Another new guy here

[djjauntyj]

Hey folks... new to the forum. Been a Ford guy forever but I now own my first Ranger: a super clean, lowish miles '98 2WD SuperCab 3.0L... with a severely blown head gasket. Like, probably-needs-an-engine blown. I figured I'd better get in with the folks who know these trucks, haha. Looking forward to learning something!

 

[sgtsandman]

Welcome! When I bought my '98 with a 2.5 Lima, it was the same deal. I just got a engine from the junk yard and did a swap. I had to reuse the old wire harness since the "new" engine had one for an automatic. It wasn't bad and it fired right up on the first try!

 

[djjauntyj]

Welcome! When I bought my '98 with a 2.5 Lima, it was the same deal. I just got a engine from the junk yard and did a swap. I had to reuse the old wire harness since the "new" engine had one for an automatic. It wasn't bad and it fired right up on the first try!

Thanks for the welcome! Yeah, sounds like my situation will be similar. I have a line on a replacement engine, same year with 148k, but out of a 4WD 5-speed truck (mine's 2WD auto.) So was the harness the only thing you had to swap over? (Besides flywheel/flex plate and all that.)

 

[sgtsandman]

Both were RWD trucks, so yeah, just the harness, and fly wheel. I ordered a new clutch since I had it all apart. Since I was there and the truck had almost 200K on it, I figured it was a smart move. The donar engine had had about half the miles on it, which was a nice touch. Anyway, I didn't have to deal with any potential differences between a RWD and 4X4 truck.