92 Ranger 4.0ohv installed into a 92 Ranger 3.0

Hello,

This is my first post on this forum, but I have read many posts here and I really enjoy the TRS community and support. I recently purchased a 92 Ranger because the body and interior are in mint condition, but the truck has no engine or tranny. Once upon a time, this truck had a 3.0 engine with a manual transmission. I also have 92 Ranger 4.0ohv with a manual transmission that I bought a while back as a project truck. I have that truck running great, but the interior and exterior are in rough shape.

Now that you have the backstory I bet you can guess where this post is heading. I want to take the engine, tranny, and whatever else I need too—harness/ECU, etc. out of the Ranger that is running and install it in the Ranger that doesn’t have these items. Basically, a 3.0 swapped to a 4.0ohv—same year, but I have couple questions for you all before I start.

1. Will the 4.0ohv w/M05D-R2 tranny bolt right up to the truck that once upon a time had a 3.0?

2. Should I pull the engine and tranny together or separate, and in what order—tranny first?

3. Since I will have the engine and tranny out; what should I do for preventative maintenance? I am going to install a new clutch kit/pilot bearing, the rear main seal, and the oil pan gasket/oil pump for sure, but is there anything else that I should take care of at this time to save from a frustrating repair down the road? IE: taking out the engine or tranny.

Any tips or advice will be put to use and appreciated. Also, I know I am not the first to tackle this type of project, so if there are any helpful posts out there that you know about please send me the link.

Thanks in advance,
Josh

4.0 didn't use an R2, the R2 is the F-150 version that was behind 4.2, 4.9 and 5.0.

The only difference between your trans and the one that came in the 3.0 truck is the shape of the bell housing. With that information I will let you decide if you think it will go in without modification.

Putting them in together or separate is largely a matter of personal preference and overhead clearance. If you are dealing with a 2wd trans I'd put them in together, if you are dealing with 4x4, I'd split them for install. My experience trying it has been that the transfer case gets caught on stuff. If you install them one at a time put the engine in first. It makes the alignment easier.

Pop the top off the trans and check the little oil diverter trough at the front driver's side corner. They can.. um, what's the word... melt. Also a good time to reseal the top plate and replace the shift rail plugs.


You need all of the engine bay wiring transferred for this to work because the ICM wiring is part of the headlight harness for the 4.0. It is part of the injector harness for the 3.0 Get all your wiring strung around and in place while the engine is out. Also, find someone with really small hands to help feed the PCM plug through the firewall. Or take the inner fender liner out.

adsm08 this is great information and much appreciated; exactly the kind of response I was hoping for. Thank you! I wasn't sure if the tranny was R1 or R2, but new that out of the two versions one was in the full-size Fords and the other was the ranger. Thanks for clearing that up for me as well.

I will probably pull the engine and tranny together since it is 2wd and I can easily remove the front end of the truck. Most likely I will install the two separate though because I want to do some work to both, so they will have to be separated anyway, and I think it will be easier to install the two individually. I will use the advice to install engine first since it makes sense to me; it is much easier to line up this way having done it both ways myself.

It sounds like the engine will mount with no problems as long as I transfer all the electrical, which I will do while I overhaul the engine and tranny. Shouldn't be too hard with both trucks facing each other. Both Fender liners will be out because they're easy to remove and doing so makes things much easier to work on.

If anyone has any info on any mods needed for the transmission to bolt in please chime in. I do not have the new truck yet, so I cannot look at it to reference. Do I have to transfer the cross member from one truck to the other and if so will it bolt up to the truck? What kind of mods may be required?

Honestly, if you are dealing with a pair of 2wd trucks I would put the engine and trans back together and then throw them in. I have done it all three ways. The only time I put them in together was on my mom's Mustang, because the headers make putting the trans UP to the engine a problem, the trans pretty much has to come at the engine from above, but that was nice having everything all bolted up outside the vehicle.

I would install them together especially because bolting and torquing the tranny would be so much easier, but I am not sure how easy it will be to replace the rear main and pilot bearing this way. I have changed a clutch with an engine on a hoist and it lined up ok, but it was a 4 banger front wheel drive car.

It would obviously be a pain in the A to replace those parts while the engine is dangling. I do not want to set the engine on the ground. I could brace it with a jack, but not sure how stable this would be. Also, I saw somewhere that you can set the engine on a rimless tire; I was thinking about giving that a try too.

If all else fails it should only take a few hours to install the tranny from the bottom, after the engine is in. Thank you for your feedback adsm08, you've been a great help.