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seeking 2.9l to 4.0 4x4 manual swap help and electrical guidance


BabyBronco89

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89 B2 XLT 2.9 to 4.0 swap build conversion B2 and explorer Q&A

Hello Im new to the Forum

I have a 89 Ford Bronco II 2.9l 4x4 Manual trans

I have Read Plenty on the 4.0l Swap and conversion and still have a few questions.
I Have a 4.0l from a 91 Explorer auto trans that I'm pulling this coming Sat.

Supposedly has 130,000 with world product heads 20,000 miles ago
Im Pulling as much of the wiring harness as possible from donor engine.
I know I need a 4.0 4x4 manual Comp(Junkyard mission in progress)
using 4.0 radiator
planning on using 2.9l flywheel n clutch w automatic 4.0l starter(need confirmation)
Would like a little more info with what kind of splicing ill have to do to my 2.9l Harness.

Any other Suggestions or help is greatly appreciated will try to have pics up today of my truck
Thanks Sean
 
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disciplerocks

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http://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103747


Swap to a 4.0 clutch and flywheel. No sense in swapping a bigger motor and leaving the weak clutch in. And the 4.0 starter wont work with the 2.9 flywheel. And it would be the smart thing to buy a new clutch and slave cylinder anyway. Hate for it to go out and you'd have to pull the whole thing apart again.

I swapped the auto 4.0 starter for a manual 4.0 starter because I was having problems. Can't recall now what they were.
 

TexCaliBII

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The 4.0 man starter has a longer snout than the auto one and they are not interchangeable, unlike the 2.9L ones. On the wiring issues do get the EVTMs for the trucks your swapping to/from, they will make the process way easier. I have one for the 93 explorer and can scan you pages and I even have a 90 BII one now I think on it. So I can scan the pages you need. When I did mine i swapped the dash and harness from my donor Ex into my 88BII so not much in the way of splicing for me. Let us know if you need more help. We'll do our best to help from afar. Good luck and you'll love the 4.0/man trans, I DO!!!!
 

BabyBronco89

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according to DBrowns writeup i was reading http://www.broncoii4x4.com/4.0L-swap/4.0L-swap.php
under clutch flywheel it said different idk if its wrong but i really dont have the funds for a man 4.0 flywheel clutch n 4.0 man starter right now
i can get the auto starter from the engine im pulling out of the ex.
 

disciplerocks

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If you are going to keep the 2.9 flywheel, then use the 2.9 starter.
 

kunar

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The 4.0 auto starter should work fine with the 2.9 flywheel. It's a permanent magnet starter too so it's a little lighter/smaller and should use less electricity. It will start your truck on a low battery when your old 2.9 starter would barely turn the engine over. As for wiring, you will save yourself a ton of time by findin a different donor. Find a 2nd gen ranger with a 4.0 for your engine harness. It will make things all Plug and play. The explorers do things weird, running stuff through the dash and stuff like that. The computer doesn't care if it's a 2wd or 4wd, and one from an explorer is supposedly tuned for a hair more torque because they are heavier. The one for an auto will work but you will get a check engine light and have a hair worse mileage. The best computer for that combo is supposed to be an x2x2 code, 91-92 explorer manual.
 

BabyBronco89

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Okay that does sound like a little less of a headache thanks for the heads up
i heard that a 90 ranger is almost hassle free but one with a decent engine is hard to find. they were worked hard n put away wet here in michigan.
i will still pull the motor from the 91 explorer (its decent n pickings are slim)
i should be able to find a harness from a 90-93 ranger with 4.0l hopefully at the local LKQ pick ur part junkard .
i had my 2.9l out less then 3 months ago and the wireing wasnt too complex as i remember there is two rather large plugs that break the harness up on the passenger valve cover, will the 90 ranger 4.0 harness plug into my end of the 2.9 harness?
this would be a dream come true.

thanks again for the support its helping alot keep it coming
 

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Okay that does sound like a little less of a headache thanks for the heads up
i heard that a 90 ranger is almost hassle free but one with a decent engine is hard to find. they were worked hard n put away wet here in michigan.
i will still pull the motor from the 91 explorer (its decent n pickings are slim)
i should be able to find a harness from a 90-93 ranger with 4.0l hopefully at the local LKQ pick ur part junkard .
i had my 2.9l out less then 3 months ago and the wireing wasnt too complex as i remember there is two rather large plugs that break the harness up on the passenger valve cover, will the 90 ranger 4.0 harness plug into my end of the 2.9 harness?
this would be a dream come true.

thanks again for the support its helping alot keep it coming
your donor should be 90-92 ranger, and if you find one, get everything under the hood. this includes the fuse block on the passengers side, the relays and even the pcm's plug and fuel shutoff (on the passengers side floor) all the way to the big white plug on the drivers side firewall. AFAIK that will make the swap 100% plug and play in a 2nd gen B2. someone correct me if i'm wrong, its been a while since i was that far into wiring.
 

BabyBronco89

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Okay heres my update Heading to get my engine tom morning bright and early
its a 91 explorer with 130,000 miles with new world products heads 20,000 ago getting it for 200$ says it runs and drives, which is also good. guessing the exploder body is pretty rough as we live in the great salty hills of michigan

i called lkq pick a part and they said if i could find a 90-92 ranger with 4.0 theyd let complete wireing harness go for 50-60$ worst case.
so hopefully for a lil over 250$ i will have my wireing headache solved and my motor ready to drop in


ALso planning on doing a build thread so ill keep you guys up todate
need to get a photobucket account i wish there was a way to upload pics from my iphone
4s

thanks for the help keep any suggestions coming
 

BabyBronco89

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UPDATE
Have the 4.0l in the back of the bronco 2 along with pretty much all of the wireing harness in a big tangled mess on top.

When I arrived to pull the engine out of the explorer I had my cherry picker in the back of the B2 expecting to pull it outside in the cold and snow
The owner of the explorer said we could pull it in the garage lil did I know he had a hoist and another whole arsenal of tools to help with the pull.
We had a little trouble with the exhaust an the transfer case getting hung up on the trans tunnel.
on a later thought we should of disconnected the transfer case from the trans before we started to pull it.
But other then that the pull was fairly simple. Took about 5 hrs to get it out n loaded into the b2.

Man seeing that 4.0 in the back is pumping me up
I can't wait to get it dropped in the b2


Right now I'm sitting at steak n shake, going to hitte local LkQ pick a part to see what I can find as far as a 90-91 4.0 ranger harness goes on the way home
When I get home I'm going to update some pics of the pull n wireing

Shout out and a big thanks to BroncoBuyer for the hookup on the 4.0 motor and all the help pulling it I'm still in shock with all the help I received thanks bunches!!!!!
 

BabyBronco89

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Heres my 4.0 from the 91 explorer 4x4 auto trans


the explorer had a custom built snorkel running into the cab the body was very rough but the engine ran great :)


so im hopeing i can plug this big white plug on the drivers side cowl from the 4.0 harness right into my 89 b2 MAn trans 4x4 harness (im guessing im going to have to keep the existing man trans sensor wireing part of my harness and incorperate that into the 4.0 harness to make it work


Heres the 4.0 leaving its old home !!!! we cut the core support so we could slide the engine trans and tranfercase all out as one unit the explorer is headend to scrap after the owner gets the D35 off the front for his 4.0 ranger


Here were cutting the cat of at the Y Pipe flange so we can get the tcase through the trans tunnel it was a lil tight with a couple cats along side it


THERE IT IS LOADED IN THE BACK OF THE B2 AND HEADED HOME!!!!!!


Here it is back on the picker in the garage LOOK AT THAT MESS OF HARNESS o_O I cant wait to dig in


OKay Here my First Question On Wireing now that i know a lot more of what im getting into
IF i plug this plug into the female end on my 89 4x4 man trans 2.9l harness will any wires not be on the
right pin or will i have to cut wires at that plug??


im excited to jump into this soon any comments or help would be appreciated
 
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BabyBronco89

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The 4.0 man starter has a longer snout than the auto one and they are not interchangeable, unlike the 2.9L ones. On the wiring issues do get the EVTMs for the trucks your swapping to/from, they will make the process way easier. I have one for the 93 explorer and can scan you pages and I even have a 90 BII one now I think on it. So I can scan the pages you need. When I did mine i swapped the dash and harness from my donor Ex into my 88BII so not much in the way of splicing for me. Let us know if you need more help. We'll do our best to help from afar. Good luck and you'll love the 4.0/man trans, I DO!!!!
do you Happen to have a EVTM for the 91 explorer auto trans 4x4
or a 89 b2 2.9 man trans 4x4
 

jules82

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I'm getting ready to do the same thing I have a 90 Bronco II. Have a 94 4.0 with 50000 miles from a Ranger a 92 Explorer ECM 4x4 stick and harness I'm using the 4.0 flywheel and clutch as far as I read it should work?


Sent from my iPhone
 

BabyBronco89

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that sounds about right to me i need to find that ECM looked through one pick a part yard today and no luck going to look more tom
do you happen to know the code off that ECM?
that would be help full in trying to get the right one
im hopeing i can find a ranger harness i heard theres less bugs with them
as of right now the only harness i have is from the auto trans 4x4 i need a man
 

jules82

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It took a lone time to find it


Sent from my iPhone
 

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