replacing 2.9l engine

[dmackey41]

I am having to swap out a 2.9l engine from my ranger.It had 284000 miles.The head cracked and the lifters were clicking like crazy.I ordered a engine from the local ford dealership,the price was very close to the local parts stores.Did I do the right thing? I was just thinking that it might be better going with ford than the other guys.Is there any way to tell if the new engine has the upgraded heads?

 

[fastpakr]

If you don't mind me asking, how much was the engine from Ford? You may hate hearing this, but a 4.0 is basically a plug and play swap on your '90. That engine suffers almost none of the common problems of the 2.9 and was still in production through '00 if I'm not mistaken.

 

[dmackey41]

Is there anything that needs to be changed for swaping the 2.9l to the 4.0l?

 

[fastpakr]

I don't know the list off the top of my head, but it's pretty short. If you do a search around here, you'll find some discussion of it.

 

[dmackey41]

Well.I got 19 years out of the original motor,I think that is pretty good.Did I just get lucky?

 

[smokeymcpot]

yeah so there are common problems but to be fair not every engine is the same. one 2.9 can go 300,000 and another go a 90,000. just depends on every detail you put into it. 4.0 engines rock hahaha.. if i ever swapped my two nine no doubt in my mind i'd go with a 4.0. hey fastpakr, by plug and play do you just mean it's a matter of finding where the sensors go and all??

 

[Psychopete]

Well.I got 19 years out of the original motor,I think that is pretty good.Did I just get lucky?

There are still some running today, there are some that don't make it 100K miles. Mine only made it to 98K before it ran out of oil pressure due to a cracked head (had the bad ones). I rebuilt it with a bunch of aftermarket stuff, my truck is more or less a toy, just recently I pulled the engine back out and am about half way done on a V8 swap. Maintenance is a big factor, keep up on it and you shouldn't have any issues.

There are some things to look for on the heads that has been covered, but I can't remember off the top of my head. I know I've found it before by searching. But I would say the chances of it having the "somewhat" better heads is a better chance than not. It would be silly to put the bad heads on a new engine w/ a warantee.

Pete

 

[Jspafford]

Mine's got 161K.

65PSI Cold Oil PSI.

 

[dmackey41]

Any suggestions for getting the exhaust manifold bolts loose from the exhaust pipe?

 

[dmackey41]

Where can I find another oil level sensor for this 2.9l engine?The wire broke off as I was removing the sensor.I didn't know that the plug had a clip in order for it to come out.

 

[MagnaV30]

Any suggestions for getting the exhaust manifold bolts loose from the exhaust pipe?

Heat. Lots of it.

 

[Jspafford]

Where can I find another oil level sensor for this 2.9l engine?The wire broke off as I was removing the sensor.I didn't know that the plug had a clip in order for it to come out.

Any auto parts house.

 

[dmackey41]

I am having a tough time getting the harmonic balance pulley off the drive shaft.I am using the standard pulley puller but it is really stuborn.Any suggestions?

 

[dmackey41]

I swapped out the 2.9l engine and it is having problems.It idels really rough and it has no pulling power up hills.I pulled the codes and got code 77.Any suggestions?

 

[fastpakr]

Did you give it a quick WOT goose when the light flashed during the KOER test?