4.0 swap question

[off_road_junkie21]

Hey guys been a while since ive posted. My labtop got stolen so all i have is my ph. Ok to my question. i have a 87 ranger with a mt. I wont to swap in a 4.0. I will be useing my tranny cause i just rebuilt it. The wiring is what scares me. I want to keep my dash to. what all wires will i have to splice?? Thanks eveyone

 

[84bluebronco2]

Try to talk to 4.0B2. He did a gen 1 4.0 swap and preserved the dash.

 

[chilsam]

Tranny?

Hey guys been a while since ive posted. My labtop got stolen so all i have is my ph. Ok to my question. i have a 87 ranger with a mt. I wont to swap in a 4.0. I will be useing my tranny cause i just rebuilt it. The wiring is what scares me. I want to keep my dash to. what all wires will i have to splice?? Thanks eveyone

What kind is it? Some wont handle the 4.0 power.I did the same with a 89 2wd it had the M50 already.WE LOVE IT!

 

[off_road_junkie21]

Cool thanks i will see what he has to say about keeping my stock dash. Mine is the fm145 tranny. There cheap to rebuild and i can have it out and Rebuilt and back in and one day. Any body got more info?

 

[4.0B2]

hey, look who showed up.....its that 4.0b2 guy! "takes bow" --i'm thru being egotistical now lol. its funny how i've became "famous" b/c i kept the 1st gen dash, i'd NEVER put that fugly 2nd gen dash in my truck.

honestly, i can't remember nor did i write down the wiring...
but, what i actually did was just look at the diagrams in the books and see what my dash gauge wires are that come out the firewall-- and connect them to the wires that feed the explorer gauges. i honestly believe quite a few of the colors matched up. i'll see if i have anything wrote down in my haynes books. but all it takes is a book on both vehicles. also, another thing i did, was take both harness from the ecu and laid it over my woodworking sawhorse, and took an ohms meter and wrote down what each pin (on the connection of the ecu) was and where it went.. if pin #9 goes to the coolant temp sensor, i made sure that it was the coolant temp sensor on the explorer harness. so... that was just a little extra piece of mind for me.

now-- i've been told the ranger is diff than the b2. and it varies a lot depending on the donor motor and wiring harness also. just don't be scared, and take your time.. its not as hard or as bad as they make it sound. promise. i did it at age 15 or so... and thought i was doing something new, i didn't even know TRS existed then... hahahahahaha
that was only 6 years ago.

IMO--- use the manual trans you have until it causes you problems. address that later, i don't see it being a problem at all if you aint doggin' it hard.

i'll keep a watch on this, and see if i can help any. post up any questions you have or PM me. i'll help any way i can, would even show up and help turn a wrench if you lived local.

also i'll see if there is any wiring i can see on my truck, i have a lot of it un-loomed since i thought i had a wiring problem which turned out to be a bad ecu...

 

[off_road_junkie21]

Yea this is going to be A real slow build and i do mean slow. all i have is a part time job and on top of that i need to find a place to live before winter. My buddy has a good 4.0 thats why iam doing this. My 2.9 runs dam good just want more power. My 2.9 i have been told should not even run with it being bored 40 over but she does. Shes a beast when it gets cool out. Has no balls during the summer though. Ill try. and keep my thread moving though just hard to do with no money.

 

[4.0B2]

yeah man, i know the feeling.
i think i had mine tore down for about 2 weeks total, but i was driving the extra vehicle. my parts always have 3 for the 2 of them so....

but its not as bad as it sounds, just don't be scared, and when you get to that point when you step back and say "WTF did i do?????" press on! and make it happen.