New with wiring questions

[Cbgrandtheftauto]

Hello everyone,

I've lurked the site for a few years and finally made an account. Now I need some help.

First off my Ranger:

91 XLT, 4.0L, 2wd, Auto. She was my first when I turned 15 and taken care of her ever since. She's had a few mods over the years as well. K&N drop in filter, BBK TB, e-fan, Jet performance chip, rear cat delete, aluminum driveshaft, and Flowmaster super 40 w/ turndown.

Here is a picture from a month or so ago..

Now on to my issue..

The 4.0L is getting tired and doesn't have the pep that it use to. (120k miles). It's suffered from the known lack of oiling issues with the push rods and valvetrain and sounds like a diesel when first started and a little through the RPM's.

I have an 87 LTD with a 5.0L that I plan to swap over. For right now I just want to swap the restricted 5.0 on over as it is just to keep the down time to a minimum since it is my daily. I'm trying to keep the miles off my 500whp monster STi..haha

I've got the list for everything mechanically I will need to fit the motor/trans in the truck. What I'm stuck on is wiring. The LTD basically runs on a standalone. The engine harness runs to the firewall and plugs into the ECU. Thats all fine and dandy, but what do I do about interior wiring? Do I pull the box out of the LTD and rewire the Ranger or does the Ranger have its own separate interior control box? I know the RPM wire goes to the 4.0L ECU so I would have to figure out how to make it work with the 5.0 ecu, but what about everything else like water, oil, speed, temp, and volts? Do I just leave the 4.0 wiring intact and splice the 5.0 sensors in?

I've built my fair share of cars so it all sounds easy enough, but I'm kinda stuck here since everything I've read so far is either someone with a similar setup uses an Explorer 5.0 and its an easy swap over or they use an old school 5.0 and go carb.

 

[dangerranger83]

Get a wiring diagram of the vehicle you are getting stuff from.

The harness from the computer is all that it needs to run. That vehicle has the simplest setup to have the engine run. From what I read awhile back, 5 to make it run and 8 for you to have the dash gauges work. It doesn't have a trans computer.

If all you want is a simple swap then leave it at that and transplant from the donar to your truck.

I converted mine to HO with a.mustang cam swap but also mine is now carbed. One thing people have been talking about is if you can run an engine like yours that had been converted to HO and it still run off the non HO computer setup. At most we have been thinking that a step up in injector size would do the trick.

Btw, welcome to TRS



Sent from my rooted SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[dangerranger83]

Also check out the tech library, has a how to guide on dropping in the engine you are considering under the engine section.

Sent from my rooted SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Cbgrandtheftauto]

Also check out the tech library, has a how to guide on dropping in the engine you are considering under the engine section.

Sent from my rooted SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Get a wiring diagram of the vehicle you are getting stuff from.

The harness from the computer is all that it needs to run. That vehicle has the simplest setup to have the engine run. From what I read awhile back, 5 to make it run and 8 for you to have the dash gauges work. It doesn't have a trans computer.

If all you want is a simple swap then leave it at that and transplant from the donar to your truck.

I converted mine to HO with a.mustang cam swap but also mine is now carbed. One thing people have been talking about is if you can run an engine like yours that had been converted to HO and it still run off the non HO computer setup. At most we have been thinking that a step up in injector size would do the trick.

Btw, welcome to TRS



Sent from my rooted SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

I plan on a HO cam and some port work along with some other internal upgrades, but they will be later on down the road. The tech article is very helpful. It's what told me I had a good engine to pretty much drop right in. Already got the dual sump oil pan and everything!!

The swap seemed very easy, but we all know how that turns out mid assembly..lol I guess I needed some reassurance that it really was as simple as 8 wires. I will be picking up a wiring diagram for the LTD today. I've had to many bad experiences with wrong diagrams that I find on the Internet. Imagine that

I appreciate the welcome

 

[dangerranger83]

Having a 4.0 under the hood, you have a few things already for your swap such as your current rad will do the job with your efan and your motor mounts will do to, just need to make block plates for the engine to sit on your 4.0 mounts. Also your current fuel system will work too so you are pretty much lined up to do the swap.

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