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Ls swap and ny emissions


Ac668598

New Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2025
Messages
2
City
New york
Vehicle Year
2005
Transmission
Automatic
How can i go about ls swapping my ranger in ny and keep it road legal? Ive read that its gotta be the same year or newer or that the engines gotta be in the same make of the vehicle and both. ive also read that i can get a custom vehicle registration and jump through hoops to prove its safe but trying to see if anyone swapped an ls into a ranger in ny and if they got any info.
 

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couldn't find anything about engine swaps, but the official NY page

says whatever was on the original engine (EGR, CAT, etc) must be still present operational and fully functioning... so if we are talking about the 2005, then since it is newer than 1996 it has to be identical emissions features.

there's an email address there on that page that might be useful.
 
I only know CO and TX, and in those states, if all the safety (horn, blinkers, headlights) and the tailpipe (measure the actual gasses) pass they don't even open the hood... oh and of course the check engine light, if that is lit it is an automatic fail without even looking at anything else (always the first thing they do).

If you have been through a few inspections in NY then you got 1000x more knowledge on NY than me... might give the help/info email a drop.
 
I hate to tell people to go elsewhere, but when it comes to things like this, you are better off finding people from your state or local area to consult with.

I'm not sure if any of us here are lawers and/or intimately familiar with NY state's emissions and motor vehicle laws. The most that we could do is take guesses based on the exact same information that you can get online. Even someone that lives in your area can really only tell you what they've experienced, not gurantee that yours will be the same.

Your best option would be finding and talking with hodrodders in your area. With speed shops that might do this type of engine swap. Maybe try to find some emissions inspectors that are more into the performance side of things, they would know what can be achieved and remain with the letter of the law even if it pushes the intent. If you can also find the latter, they would also be easier ones to work with when it comes time for that inspection.
 
...Ive read that its gotta be the same year or newer or that the engines gotta be in the same make of the vehicle and both....

The same year or newer is federal restriction not state btw. Never heard that it has to be the same make/model (where make is Ford vs Chevy and model is Explorer vs Ranger)...
 
The 3rd answer on this question has a pretty thick detail, and one thing he says is to buy a donor roller WITH an emissions sticker, transfer the sticker to wherever the engine goes so the engine and sticker go together... don't know if that will help or just piss off the inspector, but thought it was a novel idea...

 
What year is your truck? There are exemptions for 25 yrs old + vehicles in new york state for the OBD test
 
Fairly sure 2005 since his profile says that and the pic is definitely a 5th gen (hood bumps up)....though he didn't answer
 
Your sig says 2005 Ranger, so in CT you'd be waiting till 2030 to be emissions exempt (25yrs old). Id imagine New York to be similar enough to CT for me to be comfortable posting my experience. I had a 2002 wrangler that I 5.3 LS swapped. I know that CT has emissions requirements stating that the equipment factory installed must still exist when engine swapped and the drivetrain must come from something of the same MY or newer. I sourced a green/blue harness/PCM from an express van to retain the drive-by-cable, but put me in the right year span to be 2002 or beyond. I had the PCM flashed to a 2003 silverado (I believe). When done, it was a Jeep wrangler from the outside, but was a 2003 silverado when plugged into the OBD port. When I had it emissions tested, I warned them as such and said it was no issue. So long as the emissions equipment was not tampered with and it passed the on board diagnotic/emissions test, then I was OK. All they had to do was officially change the engine size from 4.0 to 5.3 with the state and I was good to go.

You having a 2005 will be interesting as you are borderline GM gen3 to 4 cutoff. There are better LS swap based forums out there to determine your best path.
 

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