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sable 3.0 dohc swap


stegomon

Well-Known Member
V8 Engine Swap
Joined
Aug 9, 2007
Messages
2,181
Age
41
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auburn/minot maine
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1987/1990
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Manual
will the sable dohc swap into a ranger....will that bolt up to a 3.0 tranny?...and what tre the horses on them
 
Well the dohc motor in the sable is the same that is in the taurus, it is the duratec 3.0. From what I hear they are rated at 200 horse. THey scoot pretty good. I have never gotten a streight answer on weither or not they will bolt up to the transmission in the ranger. I do know that the front wheel drive vulcan and duratec share the same transmission. So this is a big if, and I mean BIG, if you could find a 3.0 from like a lincoln ls, they are rear wheel, and came with the 3.0 duratec. I imagen that it would work with the vulcan tranny.

But Here is the hang up I found looking at doing this swap. There is so much electircal and fabrication work that would be required to make the swap work, it is almost not worth it, when you can swap in the sohc 4.0 and have 207 hp. But the 3.0 gets better gas milage, which could save you in the long run.

there are several threads on here about the duratec 3.0 swap. I have not heard of any who have done it.

If you like the idea of doing the swap, don't let anyone on here tell you not to do it, because it would be easier to do a v8 blah blah blah. Dare to be different man. Sorry I can't be of more help.
 
I do know that the front wheel drive vulcan and duratec share the same transmission.

Vulcan V6 pattern
2.3/2.5L HSC FWD I4
3.0L Vulcan V6 (FWD and RWD)
3.0/3.2L SHO V6
3.8L Canadian Essex 90° V6 (FWD only)

Duratec pattern
2.5/3.0/3.5L Duratec V6
3.4 DOHC SHO V8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ford_bellhousing_patterns

Whether it's enough just to slightly justify it's own pattern, or it it's just completely different, within 10 minutes of researching, I couldn't find an answer to that.

Pete

Edit: Yay! My Tempo has a 3.0L bolt pattern. I couldn't imagine that little car w/ a 3.0L.
 
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ive heard both ways on the bolt pattern for the duratec. ive got a template i made from a 3.0 duratec in the back seat of my escort right now...if i just had a vulcan transmission on the loose to compare it too....

but where theres a will, theres a way. ive seen the 3.0 duratec converted to RWD using a T-5 and home-made adapter plate (pretty straight forward, really).

the intake is symmetrical and can be flipped, but needs a 1/2" spacer to be made in order to clear the timing cover.

t-stat housing needs to be re-routed using a hard line. engine mounts need to be fabed (hmm, lincoln LS mounts maybe?). the wiring isnt any more difficult than any other motor swap. just snag the engine wiring harness and PCM from the donor. could be made even simpler with megasquirt or other stand alone.

but when all is said and done...the SHO 3.0 would be slightly less work (it DOES bolt to the stock vulcan trans.), more power (20 hp more), same mileage, infinitely more "modable", and just as unique....its up to you.
 
Vulcan V6 pattern
2.3/2.5L HSC FWD I4
3.0L Vulcan V6 (FWD and RWD)
3.0/3.2L SHO V6
3.8L Canadian Essex 90° V6 (FWD only)

Duratec pattern
2.5/3.0/3.5L Duratec V6
3.4 DOHC SHO V8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ford_bellhousing_patterns

Whether it's enough just to slightly justify it's own pattern, or it it's just completely different, within 10 minutes of researching, I couldn't find an answer to that.

Pete

Edit: Yay! My Tempo has a 3.0L bolt pattern. I couldn't imagine that little car w/ a 3.0L.


Some tempos had the 3.0 vulcan and 5 speed friend had one pretty damn quick for a tempo!
 
I would really like to see this swap done. I used to drive a Duratec 3.0 Taurus at work sometimes and that thing moved. Just step on it and it would scream up to 6k rpm. That was a really fun car to drive. Then some dumbass I work with wrecked the transmission and we junked it. :annoyed:
 
a lot of vulcan v6 tempos were also AWD :3gears:

No shit!? I need to sell mine and buy one of those! They seriously are fun as hell to drive, it's like being in an oversized bumper car.

+1 to the coolness of 3.0L Duratec swap! Sounds like you really have a handle on what needs done Wicked, is this something your working on now behind the scenes? :icon_idea:

Pete
 
no, my extra time and money is slowly going toward parts for an SHO swap.

ive done quite a bit of reasearch on both the sho and duratec. the duratec would be neat...i just think the sho is a hair easier and even neater. just my $.02 though.
 
I too have done a little research on the subject of the duratec swap.

This is from wikipedia.

The AX4N is an improved version of the basic AXOD, and is more reliable. This transaxle shifts non-synchronously (as indicated by the "N" in AX4N) resulting in improved shift quality over the previous AX4S. It was used in the later Taurus SHO models, but also found its way into some 1994 and newer Vulcan-powered models. It was standard on Duratec-powered models. It became standard with both engines in 2003. It was renamed the 4F50N in 2001. Applications:
 
just because the same transmission was used behind the 2 engines doesnt mean they share a bellhousing bolt pattern. the same way the M5OD was used behind the 2.3, 4.0, and 3.0...but none of those motors use similar bolt patterns.

thats why i made that template, i got tired of finding bits of information on the subject but no solid answer one way or the other.
 
just because the same transmission was used behind the 2 engines doesnt mean they share a bellhousing bolt pattern. the same way the M5OD was used behind the 2.3, 4.0, and 3.0...but none of those motors use similar bolt patterns.

thats why i made that template, i got tired of finding bits of information on the subject but no solid answer one way or the other.

true, I had the same problem, never could get a streight answer, and didn't know if i should trust wikipedia or not. So I decieded against the dohc swap.
 
true, I had the same problem, never could get a streight answer, and didn't know if i should trust wikipedia or not. So I decieded against the dohc swap.

That's half the battle. :) I am pretty lazy and like stuff that's trait forward, so a 5.0L is more inline with something that would be fun for me to do and it's definitely something that I'll be able to tackle. A DOHC swap would definitely make me a little ill to my stomache trying to complete... :bad: :icon_thumby:

Pete
 
but when all is said and done...the SHO 3.0 would be slightly less work (it DOES bolt to the stock vulcan trans.), more power (20 hp more), same mileage, infinitely more "modable", and just as unique....its up to you.

Talk about bringing this back from the dead. well i plan on doing a 3.0L duratec swap when i get the cash. all i need a a decent stable job. But anywho. the 3.0L is quite upgradable the noble m400 use them and put down over 400hp with just forged pistons. I have been checking out the noble site and a guy is running 970 hp on 22psi on pump gas. so im pretty excited. I plan on building it for the 400-450 whp range but want to have the ability to get 500 or so without breaking anything. i plan on overbuilding it. You can get forged rods from pauter. they are listed under the 2.5 duratec but they are the exact same rods. I was planning on running the cobra transmission or something to that nature. these motors stock can hold 415 whp but i wanna make sure the motor is reliable. i think one guy just tuned his to push 475hp but with weisco pistons that come with the nobles. around 450hp you get around 400tq. with twin t-25's. And the lincoln ls stock 3.0L push 230hp and 215tq. 10 more hp then the SHO and 15 more tq. I dont plan on having traction problems either. i got that figured out as well. the 3.0L sounds something like this... You can also get more power by using the 2.5L svt cams and upper and lower intake manifold if im not mistaken.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4oO9OeVp9E&feature=player_embedded
 
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I was wondering about this swap myself I have 2000 Taurus with Duratec with 165k and it still modocks and talk about reliable I have yet to replace the water pump I finnally replaced a radiator hose at 150k.I have owned it since 2002 with 50k. I was looking at this instead of the 2.3l I think the extra weight is not much more and the power is a lot better stock. I am wondering about running with a different trans since my ranger will be 4x4. This would be badass in my Ranger.
 

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