Here it goes.....

[Riq21]

Its an 1999 explorer harness. Book I have tells me it is a tack wire. I will be using a T5 transmission. Will the wiring harness I have going to the current (4 cylinder 5 speed) transmission work with the explorer harness??

 

[Teddyzee]

I overlooked the fact that things can change in later years... the earlier Eplorer/Ranger stuff had the tach in ECU pin 48, connector pin 2, but that's of no consequence if yours is different!

I would just check from the main 42 pin connector of the Ex engine harness. Use a meter, connect the trans harness to the big connector, and check the continuity to find the (and verify) that the VSS signal is in the correct spots, same location as your Ranger. And also the reverse lights. You can certainly cut up the Ranger trans harness as necessary. I would GUESS it is correct as is...

 

[Riq21]

Feel my pain. Actually, not really as bad as it seems.... Yes, it was pin #48 for the tach.

 

[Teddyzee]

You call that a mess?!

Big mess of soldering...

 

[Riq21]

Now that just scares the shit out of me......

 

[Teddyzee]

lol, that's why I included the finished product!

It's impossible to do it wrong, as you simply test the circuit with a meter as you go.

Yours should be must simpler, good luck!

 

[Riq21]

Took me a while to find someone to do this, but I was able to get this bellhousing repaired by a real pro a Bell Chassis in Georgia. Lots of speculation out there about whether this could be repaired. Check it out....

 

[Riq21]

Here is the completed bellhousing all cleaned up and ready to install. Now just need to get the motor back from the machinist.

 

[Riq21]

Still cleaning parts and buying misc. parts and pieces in anticipation of getting the motor back this week. Also ass deep in wiring diagrams and now just beginning to understand what I am looking at a bit. Couple of questions have come up though:
Will the MAF that I currently have for the 2.3 also work for the 5.0? I realize the 5.0 will require a larger diameter pipe to feed more air into the larger TB, just wondered if I could use the sensor I have.

Also, need to get feedback on what type of tuner I will need to get in order to dump the PATS and disable the automatic transmission garbage in my computor. Any suggestions out ther are welcome.

 

[Riq21]

The project continues.... Added some more parts to the collection. Was able to pull the entire PATS system out of the Exp that the engine came out of. Was also able to get the steering column and correct key and 99 percent of the interior wiring harness for same. I found enough information on the net that I believe that I can now add the PATS after the engine swap with little to no issues. Also have been able to get the MAF sensor, air box and connecting pipe to TB which also was original to the engine. On the downside, I have looked deeper into the T5 I bought and decided to replace the severly gauled bearing retainer for the input shaft. Bigger deal than anticipated as I had to replace a pretty worn bearing and race. Now will need to do a end shaft play check and do the proper shimming to make it all proper.... I guess I might as well tear this thing apart and check it thouroughly while I am at it so I know it not have to come out unexpectedly. I removed all the automatic transmission wires from the transmission harness and have it down now to just the 12 oxy sensor wires, back up wires, a ground and two others I am just not sure about yet. Figure another couple of days of inspired research will take me to the finish line on the wiring. Quite an adventure, but would be inpossible without the EVTM's for both vehicles. More to come.

 

[Riq21]

Took a break from parts collecting and went to Mexico for a week. Wish I would have stayed here for all the good it did my stomach.... Picked up the completed short block yesterday and finally made a decision on the motor mounts. I could not get anyone to commit to making the Brian mounts, so decided to go with the Duff product. Anyone out there using his mounts for a setup like mine have any thoughts on this? Should be here by weeks end. Also found a set of leather buckets out of a 96 expo sport along with the entire console for $75 bucks. Seats are in surprisingly good shape with little to no cracking. All my measurements tell me these should drop in and bolt up with little issue. Has anyone used these in there Ranger yet? Still running down misc. nuts and bolts but really getting pretty close to moving on this thing.

 

[Riq21]

Just a quick update. Installed the Expo seats last week. Lots of time spent cutting rivets and such, but end result is awsome! Waiting on graphite color paint to arrive so that I can repaint the console to compliment the rest of the interior as it is the light gray color. Also ordered a shift boot from Redline to work with the new console and a new cover for the arm rest. Should be pretty hot looking when completed. Truck is off to the body man to get painted and will probably be there for the next month or so. In the meanwhile, I have decided to run down some more fabricators in the area to see if I can get the "Brian Mounts" made up. I think these will be my best bet. I post more pics when I have something more significant to talk about.

 

[Riq21]

Finally a major breakthrough with the motor mounts. Got a local guy to make the "brian" mount after harrassing him for about 2 weeks. Also have clutch/pressure plate and throughout bearing and arm coming in this week. Torn on decision with the exhaust headers as only option seems to be the Torque Monster and I think they are too pricey. If there is a better solution out there, please someone enlighten me to it. Pictures coming soon of new paint and completed body work on truck.

 

[Jbrown1238]

Finally a major breakthrough with the motor mounts. Got a local guy to make the "brian" mount after harrassing him for about 2 weeks. Also have clutch/pressure plate and throughout bearing and arm coming in this week. Torn on decision with the exhaust headers as only option seems to be the Torque Monster and I think they are too pricey. If there is a better solution out there, please someone enlighten me to it. Pictures coming soon of new paint and completed body work on truck.

Any updates?

 

[Riq21]

Still rumaging around for parts and peices. I need plug wires and an IAT sensor still. Opened up the tranny to make sure everything looked ok and found some pretty disturbing stuff.

Lesson here is to be very cautious buying from a private party with no gaurantee.

Engine is basically assembled. I attached the bellhousing and transmission to see how close the bracket fit for the slave cylinder. Scrapped the first one I made and constructed another. This time I mounted the slave toward the very back of the flange to get more adjustability. We shall be about that one.

With any luck, I will be getting my truck back from the painter in the next few days. Bed, fendors, doors, bumpers and misc. parts are painted. Just needs to finish the cab and reassemble. May be in hand for Thanksgiving.

Also have completed the center console to include gutting of air box for rear heater, modified cubby to fit transmission boot from Redline, and repaint of housing to match my dark graphite interior. Also recieved some sound proofing in to be installed when truck is back in my hands. I will post a picture of the console at a later date.