dash/colum swap and driver's side wire bundle routing, the wire harness and PCM are simple Plug-N-Play.

Good luck, take your time for the best end result; from the looks of things, you will do well.

 

[hillbillydeluxe89]

Here is some info on it.

Ford Ranger 4.0L Engine Swap FAQs

www.therangerstation.com

Thank you!

 

[hillbillydeluxe89]

@hillbillydeluxe89 ,
Go Zombie!!

I love Cooper Discoverers; while the SST's are not my favorite model, they lk AWESOME on your Ranger, especially with the WOL facing out! I love the shade of green you chose. Cool looking truck!!

Too bad about your engine, the 2.9l makes for a very affordable rebuild, should you chose to rebuild it. Your 96 Explorer OHV 4.0l will bolt right in. As you appear to know, it will benefit from the complete engine bay/cab wire harness but...I feel it would be simpler/easier with the Explorer dash/steering column/PCM.

Because of this, though I very much prefer the look and function of the 1st gen dash but decided to use a complete 94 Explorer dash/column/PCM/with complete cab/engine bay harness in my 87 BroncoII.

Aside from the issues related to the dash/colum swap and driver's side wire bundle routing, the wire harness and PCM were simple Plug-N-Play.

Good luck, take your time for the best end result; from the looks of things, you will do well.

Thank you very much. I too prefer the first gen dash look. For the paint I was a little nervous using the raptor liner! Olive drab with 15% reducer and it seems to have laid down nicely. Thinking about doing a clear coat on top of it. Not sure yet.

for the wiring swap on an obd2 explorer into my 87 ranger would there be any links out there for these steps? I hate the idea of changing my dash out but If that’s the only way I have to go then I may try it.

 

[gaz]

@hillbillydeluxe89 ,
It boils down to a DECISION between 2 different jobs:
1) if you keep the 1st gen dash, you WILL become intimate with your wire harnesses. The 1st gen gage cluster, fuel gage in particular are issues as well as the speedometer.
2) swapping in a gen 2 dash/column involves some modest structural adaption but results in Plug-N-Play harness installation. I can not account for 96's engine bay/cab airbox components but the 94's were a breeze to use with the 87's, at least where they pass through the firewall.

Are you certain that you do not want to rebuild your 2.9l. it doesn't take too much to realize +60hp/+60tq with the trusty 2.9l with "mostly stock Ford components...just in case you hadn't really looked into it.

 

[hillbillydeluxe89]

@gaz
After just talking with a buddy and your insight I think just doing a rebuild is the best option for now. Is it worth going to upgraded camshaft/oversized bore and pistons or just going OEM the whole way?

 

[franklin2]

You have no choice on the overbore. If the engine has a lot of wear in the cylinders, you have to overbore, not for more power but to true the cylinders back up. Your machine shop you choose will tell you if your cylinders need boring.

Your camshaft should stay near stock. If you change it, the change must be very mild. The computer only knows what the factory used, and can only adjust itself a limited amount. If you have different plans for the fuel injection system, then you can get more radical with the engine build.

 

[Josh B]

What I'm doing is close to that but not close enough, because mine were both 4.0. a 96 Explorer w/obd2 into a 93 Ranger OBDI.
It will use the 96 block with the 93 intake manifold, retaining the obd1 intake manifold

 

[gaz]

@hillbillydeluxe89
Here are the parts I use for a 2.9l, hi torque rebuild:
• Ford 2.8,l flat top pistons
• 86-87 2.9l throttle body
• drop in K&N air filter
• 15" electric fan (lose the crank driven fan/clutch)
• set of quality 2.9l headers or 98+ spec 4.0l OHV headers
• 2¼" or 2½" single free flow exhaust
OPTIONAL
* flow bench port polished intakes/heads
* Custom reground cam

+20 HP, port/polished heads
+20 HP, headers and exhaust
+20 HP, custom reground cam
+ 1 compression point, flat top pistons (+6% HP)
+ 2 hp for 86-87 T/B
* reduced engine load using electric fan

In regards to the bore, I recommend increasing the smallest amount possible as a +0.050" (only recommended on 93-94 blocks) will net like 2 hp. I have only done +0.020" overbore to date

 

[hillbillydeluxe89]

Thanks, fellas. I will definitely do a little more research. @gaz thanks for the breakdown. I’ll see what I can round up for parts. All in all the 2.9 doesn’t quite have the power I’m looking for but fit the tune being just doing a rebuild will suffice.

 

[gaz]

@hillbillydeluxe89

If you did each and every item on my list, the stock PCM will run it great. Those changes/modifications will not make it a race car but you will realize a noted efficiency improvement, with more than enough torque to to haul, go through mountain passes...doing it all with greater fuel economy!!

 

[SenorNoob]

I'm in the swap camp myself, but the wiring is interesting in the 1st gen. Much easier if you have a 90-92 Ranger to pull from. 91-94 Explorer can be used. They have way more circuits than you'll need in the Ranger though. (Things like rear defrost. Always thought it'd be cool to swap that in...)

It definitely would have taken me more than a month if I had tried to use OBD2 stuff. Especially sine the computer is in a different place. (Under hood vs passenger footwell.)

 

[franklin2]

I'm in the swap camp myself, but the wiring is interesting in the 1st gen. Much easier if you have a 90-92 Ranger to pull from. 91-94 Explorer can be used. They have way more circuits than you'll need in the Ranger though. (Things like rear defrost. Always thought it'd be cool to swap that in...)

It definitely would have taken me more than a month if I had tried to use OBD2 stuff. Especially sine the computer is in a different place. (Under hood vs passenger footwell.)

I am in the middle of the wiring right now on a 86. Swapping in a 86 fuel injected engine into a 84 carbed BII. I know it's not the popular 4.0 swap, but it is still swapping in a fuel injected engine where there was no fuel injection, and it's more involved than I thought.

In 1986 it looked like the computer harness was separate from the body harness. It is mostly, with some exceptions. It's the exceptions that can get you. Getting the power connections tied in properly takes some wiring diagrams and some testing. Over on the driver's side fender there are hot ignition wires and hot in start wires. These have to be hunted down in the early wiring and tied into the new harness to power the computer and the ignition properly.

The dash gauges were also incorporated into my computer harness. I am not using the dash gauges, so I went ahead and pulled this out of the harness. But if you did want to use them, that is two other circuits that have to be mated to the older harness so the temp and oil pressure gauges work.

And then you have the fuel pump wiring. This is in the computer harness, which incorporates the fuel pump relay, that is already wired. But like the other wires, the fuel pump wire leaves the computer harness and goes into the old body harness. This has to be hunted down and spliced in.

The main heavy power wires for the computer harness are self explanatory. They have a large ring terminal that just bolts to the starter relay. And then you have some important ground wires also.