88 ranger 2.9 4.0 swap with pics


slow96gt

10+ Year Member

U.S. Military - Active
Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Messages
200
Points
1,601
City
shelbyville tennessee
Vehicle Year
1988
Transmission
Automatic
ok guys i started my 4.0 swap into my 88 ranger tonight the donor is a 92 explorer 4.0 5 speed 4x4, tonight i got my motor and harness out of the ranger and the motor ,harness and trans out of the donor .didnt cut or break a thing it was awesome lol, tomorrow im gonna start putting my 4.0 into my ranger and ive been threw the tech libary a million times and searched the fourms, all im wondering is on the 4.0 harness were is meets the dash harness it has a big round plug on the drivers side, do i cut and splice the connectors from my 2.9 harness right there or how does that work??
88 ranger 2.9 4.0 swap with pics
 
today i got the dash out of the explorer and and ranger, i decided to swap out to the exz dash because im hoping it will help with some wiring, tomorrow my goal is to have the 4.0 in and the dash it and hopefully it will run lol, sorry for no pics tonight i cant find my camara cord hopefully i will find it so i can upload the pictures ive been taking
 
be watching for progress man good luck with the swap
 
thanks i found my camara cable today now i have to resize the pics then ill post the up here
 
ok as promised here are some pics
the last ride before the swap
88 ranger 2.9 4.0 swap with pics

taking the fenders off made it alot easyer
88 ranger 2.9 4.0 swap with pics

pulling the 4.0 and transmission
88 ranger 2.9 4.0 swap with pics

the dash out of the explorer that im gonna be using
88 ranger 2.9 4.0 swap with pics

pulling the 2.9
88 ranger 2.9 4.0 swap with pics
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the 2.9 beside the 4.0 man what a difference
88 ranger 2.9 4.0 swap with pics
 
looking at mt empty hole thinking what the hell did i do
88 ranger 2.9 4.0 swap with pics

the next day taking a break looking at some turkeys lol
88 ranger 2.9 4.0 swap with pics

the 4.0 setting in, the only thing that i had to do hear is that i cut the tabs off the motor mounts with a tourch and i used my stock exhaust
88 ranger 2.9 4.0 swap with pics

some wiring
88 ranger 2.9 4.0 swap with pics

88 ranger 2.9 4.0 swap with pics

88 ranger 2.9 4.0 swap with pics

as for the fuel lines i read somewere on here about heating the line, well what i did was cut the lines on the frame right behind the quick release then did the same on the explorer that had braided lines cut the braid off and pulled the quick release end off bearley heated the line with a hand held tourch and pressed the new clamp in the put a hose clamp on it was well. so far it doesnt leak and the truck has been running so ill hope for the best on how it holds up
88 ranger 2.9 4.0 swap with pics

88 ranger 2.9 4.0 swap with pics
 
the truck will run as of right now, still have a lot of wiring left to do, pretty much everything on the inside needs to be wired, but having some problems with the transmission, it will sift to 2nd but not to 3rd or 4th, i have 1,2,N,R,P but thats it, im thinking its where the computer is from a 5 sdeep truck so im gonna need a auto transmission harnees and a auto computer, anyone else agree?
 
or im debating about just going ahead and putting the 5 speed in it but due to funds i dont feel like buy a clutch
 
yea it would be alot more fun but i dont have another 250 saved up for a clutch lol hopefully i can use the auto till i can save some more money up you kknow how that goes lol
 
sorry that no one has given much of a response on this, i only got as far as buying the 4.0 and then i sold it due to moving.

i would agree that it is a computer issue, however, i know diddly squat about automatic trannys.
 
well my buddie works for a towing yard and he got the explorer and i was in heaven, all it needed was a clutch so we did some trading and the explorer had everything i wanted, d35 and 8.8, newer front end and dash, 4.0 5 speed so i figured i had to do the swap. but im sure its something simple but its been raining hard for the past couple of days so i havent had time to work on it, but i need a new streering colume due to the fact matt broke the old one lol a new trans mission harnss and a eec and that should pretty much wrap it up lol
 
I think you're on the right track thinking the computer is the issue. I have a 91-92 4.0 and 4x4 auto waiting to go in my 88 (currently 2.9 4x4 5spd). Anxious to see how all your pluggin' goes. If you don't have to splice much, maybe i'll quit procrastinating and get mine done soon.
 
well so far i havent had to splice nothing, and it started on the first try but im sure i will once i finish up the inside of the truck and on the trans harness, but you shouldnt have that problem if your gonna keep ur 5 speed
 

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