I NEED HELP ASAP

[Colin105]

I have a 1997 ohv 4.0 ranger and I'm looking for another 4.0 motor to put into it. I just dont know what years will fit and work with the computer. Any information will be helpful. Thanks

 

[Snoranger]

The 4.0L had a bunch of changes over the years, but nothing major. Ford changed the motor mount locations a few times, but never got rid of the older ones... they just drilled the bosses that were already cast in the block. Your year or newer will work. Some of the sensors and stuff may be different and you'll have to reuse yours.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

If you stick to an OBD 2 4.0 (95+) the sensors should be fine.

Just make sure you get an OHV 4.0 and not a SOHC 4.0.

 

[RonD]

I have a 1997 ohv 4.0 ranger and I'm looking for another 4.0 motor to put into it. I just dont know what years will fit and work with the computer. Any information will be helpful. Thanks

Welcome to the forum


The 4.0l OHV engine was used in Rangers from 1990 to 2000, any year will work with your computer BUT.................................

1990 to 1996 engines used a 6 bolt crank shaft, so you would need a 6 bolt flywheel(manual trans) or 6 bolt Flexplate(automatic), not expensive parts
1997 to 2000 used an 8 bolt crank, so your current flywheel or flexplate will fit

1998-2000 heads had smaller exhaust ports, for faster warm up, I believe your 1997 exhaust manifolds will work, but if you can get 1998-2000 exhaust manifolds with the used engine do it

In any case you will need to swap over your upper and lower intake manifolds so your 1997 wiring harness will match up.

And maybe swap over the oil pan depending on 2WD or 4x4
New oil pump at your discretion, oil pump failure was never an issue on these engines

Always change the rear Main Seal anytime you can
Check all the Core plugs(freeze plugs) replace any that have any signs of rust, or just replace them all on spec they are cheap

If you get a 1999/2000 it will have a 2 wire Cam sensor, you will need to swap over your 3 wire Cam sensor and tower

The 2001 to 2011 Rangers used the 4.0l SOHC engines your computer can not run these
1997 to 2000 Explorers had 4.0l SOHC engines as an OPTION, but came with 4.0l OHV as standard engine

1994-2000 Mazda B-4000 used 4.0l OHV
1991 to 2000 Explorer used 4.0l OHV, see above
1990-1997 Aerostar used 4.0l OHV
Any of these will work in your 1997, with above requirements


And just a heads up on the 4.0l OHV engines, they all had a weak spot between valve seats in the heads, so if overheated they would crack, not may crack, will crack.
Hard to tell if a used engine has this problem, unless you can hear it running and make sure coolant doesn't bubble up in radiator on cold start
Compression test "may" show this, but not definitive

 

[Snoranger]

Welcome to the forum


The 4.0l OHV engine was used in Rangers from 1990 to 2000, any year will work with your computer BUT.................................

1990 to 1996 engines used a 6 bolt crank shaft, so you would need a 6 bolt flywheel(manual trans) or 6 bolt Flexplate(automatic), not expensive parts
1997 to 2000 used an 8 bolt crank, so your current flywheel or flexplate will fit

1998-2000 heads had smaller exhaust ports, for faster warm up, I believe your 1997 exhaust manifolds will work, but if you can get 1998-2000 exhaust manifolds with the used engine do it

In any case you will need to swap over your upper and lower intake manifolds so your 1997 wiring harness will match up.

And maybe swap over the oil pan depending on 2WD or 4x4
New oil pump at your discretion, oil pump failure was never an issue on these engines

Always change the rear Main Seal anytime you can
Check all the Core plugs(freeze plugs) replace any that have any signs of rust, or just replace them on spec they are cheap

If you get a 1999/2000 it will have a 2 wire Cam sensor, you will need to swap over your 3 wire Cam sensor and tower

The 2001 to 2011 Rangers used the 4.0l SOHC engines your computer can not run these
1997 to 2000 Explorers had 4.0l SOHC engines as an OPTION, but came with 4.0l OHV as standard engine

1994-2000 Mazda B-4000 used 4.0l OHV
1991 to 2000 Explorer used 4.0l OHV, see above
1990-1997 Aerostar used 4.0l OHV
Any of these will work in your 1997, with above requirements

Ron.. have you ever bolted a 90 block into a newer truck? The motor mount brackets won't bolt onto the block. The early blocks don't have the same mounting bosses as the later blocks. I'll have to do some digging through some old notes to get the exact years and changes, but I can guarantee that a 90 block won't bolt into a 95 Explorer. I have an adapter plate I made that proves that.

As they added mounting bosses, they never took any away. That means any later engine will fit an earlier truck

 

[Colin105]

Th

Welcome to the forum


The 4.0l OHV engine was used in Rangers from 1990 to 2000, any year will work with your computer BUT.................................

1990 to 1996 engines used a 6 bolt crank shaft, so you would need a 6 bolt flywheel(manual trans) or 6 bolt Flexplate(automatic), not expensive parts
1997 to 2000 used an 8 bolt crank, so your current flywheel or flexplate will fit

1998-2000 heads had smaller exhaust ports, for faster warm up, I believe your 1997 exhaust manifolds will work, but if you can get 1998-2000 exhaust manifolds with the used engine do it

In any case you will need to swap over your upper and lower intake manifolds so your 1997 wiring harness will match up.

And maybe swap over the oil pan depending on 2WD or 4x4
New oil pump at your discretion, oil pump failure was never an issue on these engines

Always change the rear Main Seal anytime you can
Check all the Core plugs(freeze plugs) replace any that have any signs of rust, or just replace them all on spec they are cheap

If you get a 1999/2000 it will have a 2 wire Cam sensor, you will need to swap over your 3 wire Cam sensor and tower

The 2001 to 2011 Rangers used the 4.0l SOHC engines your computer can not run these
1997 to 2000 Explorers had 4.0l SOHC engines as an OPTION, but came with 4.0l OHV as standard engine

1994-2000 Mazda B-4000 used 4.0l OHV
1991 to 2000 Explorer used 4.0l OHV, see above
1990-1997 Aerostar used 4.0l OHV
Any of these will work in your 1997, with above requirements


And just a heads up on the 4.0l OHV engines, they all had a weak spot between valve seats in the heads, so if overheated they would crack, not may crack, will crack.
Hard to tell if a used engine has this problem, unless you can hear it running and make sure coolant doesn't bubble up in radiator on cold start
Compression test "may" show this, but not definitive

thanks for the help answered a lot i was expecting but wasn't sure about

 

[Colin105]

Welcome to the forum


The 4.0l OHV engine was used in Rangers from 1990 to 2000, any year will work with your computer BUT.................................

1990 to 1996 engines used a 6 bolt crank shaft, so you would need a 6 bolt flywheel(manual trans) or 6 bolt Flexplate(automatic), not expensive parts
1997 to 2000 used an 8 bolt crank, so your current flywheel or flexplate will fit

1998-2000 heads had smaller exhaust ports, for faster warm up, I believe your 1997 exhaust manifolds will work, but if you can get 1998-2000 exhaust manifolds with the used engine do it

In any case you will need to swap over your upper and lower intake manifolds so your 1997 wiring harness will match up.

And maybe swap over the oil pan depending on 2WD or 4x4
New oil pump at your discretion, oil pump failure was never an issue on these engines

Always change the rear Main Seal anytime you can
Check all the Core plugs(freeze plugs) replace any that have any signs of rust, or just replace them all on spec they are cheap

If you get a 1999/2000 it will have a 2 wire Cam sensor, you will need to swap over your 3 wire Cam sensor and tower

The 2001 to 2011 Rangers used the 4.0l SOHC engines your computer can not run these
1997 to 2000 Explorers had 4.0l SOHC engines as an OPTION, but came with 4.0l OHV as standard engine

1994-2000 Mazda B-4000 used 4.0l OHV
1991 to 2000 Explorer used 4.0l OHV, see above
1990-1997 Aerostar used 4.0l OHV
Any of these will work in your 1997, with above requirements


And just a heads up on the 4.0l OHV engines, they all had a weak spot between valve seats in the heads, so if overheated they would crack, not may crack, will crack.
Hard to tell if a used engine has this problem, unless you can hear it running and make sure coolant doesn't bubble up in radiator on cold start
Compression test "may" show this, but not definitive

I found a 1997 explorer ohv anything specific i should know?

 

[adsm08]

The explorer engine will work just fine.

Another area where Ron is wrong in what he said is that the 95 heads are drastically different from the 90-94 heads. Using a 95+ engine with older computers WILL destroy the engine. I believe using an older engine with a newer computer causes issues as well, but not to the same degree.

This also means you have to be very careful pulling engines from Aerostars because they kept using the older heads after 94.

 

[Snoranger]

The explorer engine will work just fine.

Another area where Ron is wrong in what he said is that the 95 heads are drastically different from the 90-94 heads. Using a 95+ engine with older computers WILL destroy the engine. I believe using an older engine with a newer computer causes issues as well, but not to the same degree.

This also means you have to be very careful pulling engines from Aerostars because they kept using the older heads after 94.

I was under the impression you could use the whole engine... the newer heads have a smaller combustion chamber so if you use them on an older bottom end with older pistons, you will have higher compression. But if you match the pistons to the heads the compression ratio is pretty much the same.
I've read that the 90 fuel injectors are a different flow rate than the 91-94. I never confirmed that.

 

[adsm08]

I was under the impression you could use the whole engine... the newer heads have a smaller combustion chamber so if you use them on an older bottom end with older pistons, you will have higher compression. But if you match the pistons to the heads the compression ratio is pretty much the same.
I've read that the 90 fuel injectors are a different flow rate than the 91-94. I never confirmed that.

There is a line in the tech article about 4.0 heads that quotes a Ford engine designer saying that using the "fast burn" heads (95TM) with a "slow burn" computer (Any EEC-IV or Aerostar) will 'burn down the engine".

Going the other way, fast burn calibration with slow heads, doesn't destroy the engine, but it causes low power. The 95TM heads had a different chamber that changed the way the flame front propagates through the cylinder. It required changes to the fuel and spark timing to prevent detonation and overheating IIRC. It's because a fast burn head increases overall cylinder pressure without necessarily changing the compression ratio.

Rebuilders should not install an engine with the 95TM heads and deep-dish pistons in a ’95 or ’96 Aerostar (early style pistons). All of these engines had the same compression ratio whether they came with the original heads with the open chambers or the newer ones with the heart-shaped chambers, so they would seem to be interchangeable, but the computer calibration that was used for the old-style heads with the open chambers will not work with the newer heads with the fast-burn chambers. In fact, “It will burn the engine down in a few thousand miles,” according to a Ford engineer who worked on this engine program. Ford continued to use the early heads on the ’95 and ‘96 Aerostar because they still came with the early calibration, so rebuilders must do the same.

 

[RonD]

Yes, 1997 Explorer 4.0l OHV will work fine


I think you guys are incorrect, yes ford changed heads in 95 and then again in 98, but OP isn't changing heads
He is using the whole engine so not going to come up

I put a 1996 4.0l in my 1992 Ranger 4.0l and it ran close to 100k miles before it was hit, passenger side front wheel, 4x4, so totaled, lol
Never had any running issues, pinging/knocking which is what "burns out" a cylinder

Maybe they meant 1998-2000 engines, but I am sure there have been a few swaps with those going into 1990-1994 Rangers and haven't read any stories about burn outs, it could be an "on paper" thing, and numbers don't lie, but in some cases they also don't take into account other factors, like getting rid of the Cam sensor, lol, so.............
But if OP puts in the 1997 then moot point


As far as I know the 2.9l motor mounts from 1986 and up worked with the 4.0l OHV
There was a change in 1998 so 4.0l OHV and SOHC could use the same motor mount

 

[Colin105]

I got the motor thank you everyone for your help. If everything goes good should have the motor in and running by Sunday. Wish i had more than an 2 hours a day to work on it. I'll stay posted either on a new thread or this one

 

[RonD]

If you have an automatic transmission do you know about seating the torque converter INTO the bell housing FIRST, and then bolting trans to engine.

Short video here: youtube.com/watch?v=g7klzEV0kng

 

[Colin105]

Yea i got it from here just wasn't sure about the motors. Im gonna do the time chain and tensioner, main seal and switch the distributors and put new plugs in. Only thing i see major wrong with the new motor is there's a lot of rust in the cooling system i figured I'll pick something up from the store and just keep flushing it

 

[Colin105]

I'm running into a problem with exhaust flange on my Y pip and manifolds both are rusted to shit. And thanks to the beautiful engineers at ford i can't get an impact in there. Any suggestions?