Developed a pretty serious lower knock 1994 Ranger 4x4

[Redav72]

I've developed a pretty serious lower engine knock in my 1994 XLT. The harmonic balancer looks shaky when running and I'm getting a speed variable knock to flutter sound. I think it's toast.

Here's the question. When I look up a remanufactured engine it lists the compatible years from 1987 to 2008. Can it really be such a wide range? I'm thinking that I'll look for a junkyard engine first but the remanufactured looks really good too. I'm having a hard time finding parts in just the compatible years of 1993/94 but if I can expand my search through 2008 it might be easier to find a viable engine.

 

[franklin2]

When I look your truck up on www.car-part.com, there are two main 3.0 types, one for a 2x4 and one for a 4x4.

If I do a nationwide search for a 2x4 engine, only 1991 thru 1994 engines come up.

Same search on 4x4 engines, only 1993 thru 1994 engines come up.

Car-part lists engines that are a direct bolt in, no changes needed. They do not list engines that you could swap intakes or some other part and make that year engine work.

 

[Redav72]

So what is a good price for a used engine?

 

[SenorNoob]

Car-Part generally lists a few with prices in your area. Prices vary wildly across the country. Here roughly $500 is common already removed with a 30-90 day warranty. Right now*

I don't remember exactly what I gave for my last one. It was a good thing I opened it up to have a look around though. Oil pickup was almost completely clogged.

 

[Redav72]

Well it died today, around 200 miles after the knock started. If you purchase a junkyard engine do they normally come with a warranty?

 

[SenorNoob]

Commonly 30-90 days. Depending on yard they might ask for ASE certified installer tho...

 

[Redav72]

I found a decent candidate engine about 2 hours away from me. It looks like the yard took ownership back in 2017 but they have the engine listed on car-part. Is it reasonable to assume that they pulled the engine or that it's been sitting in the yard being picked over for the last 8 years?

 

[franklin2]

I found a decent candidate engine about 2 hours away from me. It looks like the yard took ownership back in 2017 but they have the engine listed on car-part. Is it reasonable to assume that they pulled the engine or that it's been sitting in the yard being picked over for the last 8 years?

Hard to say. You do not even know if they have it, they may not know either. The people in the office input this data on car-part. it's the old garbage in garbage out type thing. And a wrecking yard is a busy place. They probably have it, but they may not. It may be complete, it may not be. But if it's not, you can bargain over that. All you need is the basic mechanical part correct?

Just trying not to get your hopes up. Car-part is run by people, and mistakes can be made when people are involved. Buyer beware, go down and look it over first.

 

[SenorNoob]

^This. I've had multiple parts that weren't there or weren't what they claimed to be when I got there...

 

[pjtoledo]

contact the yard directly, many car-part listings don't get updated when the part sells.

and beware of unsecure links, lots of yards have them.

 

[Redav72]

I've located a really promising 1998 parts truck on Marketplace. The 1998 3.0L also seems to use a distributor as well so I took that as a good sign that the swap will be doable. What parts would I also need to swap over from the 98 to the 94 to do an engine swap? Computer and wiring harness? Would this enable a transmission swap as well at a later point? What are the core differences between the 3.0 94 and 98?

 

[Redav72]

Alright, forget I asked. The truck actually is a 1994, had a door with a VIN sticker that was incorrect. Everything else on the truck is 1994. Think I've got a winner!