What to do?...

[rangerkid91]

Ok heres the deal...
I had a 2.9L I got it to hot cracked a head and scorched the cam bearings(Im pretty sure). It has almost no oil pressure, i changed the oil pump and still didnt help. My engine is pretty much shot. Now im trying to deside weither to rebuild my 2.9l, or just do an engine swap? Cuz I dowt it would be worth rebuilding the 2.9l... (Not sure). I have an explorer with a 4.0 in it but it was resently in a reck but it seems to look fine. But it has almost 200,000 miles on it and probably need a rebuild. Now i was also wondering if it would be easier to put in the 4.0 0r the v8 5.0? Please feel free to help and comment.

 

[4.0B2]

4.0 swap gets my vote.. rebuild it and swap it over. the 4.0 swap is easier than the 5.0... the 4.0 will set on the same motor mounts, bolt to the trans, and not over stress the axles to much... yeah i say use the 8.8, d35, trans and t/case from the ex..but even if you don't, you can survive.

if you do the 5.0, you HAVE to change motor mounts, deal w/ exhaust, transmission, t/case, axles.. and all. its a major domino effect.. think about it...

the 4.0 in my b2 is f'in awesome!!! i love it. and i would not do a 5.0 swap on a b2 after doing this. i debated 5.0 vs 4.0 in my b2 for a long time... but b/c of the money issues-- i chose the easier route of the 4.0 and could not be happier.

the 5.0 won't disappoint for sure, but it will be more money. but you will end up w/ more power and you can get just as good mpgs out of it.

make a pro and con list for each.. figure out what your plans for your truck are and the budget and time you have....

 

[cavibird2005]

What he said ^^

 

[Heavyfire14]

i always liked the 2.9's. their better than the 3.slow. i would jus rebuild it if it was me but, the 4.o is one of the best (if not the best) v6's you can throw in your ranger.

 

[4.0B2]

Why put money into rebuilding the 2.9 when he could spend it on a 4.0?? Lol.
The 2.9 is a great motor. Don't get me wrong. I just wanted a little more power and torque. I spent money on my 2.9 trying to achieve some upgrades and was not happy with any of it... of course all this was before I was a trs member...

 

[jhammel85]

It depends on what kind of time frame you have. Frankly, if I had all the time in the world, I would swap the 4.0 in after rebuilding it 1st. If you don't have much time at all, the fastest thing to do would be to throw the 4.0 in as is and see how it lasts if you don't have much time.

If you don't feel like doing the swap (wiring and everything) just rebuild the 2.9 and take measures to make sure it doesn't get hot. I love the 2.9 but it does have a bad wrap for cracking heads which makes the 4.0 a better idea if you have the time. The 4.0

In my opinion, you won't go wrong either way......well....Unless you let the 2.9 overheat again.

 

[4.0B2]

i never had cooling issues w/ my 2.9, never..
and it was completely stock. so.... yeah.

any option is good, depending on time.. and budget. most time and more budget-- v8 it! you want an economical swap to improve power/torque (an easier swap) do the 4.0... you wanna be lazy and you're happy with the 2.9 performance, rebuild the 2.9

 

[jhammel85]

Same thing here...No cooling problems. (knock on wood)

 

[rangerkid91]

And another thing is that it is a newer 4.0 out of a 96 explorer. How would it do with my ranger transmission? And with it being newer i believe i would have to have the dash out of it, as i read in the 4.0 swap tech library page.

 

[4.0B2]

Oh... Um. Idk.... I used a first gen explorer 4.0.

I'm sure it'd be easier with the dash. But idk about that one. Is the 96 ohv or ohc?

 

[rangerkid91]

Yea its an ohv.

 

[4.0B2]

Well shouldn't be toooo much different.

You can use the dash if you'd rather not wire quite so much. I just wired the explorer sending units to the b2 dash. Wasn't that bad really.

 

[rangerkid91]

What are the suggestions on the transmission? I have an automatic in my ranger (not sure what it is), and the explorers trans is an automatic too.

 

[4.0B2]

yours should be the a4ld.. i'd just run the trans in your ranger for now.. and then swap it if you run into issues w/ it.

idk what a 96 explorer has trans wise... to new for my knowledge lol