First time advice!? (Rebuild, Swap or Buy Remanufactured)

[Brain75]

For the money and TIME I would go to LKQ/etc and narrow my search to one that had been T-boned or rear ended... if you find one that the body is all "fine" then it is probably wore out, if you find one the bed is wrecked on and obviously an accident, the chances the motor is good are much much higher. I live in a tiny no-where and there are 2 dozen rangers (all 1st, 2nd or 3rd generation) in a tiny junkyard (less than 300 cars total, less than 160 fords) near here, you could have your pick of engines here... including a 94+ that was rolled and completely trashed every single body panel - 6 digit odometer starts with a 0. Rebuilding is something you should not rush, not that you should rush a swap, but a straightforward same swap can be done on a long holiday weekend by just adding a vacation day and turning it into a 4 day weekend. A rebuild, your first rebuild especially, leaves the vehicle sitting dead for a few to several months while you wait for parts, machine shop to "get to you", etc. Unless you are dying to have another 4.0 i would open up the options to all the straightforward (i.e. OEM) swaps, 2.9 V6 or even the little 4 banger. I have the 2.9 myself and it is more than enough for farm work, if you want to pull a tractor out of the mud you use a bigger tractor, not a little ranger. Know the vehicles niche and stay in that niche. Re:rebuild, the first responder here even mirrors that "...it takes forever to do ...". I used to say check the dipstick, but they drain all the oil out before going to the yard thanks to the EPA. Figure to spend an entire day tromping the yard and finding it while being picky, then depending if they will let you do or they insist no hoists/jacks, etc - THEY pull the motor, another day before you get the motor... take everything attached you can that they wont nickle and dime you for, brackets, etc - never know if you find out yours is cracked, the PO drilled out and used the wrong fastener, etc.

I rebuilt a 302 and it took years, high compression 289 heads, etc etc. I swapped a like for like straight 6 one holiday weekend, and transmission upgrade the next (then waited a month for the drive shop to build me a new hybrid driveshaft).

Sidenote on if you really neeeeeed a rebuild, my straight 6 had zero PSI oil pressure and still ran, barely "passed" the compression test. I used it to go fetch the new motor, talk about carrying your own groceries.... root cause it was wore out wore out, I dropped the crank and mic'd it, everything was wollered out egg shaped, the varnish was holding it together.
Before you decide it needs a rebuild/swap do your due diligence. compression test, oil pressure, etc - run through all the tests to make sure it isn't just a simple issue like valve cover gaskets.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

For the money and TIME I would go to LKQ/etc and narrow my search to one that had been T-boned or rear ended... if you find one that the body is all "fine" then it is probably wore out, if you find one the bed is wrecked on and obviously an accident, the chances the motor is good are much much higher. I live in a tiny no-where and there are 2 dozen rangers (all 1st, 2nd or 3rd generation) in a tiny junkyard (less than 300 cars total, less than 160 fords) near here, you could have your pick of engines here... including a 94+ that was rolled and completely trashed every single body panel - 6 digit odometer starts with a 0. Rebuilding is something you should not rush, not that you should rush a swap, but a straightforward same swap can be done on a long holiday weekend by just adding a vacation day and turning it into a 4 day weekend. A rebuild, your first rebuild especially, leaves the vehicle sitting dead for a few to several months while you wait for parts, machine shop to "get to you", etc. Unless you are dying to have another 4.0 i would open up the options to all the straightforward (i.e. OEM) swaps, 2.9 V6 or even the little 4 banger. I have the 2.9 myself and it is more than enough for farm work, if you want to pull a tractor out of the mud you use a bigger tractor, not a little ranger. Know the vehicles niche and stay in that niche. Re:rebuild, the first responder here even mirrors that "...it takes forever to do ...". I used to say check the dipstick, but they drain all the oil out before going to the yard thanks to the EPA. Figure to spend an entire day tromping the yard and finding it while being picky, then depending if they will let you do or they insist no hoists/jacks, etc - THEY pull the motor, another day before you get the motor... take everything attached you can that they wont nickle and dime you for, brackets, etc - never know if you find out yours is cracked, the PO drilled out and used the wrong fastener, etc.

I rebuilt a 302 and it took years, high compression 289 heads, etc etc. I swapped a like for like straight 6 one holiday weekend, and transmission upgrade the next (then waited a month for the drive shop to build me a new hybrid driveshaft).

Sidenote on if you really neeeeeed a rebuild, my straight 6 had zero PSI oil pressure and still ran, barely "passed" the compression test. I used it to go fetch the new motor, talk about carrying your own groceries.... root cause it was wore out wore out, I dropped the crank and mic'd it, everything was wollered out egg shaped, the varnish was holding it together.
Before you decide it needs a rebuild/swap do your due diligence. compression test, oil pressure, etc - run through all the tests to make sure it isn't just a simple issue like valve cover gaskets.

As much as my rabid 2.9 fandom would LOVE to see a 3.0 get swapped for a 2.9....

With a 3.0 truck the only straight foward swap is another 3.0. The 2.8/2.9/4.0 all use different bellhousing and motormounts, which means a new trans and mounts. Wiring is also different.

Same case with the 4 cylinders.

 

[MaicoDoug]

Over Hwy 17 on the way to Santa Cruz with my brand new 5 speed, (2.8L) V6 I towed a 1956 International panel truck. GVW was 5000 pounds!! I had to use 2 gear a couple of times going up to the pass, after that 140kmi of blistering fast solid lifter fun in that little 60 degree ex Capri fresh from Cologne W. Germany. What a motor. The 2.9 & 3.0 are arguably the same basic block, just with less rpms.

Brain 75, hello.....friend ~

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Over Hwy 17 on the way to Santa Cruz with my brand new 5 speed, (2.8L) V6 I towed a 1956 International panel truck. GVW was 5000 pounds!! I had to use 2 gear a couple of times going up to the pass, after that 140kmi of blistering fast solid lifter fun in that little 60 degree ex Capri fresh from Cologne W. Germany. What a motor. The 2.9 & 3.0 are arguably the same basic block, just with less rpms.

Brain 75, hello.....friend ~

The 2.8/2.9 are basically the same block. (4.0 too).

The 3.0 is a totally different engine family.

 

[Brain75]

As much as my rabid 2.9 fandom would LOVE to see a 3.0 get swapped for a 2.9....

With a 3.0 truck the only straight foward swap is another 3.0. The 2.8/2.9/4.0 all use different bellhousing and motormounts, which means a new trans and mounts. Wiring is also different.

Same case with the 4 cylinders.

Question for me and the OP's (Original Poster) benefit. Assuming he finds a manual trans donor, other than the bellhousing and motor mounts, which models could he "just take the mounts & housing too" off the donor? I don't have a ton of experience swapping a dozen different motors, but I assume Ford would use the same clutch and trans across several different engine options within a year or generation. I know Ford changes trans several times as one 3rd party vendor (borg warner / allison / etc) agrees to a cheaper contract or better quality or or, but usually they specify all the mountings are the exact same so they don't have to change stuff on their (Ford's) end too. My yard is pretty cheap, and they even tend to just wave off stuff like motor mounts when you are buying the whole engine ($225 for an engine who cares about the $6 for the mounts). If we can open up more options for the OP, we make life easier for the OP (and I would of course like the info too seeing how nothing lasts forever).
I just re-read that and some naivety shows... I am used to old iron where the bellhousing is separate - are all the trans in question integrated bellhousings?

Couple further thoughts to the OP on my advice of "find one that is wrecked". If you get your choice of 3 or 4 and trying to decide between, look at the odometer and pick the one with lower miles. (assuming it is a 6 digit odo, or you can guess if it is 110k or 210k based on the body/interior/etc - the general condition.) Also a rolled one that is really smashed up can still be perfectly fine, but look to see that the trans is not canted sideways, the fuel rail busted off etc. Any intrusion into the engine compartment is a non-starter for me. Also, consider gas mileage.... it is $3 / gal here and over the long term I guarantee it is only going to go up, no need to put a monster engine in it and then cry that it is too expensive to drive 5 years from now when gas is xyz higher and your aren't really earning anything more.

 

[2011Supercab]

I already know what's wrong with it, head gasket; causing oil to outward rather than in the oil cavity.

I really doubt that your head gasket is the problem, the oil is not under any pressure draining back to the oil pan

I'm with @rusty ol ranger on this one, bad valve cover gasket is more likely

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Question for me and the OP's (Original Poster) benefit. Assuming he finds a manual trans donor, other than the bellhousing and motor mounts, which models could he "just take the mounts & housing too" off the donor? I don't have a ton of experience swapping a dozen different motors, but I assume Ford would use the same clutch and trans across several different engine options within a year or generation. I know Ford changes trans several times as one 3rd party vendor (borg warner / allison / etc) agrees to a cheaper contract or better quality or or, but usually they specify all the mountings are the exact same so they don't have to change stuff on their (Ford's) end too. My yard is pretty cheap, and they even tend to just wave off stuff like motor mounts when you are buying the whole engine ($225 for an engine who cares about the $6 for the mounts). If we can open up more options for the OP, we make life easier for the OP (and I would of course like the info too seeing how nothing lasts forever).
I just re-read that and some naivety shows... I am used to old iron where the bellhousing is separate - are all the trans in question integrated bellhousings?

.

Basically another RBV. Yes the bellhousings on any 3.0 trans are not removable...as are any ranger trans past basically the early 90's.

When you have a 3.0 you are stuck with a 3.0 and theres no real options. You might as well just go 302

 

[MaicoDoug]

Thanks for the enlightenment Rusty.