Engine Swap. 94 into a 96 Explorer.

[yourpc]

Thought I would check on this real quick. I have the stock 96 4.0 in my rig. It had a blown head gasket in it when I got it and it had been driven with water in the oil. I got the leak stopped and the oil cleaned up but it has a rod bearing or more making noise at certain RPMs and such (bottom end is loose).
I have been advertising I was looking for a running engine and got a call today from someone that has an engine in a 94 that had an automatic. I understand that there may be some components that need to be swapped from my engine to the 94 but is the 94 with automatic an engine that will work in my 96 with 5 speed? I believe both are the OHV engines. Thanks... Dale

 

[Bruces expo]

I do not think that is Possible , But I've been known to be wrong before .

 

[XLT99]

The 4.0 OHV shortblock is the same. The only thing that really varied over the years was crap like sensors and whatnot. If you swap over your intake and exhaust manifolds, wiring harnesses, and the auto trans flexplate for your manual trans flywheel, you should be good to go. The other thing to look out for is all of the frontal accessories. While i imagine they are the same, make sure everything is.
Just for example, i have a 99 ex, but its the SOHC 4.0. I can take a SOHC motor out of a late 2000s mustang/explorer/navigator/etc and it will would, i would just have to swap intakes/accessories/wiring harness.
Just make sure its a good running motor, the lower the miles the better. Cause its not fun getting a motor in unknown condition, swapping it in, and not many miles later having to swap the motor again. Good luck with everything

 

[yourpc]

Thanks for the info. I kind of thought that the stuff was similar other than manifolds and such but before I swap an engine I want to make sure that before I pull the original out that I better make sure that the motor Im going to swap is going to fit.

 

[snoranger]

It most likely wont work.


'96 uses different motor mount brackets on the block. The '94 block shouldnt have the right bosses cast into it for the newer brackets, unless it was a very late production block.

The drivers side bracket will only bolt up with 2 bolts (it can be drilled for a 3rd), the pass side only 1 bolt (it cant be drilled to line up with any of the other bosses in the block.)

 

[yourpc]

It most likely wont work.


'96 uses different motor mount brackets on the block. The '94 block shouldnt have the right bosses cast into it for the newer brackets, unless it was a very late production block.

The drivers side bracket will only bolt up with 2 bolts (it can be drilled for a 3rd), the pass side only 1 bolt (it cant be drilled to line up with any of the other bosses in the block.)

The statement above is correct. I ended up with a 92 engine for $50 so I put a little extra effort into puting it in. The motor mounts were an issu. I drilled one extra hole as suggested on the drivers side and on the passenger side I redrilled the motor mount and welded a tab on to match to a third location. The 92 intake can be used but when you put it together put your newer injectors in and dont use the 1/4 inch spacer on the plenum. Yes I know that its there to help keep the plenum cooler as well as height. I put in a new clutch and with the older engine I had to replace the flywheel. The 92 bolt pattern is a 6 hole flywheel and the 97 is an 8 hole flywheel. These for some reason take a different clutch kit yet the clutch is the same thickness and diameter. Starter is no problem. Had to change 2 sensors on the front of the intake. I put new pan gasket on and that was also different from one to the other. I also put in new front and rear main seals. One other part that was different was a cam sensor had to be moved. The 92 didnt have one and the 97 did. Had to swap the crank sensor because it looked different and had to change exhaust manifolds.
I wasnt going to do the swap this way but some idiot told my father-inlaw that they sell these to people all the time and it would fit no problem. SO when I found one for $50 I thought that was a great deal. When I went to put the mounts on YEP you guessed it! I was a little upset with his friend. I flat out told him that his friend lies and should not open his mouth if he doesnt know what he is talking about. Sad part is they work on used cars and sell parts like that. Maybe he thought I would buy one from them. Dont know. Moral of this story? It can be done but its not a bolt in deal and you should know what you are getting into and you should have some fabrication skills for the motor mounts.
Thank you snoranger for the "heads up". I would have been way more upset with the guy if I wasnt already prepared.....

 

[snoranger]

Thank you snoranger for the "heads up". I would have been way more upset with the guy if I wasnt already prepared.....

 

[JMan689]

I don't know about emissions or anything like that where you live but here for engine swaps the engine has to be the same year as the vehicle or newer for it to be legal. Just something to look into/consider.