Ungrade my 04 ranger?

[joeglime]

I have an 04 ranger 3.0L 4x4 stepside, with a stnd 5 speed trans. I absolutely love it. The body is still in great shape, but the engine is starting to burn a little oil, and now I’m getting lifter tic. I was wondering how difficult it would be to swap the 3.0 for a four-cylinder turbo. Not only could I increase the horsepower a bit, but I could also save money on gas. Any thoughts?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Transmission would need swapped too.

 

[joeglime]

I have a 04 Ranger stepside 4x4, 3.0 v6, stnd 5 speed trans. Bought it down in NC in 2018, and I absolutely love it. The body is still in great shape with minimal rust, but the engine is starting to show wear and tear. I’ve got over 160K on it right now, and even though I keep up on all the normal maintenance, it’s starting to leak oil a bit, and the lifter tick that was just mildly annoying before is getting noticeably louder. I was thinking about swapping out the old 3.0 for a turbocharged four-cylinder. That would give me a bit more horsepower, and save gas as well. Any thoughts…?

 

[sgtsandman]

I moved the thread to the general discussions thread instead of the 2019+ section.

Just swapping an engine is only a thing if you stick with the same engine. As soon as you start changing the type of engine, you start opening a whole different world. Since you have a manual transmission, that will need to be swapped for one that fits the engine you want to install. The cases of the transmissions are not universal. They are designed to mate up to a specific engine and are generally not interchangeable. You are going to need the wiring harness for that new engine that is setup for a manual transmission. You might need a new computer as well.

 

[stmitch]

Yeah, the 3.0 has a unique bell housing bolt pattern so swapping anything that isn't a 3.0 would require transmission replacement, and the PCM/engine harness would have to match with the new engine too.

The Duratec 2.3L from 01+ Rangers shares a bunch of DNA with the ecoboost 2.3L in the current Rangers and Mustang. They're the best donor option to start with if you're considering going that route. But they never came with a 4wd compatible transmission. And you need an expensive controller to handle the Ecoboost's direct injection. And you will probably struggle to retain factory HVAC. So that's a ton of work and money that would never pay off in fuel savings.

If you like the truck as-is, and just want more fuel efficiency and a bit more power I'd rebuild the 3.0 or replace it with another one. Then I'd do an e-fan conversion and an underdrive pulley on the crank. Those two mods typically give people a 2-3mpg increase while freeing up 10-15hp or so.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yeah, the 3.0 has a unique bell housing bolt pattern so swapping anything that isn't a 3.0 would require transmission replacement, and the PCM/engine harness would have to match with the new engine too.

The Duratec 2.3L from 01+ Rangers shares a bunch of DNA with the ecoboost 2.3L in the current Rangers and Mustang. They're the best donor option to start with if you're considering going that route. But they never came with a 4wd compatible transmission. And you need an expensive controller to handle the Ecoboost's direct injection. And you will probably struggle to retain factory HVAC. So that's a ton of work and money that would never pay off in fuel savings.

If you like the truck as-is, and just want more fuel efficiency and a bit more power I'd rebuild the 3.0 or replace it with another one. Then I'd do an e-fan conversion and an underdrive pulley on the crank. Those two mods typically give people a 2-3mpg increase while freeing up 10-15hp or so.

This pretty well covers it…

if you really want to try to get the most, have the engine rebuilt with balanced internals and have the intake and heads flow ported. Add headers to the exhaust, e-fan, underdrive pulley setup, electric power steering… wouldn’t be exactly cheap to do all of that, but you’ll pick up some power and fuel economy without getting into the troubled waters of engine swaps that open up cans of worms. The easiest and cheapest swaps are like for like and a few scattered plug-n-play kind, like a 4.0 in place of a 2.9 in 89-92 vintage or 5.0 into 98-00. Or adding a turbo to a 2.3 truck (forget what years were ideal for that, but the donor was a thunderbird or the like for the turbo and wiring).

 

[joeglime]

Thanks guys, I suspected it wasn’t going to be that simple. My original plan was to swap the old 3.0 Vulcan with a rebuilt or reman engine, and throw in a new clutch plate, since I’ll have the engine out anyway. But it all depends on if I can scape up the funds. Now I’m wondering if just doing a top end overhaul would give my engine new life, since I’m currently on a tight budget…
-Red ranger

 

[franklin2]

Is this a spare vehicle? Swaps like that can be a real headache. And if you live in a big city with smog inspections, if they find out the engine has been swapped they may not certify it.

If it can be a project on the side, and no legal problems, go for it.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Best thing to do if you wanna keep the truck is just swap in another good 3.0. It would be eaisest and most cost effective

 

[sgtsandman]

The cheapest option would be to get an engine from a salvage yard. The last time I did that, I was able to get an engine with 100K less than what the truck had on it. I agree that changing the clutch would be a good idea while you have the engine out. I would change out the clutch slave cylinder as well since you either have to pull the engine or the transmission to do that if it fails. Take a good look at the flywheel too. If it has any heat marks or discoloration, change that too.

 

[superj]

Thats low mileage. Maybe do one of those engine cleaners and run some different oil in it. Mine is over 200k and doesnt make noise or anything.
Same set up, 2004, single cab, 3.0, 5 speed. Just no 4x4

 

[Uncle Gump]

I just moved this to the General Discussion forum. Once you get your plan figured out... feel free to start a build thread in the Off road and 4x4 forum... I'm sure we will be following along.

 

[Blmpkn]

You'd need to swap transmissions, the 3.0 pattern is different than the 2.3. If you want to retain 4x4 you'd need to search far and wide for a 4x4 2.3 tranny (rare) or 'build your own' (skills & labor)

Passing emissions would be a concern as previously mentioned.. it would be ok in maine since the 2.3 produces less emissions than a 3.0 but may not in your state.


There's a lot more too.. certainly not a weekend deal.

 

[stmitch]

Maybe a Mod can merge this thread with the other one?

Ungrade my 04 ranger?

I have an 04 ranger 3.0L 4x4 stepside, with a stnd 5 speed trans. I absolutely love it. The body is still in great shape, but the engine is starting to burn a little oil, and now I’m getting lifter tic. I was wondering how difficult it would be to swap the 3.0 for a four-cylinder turbo. Not...

www.therangerstation.com

 

[joeglime]

Excellent suggestion! I would have to drag my #2 son with. He’s my goto guy on all things automotive. He’s currently rebuilding the engine on a 99 Land Rover discovery that he picked up for a grand.