engine swap

[ljbrengle]

I would like to put a 91 3.0 taurus motor into a 88 ranger is this a direct bolt in or is it quite a bit of modding?

Thanks
Lane

[Psychopete]

Originally Posted by ljbrengle

I would like to put a 91 3.0 taurus motor into a 88 ranger is this a direct bolt in or is it quite a bit of modding?

Thanks
Lane

They did make the 3.0L that's identical in the Taurus in Rangers. I am not sure if the blocks and how it attaches to the motor mounts are any different. Is it a 2.0, 2.3, or 2.9? You will need to swap transmission, wiring, ECC + more. I can't tell you everything as I never done the swap, that's something you're going to have to start and work though the differences to get it going again. You'll never get ever single little detail. A engine swap like that is generally never easy and strait foward.

You will probably need the 3.0L ECC, transmission and complete wiring from a Gen 1 Ranger, I don't think the Taurus ECC is going to control the Ranger Transmission properly, depending if you get an automatic, but then still, it would need a manual transmission ECC.

Not sure about the different transmision lengths and the drive shaft. Fuel system should be sufficient, but may need reworked. Some 88s (like mine) had a dual fuel pump design. A 2.9L to 4.0L OHV conversion might be the easiest, they're from the same family. But will still need a lot of swapping. Bellhousing and trans are the same between the 2.9 and 4.0, except the 4.0L tansmissions are built with harder internal parts. Basically no matter what, you're probably going to be swapping the transmission. *You cannot use the crappy tranmission from the Taurus. It won't fit, nor would I reccomend that.

I am not exactly sure the differences between the VSSs. The speedo hooks into this to get the MPH reading. My 88 is mechanical, and I am not sure if the VSS is the same as the 3.0L trans or if it's electronic. There will be some rewiring to the dash from the mainharness. You would not have this issue using the 4.0L engine. It would be as simple as just changing the VSS (if needed).

The 3.0L isn't preferred on a job like this, I think you will be very dis-satisified with the outcome performance wise. But if you've just got one lying around, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try. The 2.6,2.8,2.9,4.0 OHV were all the same family. The 3.0L is a completely different engine.

Pete