5.0 swap and headaches....

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So awhile ago my dad was looking to get a newly used truck and I managed to talk him into picking up a 2000 Ranger 4x4 auto with a 4.0 that snapped the crank in the front at 162k miles (and the truck is in incredible condition). We were going to swap a 4.0 into it and be done, but as luck would have it, we saw plenty of 4.0 motors for sale before we got the truck and none after. But we did see a number of 5.0 motors...

So with a little research, we snagged the engine/trans/xfer case/computer from a 1999 Mercury Mountaineer. EFI 5.0, auto trans, etc. Supposed to have around 80 or 90K on it (I don't really remember).

It took a giant shoehorn (literally, I had a big piece of sheet steel against the core support when we were wedging it in there) to fit it - engine and trans together (definitely not the easiest way to do it). It didn't take much to adapt it to bolt up and work fine. Had to splice a couple wires (like 5), used the starter harness out of the Mountaineer, had to drill one new hole in the drivers side motor mount, and for the most part the rest bolted up. Sometimes we had to use Explorer/Mountaineer parts for it to bolt up. Had a local shop bend up a dual cat-back exhaust in stainless and ran a Magnaflow dual in/dual out crossover muffler. Fired right up after we were done and got the computer flashed to work with the PATS system (I didn't know when we got the parts that we needed to grab that stuff).

Then the problems have started... I'm being driven up the wall with these issues. Every time I turn around it's throwing another code and it's causing running issues. Of course, when you stomp the pedal to the floor it takes off like a rocket even if it's running like crap.

When I checked this morning, it was still throwing a code for an EVAP problem, shows a large leak. It has a new gas cap, new fuel filler neck and I've triple checked the vacuum lines. The evap line that runs to the canister in the rear is pretty rusty in some sections so I've got some line to replace that with, hoping that's the problem.

It's also showing a P1150 and P1151 codes. From looking around, it looks like it's saying there is a problem with the drivers side upstream o2 sensor....

I have a Matco code reader that does live data and the like, but I have no idea what I'm doing with the thing, I got it used with no instruction manual.

What kind of readings should I be looking for so I can try to figure out what is going wrong and fix it?? Dad is getting upset that it's been an ongoing battle since we got it together and I'm getting tired of poking at the problem, we just want to enjoy our project! (and then I can get to work on my own projects and hopefully build my own v-8 ranger before long), lol.

 

[RangerSVT]

The evap systems are a little different from the ex and the ranger. Did you double check the wiring for both at C115? I did a similar swap, but I deleted most of the emmisions from my ecu via my SCT tuner...

SVT

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

The evap systems are a little different from the ex and the ranger. Did you double check the wiring for both at C115? I did a similar swap, but I deleted most of the emmisions from my ecu via my SCT tuner...

SVT

I didn't know there were differences.... never changed any wiring, the only stuff I spliced was on the drivers side by the master cylinder, there was a plug that didn't match up, had some stuff like oil level sensor and A/C high pressure switch.

 

[RangerSVT]

That and the starter circuit is in the plug your speaking of (C149). The low oil level circuit that's in the v8's C149 can be deleted. I forget what it exactly is, but there is part of the evap system in the tank of the v8 that's not in the ranger, and another part near the tank that's not present in the ranger. I never paid attention to this as I deleted them for my application...

SVT

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

That and the starter circuit is in the plug your speaking of (C149). The low oil level circuit that's in the v8's C149 can be deleted. I forget what it exactly is, but there is part of the evap system in the tank of the v8 that's not in the ranger, and another part near the tank that's not present in the ranger. I never paid attention to this as I deleted them for my application...

SVT

Hmm.... makes me wonder if I'm chasing a ghost at this point.... would like to know for sure though. I know the fuel filler neck was bad....

But I'd still like to know why the truck is running like crap... surely an evap fault code wouldn't throw it into convulsions....

 

[RangerSVT]

That's why I chose to just delete them in my setup. My neck of the woods don't have testing, and I don't roll coal, so I'm not bothered. I had my fuel cap light on after my swap, bought a brand new cap, cleared my codes, and had the light come back on in less than 2 hours. So when I got my custom tune(needed that to delete pats and rear O2 sensors) I deleted the emissions to clear all the lights that were lit up in my instrument cluster.

SVT