1989 Ford Ranger

[MaguireLloyd53]

I've been trying to do some research and I just can't figure out the best way to go about this project.
I have a 1997 Ford Explorer 4x4 with the 4.0L OHV and a 1989 Ford ranger 4x4 with the 2.9L, my plan is to put the 4.0 in the ranger but i just need to figure out what all I will need to move over from the explorer to the ranger. The rangers my dream truck and the explorer was free to me so I want to pull everything worth while off the explorer then junk it.
First few issues have to do with the wiring, is there a way I can use all the wiring from the 4.0 in the explorer or will I need to figure something else out? Then for the interior stuff is there an easy way to still use the stock gauge clusters with the 4.0 harness?
Next thing to figure out is if its worth it to get the 8.8 off the explorer and put it on the ranger? It would be nice to have disc brakes in the rear instead of the drums, also I'm not planning on going bigger than 32" for the wheels.
The whole plan is to turn the ranger into my daily but I don't really care about a/c as long as I have heat, and I want a radio and working gauges.
So far i've gotten new shocks in front and back and shackles in the rear so its sitting about 1.5" to 2" taller than stock.

 

[sgtsandman]

The only hang up I can think of is if the Explorer is an automatic. The wire harness between the manual equipped vehicles and automatics are different but can be addressed. The engine will fit and others have did the 2.9/4.0 swap. So, it's possible.

The bolt pattern for the transmission is the same between the two engines.

As far as the Explorer axle, physically it will fit. You just need to remove and flip the spring seats from the bottom to the top for the Ranger spring over setup or get shackles long enough to drop the springs enough to compensate for the spring under arrangment and maintain ride height. Also, look at the wire connections on the axle to make sure they are the same, if there are any.

That pretty much covers the generalities. Someone else will need to fill in the specifics.

 

[MaguireLloyd53]

Thanks for the info,
The explorer is an auto but the plan is to keep the manual in the ranger and upgrade it at some point to the M5OD.
The main concern for the wiring is just if its gonna be worth using the harness from the explorer or if I need to find a 4.0 harness from that generation of ranger.

 

[SenorNoob]

It will be MUCH easier if you can find a 90-92 Ranger or 91-93 Explorer harness, but anything is possible if you are good at wiring.

The 89 gauges don't need the computer to work. Except for maybe the tach. Tach signal should be compatible the output from the EDIS. I know mine works. Seems to be fairly accurate.

Kinda surprised the 89 wasn't already an M5OD. I know they were out by 88 in the 4 cylinder 2wd trucks. The FM146 will hold for awhile though. You can even use the 2.9 Flywheel and clutch in front of it.

 

[MaguireLloyd53]

Ok so its been a while but I got a lot done, as of now I have the rebuilt 4.0 in the ranger with a harness from a 1992 ford explorer and a few bits and pieces of harness from similar years. The engine is able to start and run but its got a few problems that are making it so I can't yet drive it.

The main issue is with the engine doing anything other then idling, it usually takes a few seconds of turning over to get it to fire up and run but at idle it runs pretty decent, when I try and give it throttle it will stay at a lower rpm but you can hear the intake getting louder and the engine starts to pulse and buck a bit, it does that when I try and rev it up quickly and unless I really slowly open up the throttle it would rev up. Using a multimeter I have checked the Maf, tps and Iac and their voltages are all good where they're supposed to be, I also check resistance and power at the ignition coil and it gets signal from the 3 trigger wires and power on the positive wire, it also has continuity across the plugs for the spark plug wires, also the Ignition control module is getting power and signal is being sent out. I have plenty of good grounds and a good battery connection. I just replaced the 97 crankshaft sensor for one that will work for the 92 computer and harness and that hasn't really done much either.

Im really excited to daily this truck since i've had in my garage for almost a year now but i'm stumped and not sure where to go from here, any help would be great and very much appreciated.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bUBBC75dFqhAjHmnSvUwxdAtVav9a_6h/view?usp=sharing

 

[SenorNoob]

Can you confirm that all 6 injectors function?

Edit: I see you don't have the stock intake on it. You effectively have a large vacuum leak there. There should be a line going from after the MAF to the nipple on the valve cover just below oil cap.

 

[MaguireLloyd53]

So this is what the intake looked like before, it had the provision for that but I had to chop the tube short and turn it to the other side to get it to fit in the rangers engine bay, that valve cover is just open to air, there is no opening on the intake tube for it now.

I used some starting fluid to see if there was a vacuum leak anywhere and I couldn't find one.

I also did check all of the injectors and they all work and none are clogged, one of the injectors though has a bit different coloring on it so it might be one that was replaced at some point but i'm not sure.

this is when it was in the explorer
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tEEul8_2xHm62oK35shSSNVVtzweL1hi/view?usp=sharing

this is how it looks now

IMG_6606.jpeg

drive.google.com

 

[MaguireLloyd53]

Couple updates since last, got it driving decent and been taking it to class in the morning. still got some issues here and there, lots of wiring stuff to still figure out like interior accessories and what not but getting a lot done.

Drives great when i get it started other then a slightly high idle, after driving for a bit it feels like it has no power especially going up any sort of slope, found that at low rpm it idles rough after driving for a while and struggles to get up in rpm but once it gets about half way through its range it revs like normal.

couple days ago the clutch started sticking so I pulled the trans to fix some stuff and thats where I am now, just started working on my 8.8 swap and im just waiting for a few things then ill be ready to put that in.

 

[SenorNoob]

Congratulations on getting it drivable. What did you have to do to get there?

Do you have any codes? That might at least point you in the right direction.

Side note: That is one clean upper intake.

 

[MaguireLloyd53]

Ive had it since last march and its had issues ever since I bought it so I started working on getting a swap sorted out, got the engine out of the donor car at the end of august and rebuilt it. In the summer I went to couple junkyards to get the full wiring that I needed out of a 91' and 92' explorer. The rebuild and wiring were definitely the hardest part of the swap but there were a few things i had to figure out as I was finally putting everything together. There were a few things i had to figure out in the middle of putting everything in the car like the clutch and flywheel I needed on the 4.0 was the 8 bolt and not the 6 bolt but thankfully I was able to use the transmission that was in the ranger already, definitely need to upgrade that soon. Then there were a few things like the wiring has a few different variations that you need to watch out for and the starter is different for the auto and manual transmission.

Yeah I've got a few codes but I'm not sure how much I trust them.
157 - Mass airflow sensor fault low voltage
158 - Mass airflow sensor fault high voltage
172 - hego sensor fault lean
452 - vss signal fault
528 - clutch switch circuit fault

And that upper intake I snagged off an older 4.0 since mine originally had the plastic one and I like the aluminum better, I soaked it in some degreaser for a while and cleaned it with scotch brite and brass brush but it wasn't quite as clean as I wanted it so I used Seymour alumi blast paint on it and it looks way better.

 

[SenorNoob]

I had a 92 Ranger 2.3 with both of the same MAF sensor faults. I replaced the sensor with one from a junkyard and it did fine after that.

The MAF fault might be causing the O2 fault. Kinda hard for the computer get the A/F ratio right if it doesn't have good info on how much air it's getting.

As for the other 2, the VSS sensor is I think a wired directly to the engine computer with only a couple connectors in-between. and 528 is pretty specific:

528	(M) System shows voltage at pin 10 (is A/C on ?) or pin 30 (PNP, CPP switch) – PNP

 

[MaguireLloyd53]

When I get everything back into the truck I'll try getting a different maf sensor and hopefully that does it then. I also think I need a new o2 sensor because the one I have on it dented.
The 528 Is because my clutch switch was busted and I wanted to be able to start it without pushing the clutch in so I just bypassed the switch. I also noticed someone put a vss in but it looks kinda janky so I might just end up swapping it out.