4.0 swap

[danism]

i have a 89 b2 2.9 i am thing about putting in a 4.0. I have heard that in 89 & 90 that the 4.0 harness matchess just plug in at the firewall, is this true.

 

[greasemonkey6886]

I'm not possitive but from what I,ve heard is that there are some differences.I'm curious now that you ask because I also have an 89 that will soon get the 4.0 treatment.If anyone knows for sure please let us both know.

 

[410Fortune]

yes the 89 2.9L is a V6 OBD-I just like the 91-94 4.0L, it will bolt in and ALMOST plug in as far as wiring
From 1989-1992 the bronco ii and ranger both used the bwp or big white plug at the firewall bulkhead connections. However ford in all their wisdom moved wires around inside the bwp year to year so you must make a wiring map to sort out the changes.
So yes it is true The wiring plug from the 4.0L will plug into your 89's firewall plug BUT you still have to move some wiring pins around and strip a bunch of junk out of the 4.0L harness (like ABS, etc)..

The big difference is the 4.0L uses a DIS ignition, your 2.9L still has a distributor.....

what year 4.0L you choose and the transmission makes all the difference on how much wiring changes it will need.
My favorite year for converting old 2.9 trucks to 4.0 is to use the 93-94 style intakes and wiring. The 93+ trucks had a far superior power distribution box when compared to the earlier 89-92 style. The 93 had no egr and no cam sensor making the swap very simple or I should say as simple as possible. It is still a conversion almost nothing in the world of conversions is plug and play

 

[danism]

would it be easier to an auto trans? i no nothing when it comes to wirring.
I have an old 68 5.0, would it be any harder to put that in than the 4.0

 

[danism]

ok i am confused a little. are you saying it well work,i'll just have a bunch of extra wires going no were to get rid of? or do i have some wires to move to make it even run. the 4.0 i am looking at is a 92.

 

[bronc08]

There is definatly wiring involved and you NEED the Helms wiring diagrams. No question about it. It's not bad though. Did my wiring in about 3 evenings. To see what I did go here. I did an 89 BII auto to a 91 4.0 manual swap. http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=959

 

[rickcdewitt]

the swap is easiest on your truck by using the computer and as much of its harness as possible that goes through the pass. side firewall and around the engine compartment from a 90-92 ranger

 

[BRONCO 2]

yes the 89 2.9L is a MAS V6 OBD-I just like the 91-94 4.0L
----------------------------------------------------------

it is???

 

[rickcdewitt]

not all 89 and 90 b2's are mass air.

 

[BRONCO 2]

i havent seen any

 

[jason_paul]

I'll tell you this. A 4.0 out of a '90 ranger will plug right in to a '90 B2. No wire splicing or moving wires or anything. Take all the underhood wiring, Plug the harness in at the driverside firewall and turn the key.

 

[BRONCO 2]

the 4.0 is going in a 89 B2 not a 90

 

[jason_paul]

the 4.0 is going in a 89 B2 not a 90

I realize this. But decided to provide at least some info that may help.

Im just saying a 90 to 90 will work.

Now if the original poster wants to determine if there is a difference between an 89 and a 90 b2 he can.

Or someone else can even chime in and tell him if there is a difference.

 

[jeepshop]

I've personaly owned 55 BII's, and have worked on more than probably anyone, I've never seen a MAF equiped BII in either '89 or '90, I think CA had them, I'm in CO.

 

[BRONCO 2]

parts stores dont have one

 

[twoll86]

its just the cali versions that are mass air

 

[410Fortune]

Yes 90 bii in ca had mass air

If memory serves the 2.9 was actually available in ca until the end of the run of the 92 ranger


I have seen one mas air equipped 2.9l in all my years, it was in a junk yard in colorado
That is why I ask because they are so rare.
However in theory if you had a mas air 2.9 you can easily convert to 4.0 by piggy backing the dis ignition in place over the factory 2.9 harness and ditch the distributor

Wiring is a part of any conversion

Do not use Haynes manuals instead buy the factory wiring books

I will be wiring a 96 4.0 into a 89 ranger very soon, I will post up all the details of this job

I believe the 2.9 was actually still around until 91 in some rangers
It was rumored that some 90 bronco ii actually came w a 4.0 however it is very hard to tell because it is so easy to make a 89-90 bii look like it had a factory 4.0 since they are both so close in 1990-92, not much changes under the hood aside from it either had a 2.9 or a 4.0, the under hood layout,
Power distribution wiring, battery location, plumbing, etc is all very very similar

My favorite way to convert a 86-90 bii to 4.0 is to use the power distribution wiring from a 93-94 truck along with a 93 4.0 intakes and computer. The 93 4.0 has an excellent power distribution box, 93 had no cam sensor and no egr (except in ca).

However there are many ways to get a 4.0 under your hood. In a perfect world I try to use the later 4.0 like from a 98-2000 ranger/explorer along w the sohc clutch and sohc 5 speed m5od.

We have and can also convert the old 2.9ntrucks to use the obd2 96-2000 4.0 computer if necessary.

Every swap is different, chances are there will be at least some minor wiring if not major changes needed

 

[410Fortune]

yes the 89 2.9L is a MAS V6 OBD-I just like the 91-94 4.0L
----------------------------------------------------------

it is???

not all 89 and 90 b2's are mass air.

My bad you guys that was a total type-o I did not mean to put mas in there!!

It should have read more
Like “cologne 60 degree v6”

Basically the pushrod 4.0 is a bored and stroked 2.9l and they ditched the weakest part which was the speed density ignition with the tfi module mounted to the distributor
Sometimes I post first thing in the am and from my phone I always go back and try to edit things so they actually make sense lol

I am taking delivery of a 89 ranger today that has a 96 4.0 under the hood. It is my job to quickly wire this conversion.
I will create a thread for this truck
My early plan is to use the 96 pcm and convert truck to obd2 similar to my 88 bii… but there are a lot of variables here so I will wait until I have the truck and parts to determine what path we take to make it run

I converted my bii from a 2.9 to a 93 explorer 4.0 back in the 90’s, lol and I had a lot of help. That conversion is what started all of this I took ot upon myself with help from some good friends to figure out the wiring which lead to wiring up many many conversions of all sorts. I daily drove my bii with a 4.0 and 5 speed for a few years then converted to 4.0 and auto I think I drove it like that for 5-7 years before I finally went v8 in 2005 in order to get a better auto trans

 

[hellgoat71]

yes the 89 2.9L is a V6 OBD-I just like the 91-94 4.0L, it will bolt in and ALMOST plug in as far as wiring
From 1989-1992 the bronco ii and ranger both used the bwp or big white plug at the firewall bulkhead connections. However ford in all their wisdom moved wires around inside the bwp year to year so you must make a wiring map to sort out the changes.
So yes it is true The wiring plug from the 4.0L will plug into your 89's firewall plug BUT you still have to move some wiring pins around and strip a bunch of junk out of the 4.0L harness (like ABS, etc)..

The big difference is the 4.0L uses a DIS ignition, your 2.9L still has a distributor.....

what year 4.0L you choose and the transmission makes all the difference on how much wiring changes it will need.
My favorite year for converting old 2.9 trucks to 4.0 is to use the 93-94 style intakes and wiring. The 93+ trucks had a far superior power distribution box when compared to the earlier 89-92 style. The 93 had no egr and no cam sensor making the swap very simple or I should say as simple as possible. It is still a conversion almost nothing in the world of conversions is plug and play

Im putting a 93 4.0 explorer engine in a 90 ranger what wiring will i have to swap

 

[410Fortune]

What engine is in the ranger now