Blown 3.0 Repair Question

[jwzimm]

Hello everyone,

I am new here but I have been reading up on this forum and have a couple questions. First off though, the story.

My younger brother bought a 2000 Ranger with the 3.0L flex-fuel engine and manual transmission (4x4 if that matters). We talked to him about off-roading it and the dangers involved. Unfortunately he decided to go out anyway. He drove it through a water hole and hydro-locked it. We got it back to the house and find a nice hole in the oil pan. We have since removed the engine but haven't torn it down yet. I am assuming he blew a rod though.

My plan is to pick up an '03 Taurus motor to use the shortblock off. We will be swapping over the top end and putting it back into the truck. What I am looking for is advise on what to watch out for and what will need to be done to make this a success.

Please let me know any advice you may have.

Thanks,
Jason

 

[Original_Ranger84]

Wlecome to TRS.

Blah blah blah copy mtnrgr... yeah you can uses the entire engine if you want just change the head gaskets and use the ranger intake manifold.

 

[jwzimm]

Cool, thanks for the info. I was aware of the head gasket issue and I will be getting a new set of head gaskets for a 2000 Ranger as well as new head bolts and other misc gaskets. I do plan on using the heads on up from the Ranger. I also read in the FAQ that there may be some cam differences, any thoughts on that?

I am very curious to see what is inside that engine once we drop the pan. It looks like a tiny alien burst out of the pan. The hole in the pan is pretty high up and there was plenty of oil left in the pan so I expect the top end should be in good shape.

Thanks again for the input. This should be a fun rebuild.

-Jason

 

[masterbrenden]

depends on the year of the donor
alike years should not be a problem

 

[jwzimm]

The Ranger is a 2000 and the donor engine is out of a 2003 Taurus.

 

[jwzimm]

One other thing. I have seen comments about the oil pan and pickup. Would I need to get a new Ranger oil pan (as mine is now ventilated) and swap over the pickup? Or can I use the Taurus pan and pickup and not crack open the bottom end at all?

Thanks again all.

 

[Original_Ranger84]

Good question... I wanna say yes you'll be fine. But I don't know... The Tarus might be a bit smaller then the ranger pan so you'll have less oil capacity, maybe?

 

[JP02XLT]

I used the Taurus pump & pan on the swap in my ranger & it works fine, The only thing I did not notice was the length of the dipstick tube, the ranger is longer & therefore comes up higher into the engine compartment. Of course we did not notice this until the motor was in, headers bolted up & the SC on, Its just a little tougher to check the oil now, might not even matter on a stock intake Ranger. Same oil capacity.

JP02XLT

 

[jwzimm]

I used the Taurus pump & pan on the swap in my ranger & it works fine, The only thing I did not notice was the length of the dipstick tube, the ranger is longer & therefore comes up higher into the engine compartment. Of course we did not notice this until the motor was in, headers bolted up & the SC on, Its just a little tougher to check the oil now, might not even matter on a stock intake Ranger. Same oil capacity.

JP02XLT

I did see your posts about your swap. I am concerned as you have a 2WD but this truck is a 4WD. I will just have to look closely at the chassis and see if the Taurus pan will work.

By the way, did you use the Taurus Cam or swap over your Ranger one? I can't seem to find any definitive answer on if there is a difference and what it is.

Thanks again for everyones help. I will be tearing down the old motor and picking up the donor one this weekend. I will post back with results.

 

[JP02XLT]

Sorry missed that you had a 4wd, so that might be an issue, just check around the pan for clearance, otherwise I dont see a problem, As for the cam I used the Taurus cam for the following reason, with the SC I have too much torque, so if the car cam killed the torque just a bit I was fine with it. As for cam specs I cant tell you if there are differences, I would imagine Ford would have a different cam for different weight & driving style, truck 4wd vs car, just not sure. I dont notice any bad effects from the Taurus cam & it was either the cam or porting of the heads that took away some of the torque, but the top end is much better.

JP02XLT

 

[jwzimm]

Well we picked up the donor motor today. I have been doing some research on this and I think we may end up with a pretty powerful motor when we are done. The donor motor is out of a 2003 Taurus. The specs on those say the engine has a 9.5:1 compression ratio. I am planning on using the flex-fuel heads from the Ranger which should have smaller combustion chambers than the Taurus'. This means the final compression ratio on the finished engine will be higher, something like 9.8+:1!!

We will see I guess. I am thinking I am going to stick with the Taurus cam. I am not 100% sure on how I need to set the timing on these engines and as such would like to avoid pulling the Crank angle sensor. We are planning to sand blast the headers and some of the bracktry and paint it. We will also scrub the block and paint it too. Should look pretty good once we are done.

We got some prices on all the parts needed to reassemble the engine and give it a tune up and it is going to be around $580!! Parts are expensive!! (granted we are doing quite a bit, water pump, new clutch, etc...)

I will keep you all posted on the progress.