98 vs 99 Explorer 5.0 Swap donors for 99 Ranger

I'm in the planning and gathering stages to 5.0L swap my 99 Ranger. Ideally I'd find a 1999-2001 V8 AWD Explorer or Mountaineer. I almost had the right year and V8 Mountaineer today, but no AWD and it sold before I got off work. I'm not near being ready for it, but was going to take advantage of a good price and location. Still will if the right deal appears.

I actually already have a 1998 Explorer 5.0L 2wd drivetrain sitting here unused. I got to thinking, since I've got time anyway, why nmot start collecting parts to convert and use that drivetrain. If I get everything great, if I find a donor first, tit'll be spare paarts.

I know that there are probably several fuel system differences between the 98 and 99 Explorers, but since it's going into a Ranger I'm only concerned with the engine end. My understanding is that the 98 Explorer is a fuel return system, while the 99+ is returnless. Seeing as my 99 Ranger is returnless, it would be easier to go with the returnless system from the 99+ Explorers. I would assume that also comes with tuning and possible wiring changes.

Making the changes on the engine and electrical is easier and better, since it can be prepared for the truck while the truck is still in operation. I'd need to replace the engine harness anyway since I cut it down into a standalone EFI system for a swap project that never happened. I was probably going to end up using this engine and transmission in my truck anyway. I'm going to (re)build the engine and transmission before swapping them in and these are already out.

So how much do I need to convert a 98 Explorer 5.0L to 99 Explorer 5.0L specifications? I know I'll need fuel rail to convert the fuel system to returnless. I assume that I would need to 99 ECU to account for the tuning differences between the fuel systems. Possibly need the 99 main engine harness to go with the ECU. Anything else?

 

[410Fortune]

Does your 98 explorer 5.0 engine have one fuel line or two?

There are no real wiring or tuning changes for the different fuel systems
Basically the 5.0 pcm controls when the fuel pump runs it does now care if you have the older return style system or the later returnless

Return fuel is 96-98
Returnless is 98/99-01

The difference is in the pump and the tank. Return style the fuel pressure regulator is in on the fuel rail. The pump supplies fuel to the rail and the rail is pressurized, the regulator keeps pressure at 42 psi or so, anything over that is returned to the tank

The returnless system the new pressure regulator is simply in the tank. The returnless fuel rail runs at about 64 psi and all the regulation is done in the tank so the fuel tail
Is only supplied with a feed line.

The computer has no idea which system you are running

You can easily get the fuel rail and injectors from a 99-01 5.0 engine and out then on top of any year explorer 5.0, allowing you to keep your ranger fuel system and plumbing and use your 98 drivetrain

There are very very few wiring changes between a 98, 99, 00 or 01 5.0 drivetrain pcm and drivetrain wiring harness very few


I have converted several 99 rangers
The real question is your ranger
Flex fuel and when are you gonna delete the vacuum hubs! Hahaha

The flex fuel fuel pumps can be a little tricky to use w the 5.0 there is a flex fuel module you must bypass

I have a couple of 5.0
Conversion threads you may find helpful

Also the 98-01 5.0 pcm uses pats you should have the pcm the keys and the pats module from the donor to make swapping into your ranger much easier, no tuning needed

 

[JoshT]

Does your 98 explorer 5.0 engine have one fuel line or two?

There are no real wiring or tuning changes for the different fuel systems
Basically the 5.0 pcm controls when the fuel pump runs it does now care if you have the older return style system or the later returnless

I'm like 99% certain that it has 2, but it's been more than a day since I looked at it, so...

Yeah, I know it has two, because that is what I was planning out the fuel system for when I was still planning to put it into a first gen Ranger.

That's good to know, means I should be able to get away with just a replacement wiring harness. I didn’t know if the PCM took fuel pressure into account when tuning and adjusting things.

The difference is in the pump and the tank. Return style the fuel pressure regulator is in on the fuel rail. The pump supplies fuel to the rail and the rail is pressurized, the regulator keeps pressure at 42 psi or so, anything over that is returned to the tank

The returnless system the new pressure regulator is simply in the tank. The returnless fuel rail runs at about 64 psi and all the regulation is done in the tank so the fuel tail
Is only supplied with a feed line.

The computer has no idea which system you are running

Thank you. I knew the differences and years between the two systems, although I didn’t know some 98s were returnless. My understanding about fuel injection is that the difference in fuel pressures at the rails will cause the injectors to perform different. That’s why I didn’t know if or how the PCM would take this into account.

You can easily get the fuel rail and injectors from a 99-01 5.0 engine and out then on top of any year explorer 5.0, allowing you to keep your ranger fuel system and plumbing and use your 98 drivetrain

There are very very few wiring changes between a 98, 99, 00 or 01 5.0 drivetrain pcm and drivetrain wiring harness very few

Yes getting 99-01 fuel rails is the plan, just got to find them. I’m not in a hurry so I’ll keep an eye on the classifieds section and eBay.

Good to know, unfortunately I will need/want to get a replacement wiring harness any way. Back when I was planning to install this in a first gen ranger I thinned down the harness to just what was necessary to make the engine run. Even if it can work, before putting this into the Ranger I will to want to find another 98 harness, or a 99+ harness and computer to use.

I have converted several 99 rangers
The real question is your ranger
Flex fuel and when are you gonna delete the vacuum hubs! Hahaha

Also the 98-01 5.0 pcm uses pats you should have the pcm the keys and the pats module from the donor to make swapping into your ranger much easier, no tuning needed

No flex fuel and they’re already gone!

Was flex fuel even available on the 4.0Ls in 99? I know it was on the 3.0Ls, but I don’t recall ever seeing a FF 4.0L. Either way, mine isn’t one of them.

I found out that the PVH weren’t working while in a sand pit in Savannah back around 2006. Since then it has had AVM or Rugged Ridge locking hubs installed. I’m not an off-roader and in that time I’ve rarely ever needed to use 4wd, but have had to replace hubs two or three times anyway. Never from wheeling, always from outside damage. I want to go live axle, both to eliminate the weak point, open up wheel options, and to enable AWD.

The plan is next time the truck needs brakes I am going to swap to later model knuckles with larger brake rotors and convert to live axle at the same time. It may come sooner depending on what happens with axles and gearing. Either way all of it will be done before the engine swap happens.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the PATS components from the Explorer, I wasn’t going to need them in the first gen so I didn’t save them. I do have two 98 PCMs, one completely stock, the other with the PATS deleted and some mild adjustments to the shift points. Honestly, I’m probably going to need tuning anyway, because I don’t intend to swap in a stock 5.0L.

I’d rather use and build off the stock PCM since I don’t know exactly what has been done on the modified one, but not having the keys would make that difficult. I wonder if I could use Forscan to program my Ranger’s keys to it. I know I could if I had one of the Explorer keys, but I don’t know about not having them.

 

[410Fortune]

the 5.0 donor pats system can be added to a first gen to avoid the need for tuning just FYI

The injectors must go with the fuel rail
the 96-98 injectors (return fuel) are 19# of fuel delivery with 42 psi fuel rail pressure (stock orange)
the 99-01 injectors (returnless) are 19# of fuel delivery with 64 psi fuel rail pressure (stock off white)

You cannot use the orange injectors in the 64 psi fuel rail and vise versa

The 96-01 5.0 pats system consists of the key/key halo, the pats module and the pcm............. as long as these three things go with the pcm this PATs can literally be added to any vehicle even if the key just sits under the dash and does not actually work the starter

the Rugged Ridge hubs are not worth the plastic they used to make them, go live axle you will be FAR better off

 

[JoshT]

I know that PATS could have been put into the first gen, but I had(have) an PCM with it disabled so there was no point in messing with it. Plus the first gen was a return style fuel system so the 98 was an excellent donor. Granted when I had that Ranger (an 86 model) and got that donor, all I cared about was that it was a complete running V8 Explorer for $500.

I stripped stuff that wasn't necessary for the engine out of the harnesses that I had. I honestly don't remember just how much of the actual engine harness I messed with, but I'm pretty sure I removed some stuff from the engine side of the C115 connector because it would no longer be needed in the first gen.

Thanks for the reminder about the injectors, didn't even think about that. Bumping up the pressure like that would turn the 19lb injectors into 24lb injectors. Not a bad thing as long as its tuned for it, but I don't have the stuff to tune for it. Easy enough to get some injectors.

I know that I don't have the PATS components that came from that 98 Explorer, but I don;t know if I removed the wiring from the engine side of the 5.0L harness. I wonder. The actual key, halo, and pats modules should be the same parts between the Ranger and Explorer, just different codes stored in them. If my wiring for the PATS is still in place in the 5.0L engine harness. Maybe I could I use FORscan to program the PATS components from the Ranger into the Explorer PCM?

You are absolutely right about the hubs. I have wanted for a long time to swap out for the live axles, but other things have kept me from doing it. Not for much longer.

 

[CDW6212R]

Doing the PATS programming or delete seems to be getting easier. People talk about the Forscan often, and any tuning device evidently can turn it off. Jamie is right that you can keep the PATS if you want to, by either swapping the PCM/PATS/keys from a working truck, or deleting the existing PATS module.

Did you catch that; deleting the PATS module of the codes inside, fixes the missing key issue. That is how it's reprogrammed when the proper keys are not available, they just delete it. So with no(zero) key codes in the PATS module, any PATS key will start the engine, and that becomes the first stored code.

I wonder if the Mongoose OBDII device can do anything useful with the PATS systems?

 

[JoshT]

Thanks for the reply Don!

I actually have an OBDLink EX adapter which is recommended by FORscan for their product. Note that I am not claiming that it is better or worse than the Mongoose device, just that I have it and will attempt to use it before purchasing another. I have FORscan Lite installed on the Android Radio in my F-250 and FORScan full installed on one of my laptops, mostly for dataloging and diagnostic purposes at this point.

Did you catch that; deleting the PATS module of the codes inside, fixes the missing key issue. That is how it's reprogrammed when the proper keys are not available, they just delete it. So with no(zero) key codes in the PATS module, any PATS key will start the engine, and that becomes the first stored code.

This sounds promising, but I want to get more access to the FORScan forum to ask some questions. I tried to read through it about the PATS system, but it's not well structured and can be a little confusing. I saw that keys can be added and deleted, but I couldn't tell if a working PATS key was necessary to start the process.

 

[CDW6212R]

I hope the Forscan can help with the full PATS servicing, the old dealer tool used to be the only method, and the shop foreman did my 99 for me with that. That was in 2006 or so, and things may be much different now.


Forget the Mongoose device, that's a higher end thing for all late model cars, and it does all kinds of updates. I should have one soon with a package I got that turned out to be a way to get the now obsolete Moates QH. I may be able to use it to tune a 2014 F150 PCM I will use next, later on.

For your engine build, try hard to keep it close to stock, so the computer doesn't need to be retuned. If the stock cam and compression is maintained, it should run like a new engine. If it could be upgraded, go full on and raise the compression, cam, and retune it properly. Fuel matters, 87 regular octane might work with 9.7:1 compression, with a custom cam made for that fuel. If it pushed to over 10:1, premium is a must, and the gained power would be easily felt. But the cost of premium fuel is high, so keeping it running on regular is kind of smart.