Ranger 3.0 question…

[Patrick Hammer]

Were all 1999 and 2000 ford rangers 3.0l flex fuel? It seems that way as that is all I see when looking for a used engine. Not wanting to put a flex fuel motor back in my 1999 ranger.

 

[Brain75]

The flex fuel and the regular engine are identical mechanically except 2 things - the computer (which you probably wont get off car-parts.com or a inventoried junkyard) and the fuel injectors (they are bigger).. the other differences are fuel lines, fuel mix sensor (which was done away with in later years), etc. You can convert a flex into a non-flex by just using your computer, and replacing the injectors if you are a stickler (but you really dont need to - the computer will adjust for the bigger injectors).

Going the other way is a lot harder, everything rubber or steel in the fuel line needs to be changed to nitrile/plastic lined/etc - ethanol eats steel and over long term rubber too.

I'm not an authority on the 3.0 flex, but it has come up enough times now that all the differences have been explained - short block wise they are identical.

 

[arse_sidewards]

Flex fuel has a bump in compression but it's so small it doesn't matter. Fuel system on any ford truck post sometime in the 80s will be all stainless except the pump and sender so it won't really matter.

If you want to use a flex fuel engine as a donor just buy one from a Taurus (they're much cheaper), fix the one missing bolt hole for the motor mount (the boss is already there just not drilled and tapped), replace the head gaskets (they're different because coolant exits the other end in transverse applications) and swap all your parts over.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I’m moving this over to the 3.0 section…