Here it goes.....

[Riq21]

Just about ready to step off into 5.0 land. Located a 99 engine out of an explorer with about 140K on it, so most probably a candidate for a rebuild. Intend to spend some time chasing parts so will not begin build until later this year. Have been reading the posts and have begun to take notes so as not to get bashed too bad when I ask the inevitable question about the swap. Some issues with the engine is that no alt, power stearing pump or compressor come with the engine. All mounts are present though so that is probably good enough. Some of the wires are cut.... But main engine harness is still intact and the ECU is available from the donor exp. Intend to keep this Ranger as a manual, so will need some guidence on reflashing and such in order to make it run as it should. (This is an automatic engine)

Couple of questions:
1. Is a BL mandatory and if so will 2" suffice?

2. I the m50D-R2 a daily driver type transmission or should I stak a T-5 with all the resultant issus associated with clutch linkage? I will tow my motorcycle with this, but not do any hotrodding. I do want it to shift smoothly thought and don't especially need a granny gear. I would just as soon stick with a hydraulic clutch as I am already piped for one, but will change attitude if this is the wrong direction.. (will be a 2 wheel drive)


Suspect I will pick up the engine today or tomorrow so will let you know my progress.

 

[Mac]

No BL required at all. That M5OD is a truck trans and acts like it, I'd go with the T-5, no real problems working with the hydraulics. You say that the main engine harness is intact but some wires are cut, what harness would that be? Having the mounts is a big expense you wont have to worry about. Only other big expense would be the Torque Monster headers if you go with them. Order early. Have fun and enjoy!
Dave of the Nord

 

[Riq21]

Found some spare time this afternoon was able to pick up the motor. Also got the JY guy to throw in a PATS system form another 99, just not the one the motor came from. I guess this will work alright, but need to know if it won't. There is no battery cable harness and am not sure what other wires have been cut at this point. The wires going to the ECU are ok, but there is a bundle that is chopped that goes in a different direction from the same wrapping. Also wires that travel over the front of the engine are chopped. Suspect this is part of the battery harness. Got some pretty wild looks from other cars today and I drove by them with the new engine in the back of my Ranger....

 

[Riq21]

Looks like the only a small piece of the battery/alt harness left attached to the front of the engine. Also suspect the peice of the harness cut on the main engine harness led to the transmission. Is there a complete picture of a harness from a explorer that I can make some comparrisons to handy? Also, if I have read correctly, I should be able to use the regular explorer oil pan witht the 2 wheel drive coil suspension. This sound correct?

 

[Mac]

The one that does work is the steel Explorer pan, some people have had trouble with the alum pan. I can take some pictures later on today of a '98' harness. Do you have any of the wiring diarams yet? Very helpful, usually can get they on E-bay, published by Helms.
Dave

 

[Riq21]

Finally got the engine out of my truck bed, flex plate off and its now attached to the stand. Have the steel oil pan so good to go there. Suspect there are going to be a lot of headaches due to the chopped up harness though. Some of the articles I have read have indicated that people have just programmed out the PATS system, rather than try to deal with the hassle of keeping it intact. I'm thinking this may be a good way to proceed.

 

[V8 Level II]

Is there a complete picture of a harness from a explorer that I can make some comparrisons to handy?

This is a picture of a 99~01 5.0 Ex engine harness. 96, 97 and 98 harnesses are similar in layout but are not interchangeable with 99~01.

1. 42-pin connector to engine bay harness
2. 104-pin connector to PCM
3. EGR vacuum regulator solenoid (broken)
4. DPFE sensor
5. driver side front O2 sensor
6. oil pressure switch
between 6 and 7: crankshaft position sensor
7. engine coolant temp sensor for PCM
8. camshaft position sensor
9. driver side coil pack and radio suppression capacitor
10. engine coolant temp sender for temp gauge
11. 38-pin connector to transmission harness
12. throttle position sensor
13. MAF/IAT sensors
14. alternator
15. passenger side coil pack
between 12 and 15: IAC valve

Only one of the oxygen sensor connectors is in this harness. The other three are part of the transmission harness.

 

[Riq21]

This is extremely helpful! With this I will at least have the courage to remove the wiring that is left and see what the real damage is. I am pretty resourceful, (and retired), so I think I can make this work somehow. Continues the tear down this morning and all nuts and bolts going into marked heavy duty baggies to keep it organized. I removed the oil filter and alum adapter that goes to the engine today. This one is angled down and slightly back towards the rear of the engine. From what I have read, I think I should be able to use this part without the expense of a remote filter. This sound right to anyone out there.

TIA-Rick

 

[Teddyzee]

For the sake of continuity, here is a '96 Explorer 5.0 harness, and trans harness.

 

[Riq21]

Had a little time to compare my harness to the first one posted. The guy who removed this engine was a real hack.... sheared right through the section of harness that would go to the transmission. I suspect I will still need some of the wires in that bundle even through my plan is to use a T5. That is probably the worst damage there is to the engine harness. The battery cable harness only existe in small sectins where it was hacked to remove the engine. I think I will wait to Monday and give the JY guy a call to see if he can scrounge up this section of harness for me. Still having fun, wonder at what point it will stop.......

 

[V8 Level II]

The guy who removed this engine was a real hack.... sheared right through the section of harness that would go to the transmission. I suspect I will still need some of the wires in that bundle even through my plan is to use a T5.

The wires for 3 of the oxygen sensor connectors are routed from the PCM through the engine harness and then through the trans harness. As mentioned before, only one of the oxygen sensor connectors is in the engine harness.

There is also a park/neutral circuit that would need to be jumped to allow starter operation with the manual transmission (pink to tan/red) and a reverse light circuit to wire up to the reverse light switch in the manual transmission (violet/orange and black/pink). Having the Wiring Diagram manuals will help clarify.

 

[Riq21]

Visit to ebay a couple of days ago has the 1999 explorer electrical diagrahm coming to me next week. I can see how you could not do a thing without the manuals. Thanks again for the good direction. Some of the fog is beginning to drift away. The more I read, the more I think that this PATS system is going to go bye bye from my build. Nice security feature, but will add a degree of confusion to this build I think. Is the correct way to go with a local who will reflash, or get my own module to do my own tuning?

 

[Riq21]

Top is off of engine and heads have been removed. Checked the block for obvious signs of abuse and cracking around water jackets and such. Everything looks pretty good to me so far. Very little to no apparent wear at the top of the cylinders so wonder how far I should go with the block rebuild itself. Heads are off to the machine shop for cleaning, tanking, grinding and general rebuild. Only sticking parts so far were two badlyy corroded bolts snapped at the front of the engine when I was removing the manifold. These will be fixed by the machine shop. Glad the little 2.3 has plenty of life left as this is not going ot be one of those overnight projects I generally take on. Really looks like the only damage to the engine wiring harness is that the bundle going to the transmission was severed. When 1999 wiring diagram book arrives I guess I will begin to understand what I actually need in this bundle..... No big hurdles so far.

 

[RangerSVT]

When you hit the JY again, see if you can get the trans harness from the same/similar vehicle, and if possible get him to *cough* cut on the engine side of the plug, this way you can splice the plug back into the main harness, and remove the pins from the trans harness plug that will not be used, to clean it up. As stated before, you have the O2 sensor wires in there as well as start and reverse circuits. I have an 02 sport trac that I will be sourcing a donor explorer for a V8 swap soon. Plenty of members here who have extensive knowledge on both the V8 swap info and the electrical info you will need. When I did mine, I didn't have to reprogram for PATS or the trans, but I did get a tuner, and I suggest getting one yourself. SCT tuners are a great investment IMO, as you can email them your specs, what you have, and what you intend to do (bigger cam, trans and PATS delete, etc) and they will email you a custom tune so you can download to your tuner, to be installed in your truck. Have fun with the swap!!
SVT

 

[Riq21]

Progress continues.... engine now completely disasembled and block at the machine shop for evaluation. Heads are already rebuilt and back in my garage. Massive amounts of work involved in cleaning misc parts and pieces that will go back on the motor. Thinking that many bolts that were removed from the front side of the motor will have to be replaced due to heavy corrosion-couple of water pump, front two from the intake manifold and a couple off of the timing chain cover. Also received the wiring manual for the 99 engine yesterday. Still have not resolved the issue of motor mounts though and need to put more effort into this. Moving ahead, or so I think....