Will a 2006 3.0 Taurus motor work in a 03 ranger flex fuel as a swap?

[Guanfy]

I thought the head gaskets were different, due to coolant flow paths, i.e. transverse+tilted mounting in Taurus vs. "conventional" orientation in Ranger?????

On my '94 block swap this is 100% correct. My block came from a car so I had to reuse the existing heads I had from my truck. They were good so no worries there. You will need to make sure you grab the head gaskets for the truck and not the car. Might be different for the block year the OP is working with.

 

[Jimmy V]

I thought the head gaskets were different, due to coolant flow paths, i.e. transverse+tilted mounting in Taurus vs. "conventional" orientation in Ranger?????

I thought so to I'm in the middle of deciding to swap the Sable 3.0 Vulcan into the range 4x4 but need to know about the gaskets there's different part numbers

 

[Jimmy V]

I had zero issues putting an 03 Taurus engine into my 00 Ranger. Plenty of others have done the same. The oilpan even fit the engine cross member a little better IMO. As long as you make sure that the Taurus engine is an OHV Vulcan engine and not a DOHC Duratec, it's a drop in and bolt up swap.

Did you have to change the head Gaskets or water pump? The Sable used an electric fan and the truck has a clutch fan I'm ready to pull the trigger on the Sable engine but don't want to buy something that won't work , my ranger is a 19994x4 Vulcan 3.0 and the Sable is a 2005 Vulcan 3.0 any help and advice is greatly appreciated

 

[Jimmy V]

I had zero issues putting an 03 Taurus engine into my 00 Ranger. Plenty of others have done the same. The oilpan even fit the engine cross member a little better IMO. As long as you make sure that the Taurus engine is an OHV Vulcan engine and not a DOHC Duratec, it's a drop in and bolt up swap.

Did you have to Change the Head gaskets they do have different PN#s from car to truck but the cars are the same from I think 97 to 2008 and the truck's are also the same from 1997 to 2008 what about the timing cover any help is greatly appreciated I'm read to pull the trigger on the 2005 Sable 3.0 Vulcan if this will work Thanks Jimmy

 

[Josh B]

Hey Jimmy, welcome to TRS. It takes time sometimes but you're in the right place

 

[stmitch]

Did you have to change the head Gaskets or water pump? The Sable used an electric fan and the truck has a clutch fan I'm ready to pull the trigger on the Sable engine but don't want to buy something that won't work , my ranger is a 19994x4 Vulcan 3.0 and the Sable is a 2005 Vulcan 3.0 any help and advice is greatly appreciated

Yes the head gaskets, timing cover, water pump, lower intake manifold, and exhaust manifolds are different between the Taurus/Sable Vulcan and the Ranger Vulcan. Oilpans are different as well, but I was able to use the Taurus oilpan in my 2000 2wd Ranger. Probably best to switch out the oilpans if you're not sure you want to risk it.

Swapping an 05 Taurus engine into a 94 Ranger is possible, but you're really just using the block/rotating assembly and the cylinder heads. All of the rest will need to be 94 Ranger parts