Engine swap, will it work

[spartan75]

i have a 1998 explorer with the 4.0 v6 SOHC and my timing chain is making a lot of noise, i took it to a couple of mechanics and everyone including the ford dealership said i should look into a new motor so.....i found a 2000 ford ranger with a 4.0 v6 SOHC with 67,000 miles and bought it for 700 (i spent the weekend removing it from the ranger). anyways i brought the engine and my truck to the shop and they told me the engine will not work unless im willing to put alot of money into it. is this true i thought and was told it would fit right in the only difference i see in the engines is the heads and manifold. what should i do im running out of money and i need transportation, thanks

 

[410Fortune]

tell them they SUCK
And if you pulled the 2000 engine out them you should put it in your 98 yourself

Teh 2000 engine has:
returnless style fuel rail

Your 98 engine may or may not, you have to look (1 fuel line or two>?)

All you have to do to use that 2000 engine in your 98 truck is use the parts from the old 98 engine, like the fuel rail, possibly oil pan, flexplate or flywheel, etc

Your shop, sounds like they mean well, but they are un-informed
it should cost you a LITTLE BIT of extra labor to swap parts from the 98 to the 2000 block, but not like they are preparing you for, so if you go back saying, here is the differences and show them, it will help keep you from being raked over the coals

I still vote, if you can pull and engine, you can install an engine, then you have pocket full of $$$$$$$ IN denver shop rate is $90 an hour = engine swap = 20 hours YIKES

 

[solitary ogre]

take lots of pictures of your '98 from many different angles before you pull it apart then you have something to help put it back together. label anything and everything. masking tape and felt pen works well as long as you don't damage the tape while removing other things. take your time and be brave. it isn't as difficult as it seems.

 

[DirtyDog]

All you have to do to use that 2000 engine in your 98 truck is use the parts from the old 98 engine, like the fuel rail, possibly oil pan, flexplate or flywheel, etc

Didn't they change flywheel/flex plate bolt patterns between those years?

 

[410Fortune]

no 96+ is 8 bolt crank, OHV and SOHC

91-95 is 5 bolt crank
96+ is 8

and you can use a 8 bolt crank in a 5 bolt crank truck, the flywheel/flexplates are the same

These are Ford 60 degree Cologne (merkur/German) based engines

the 2.6, 2.8, 2.9, 4.0L OHV and 4.0L SOHC all share the same bellhousing and bolt patterns you can physically bolt any of the 5 speed or auto trans to any of these blocks, some of the earlier transmissions will be missing holes or have extra holes when used with the SOHC, like if you had a c5 I believe the SOHC would only have 4 bolt spaces, but Cullhane now has you covered for that too with an aftermarket bellhousing to go SOHC to C4

 

[spartan75]

thanks a lot guys for the info i might give this a try myself because i am tired of dealing with BS mechanics.

 

[4x4xbrian.com]

Ranger sohc engines do not have a balance shaft..might have a vibration

 

[410Fortune]

do the balance shaft delete or add one? I know I have read about this, but SOHCs are almost foreign to me, I went straight from OHV to V8! something about 87 timing chains scares me