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Swap 97 SOHC for a 94 OHV

shmockey

Member
Joined
April 8, 2010
Messages
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City, State
Windsor, NY
Year, Model & Trim Level
'99 XLT
how tough is it to put a 4.0 SOHC from a 97 Explorer in a 94 Ranger with a 4.0 OHV?

What do I have to rape from the explorer to make this happen?

Will the 94 Ranger Trany and Transfer Case work on the 99 engine?

any help will be greatly appreciated.
 



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Anyone?? Do I have to swap over the wiring harness?? someone must know something?
 






its tough

the SOHC will need some modifications, the oil pan is wrong and in 99 it has a returnless style fuel rail

Your 94 transmission if its an auto will not work with the 99 computer, but the 94 computer can run that 99 SOHC engine

I have a friend Brett, he is a nutcase, he is a Ford guru and a mad scientist... believe me when I tell you this. Brett has a 94 Explorer sport, he installed a 2004 Ranger Edge SOHC 4.0L and 5 speed manual transmission into his 94 explorer sport... it is a TIGHT FIT, Brett also had to do alot of modifications to make it fit and work.. the 04 engine was modified with a OHV oil pan and pump, as well as a 97 SOHC intake manifold and fuel rail
he used the 94 computer to run the SOHC engine, believe it or not the only difference between a SOHC and an OHV as far as the computer is concerned is an additional camshaft position sensor on the valve cover of the SOHC engine.. Brett simply ignored this sensor and it runs just fine.

Brett still has some bugs to work out of his conversion, like I said it is a very tight fit and its slightly awkeward... the heater box must be modified, the exhaust wants to be in the frame and there are some other "tight" clearance area's
BUT IT RUNS LIKE A SCOLDED DOG

my 1988 is on 35" tires with a V8 and automatic
Brett's 94 Sport is on 33" tires with a 5 speed and a SOHC, both trucks are 4.10 gears... his truck keeps up with mine no problem... if we kep going he would likely catch me because the SOHC is so rev happy and he has a 5 speed....

Its a MONSTER conversion, but this is also a very difficult and detailed conversion, I would not attempt this if its your first rodeo

Wiring is tricky, details are tricky, even worse when you introduce an automatic transmission, FYI your 94 transmission will die a quick death behind the power of the SOHC

I have done several drivetrain conversion into these trucks, I wouldnt TOUCH the SOHC conversion .... I would instead do the V8 again, easier, in my case cheaper, and a MUCH better transmission
 






410 thank you for your input, and I was correct on the title not in my first post, it is a '97 4.0 SOHC into a '94 Ranger. but if the trany wont hold up maybe I will rebuild the trany behind the SOHC 5r55e and put them both in with a wiring harness swap as well

do you think would be a better way to do this swap?

I realy like the strength of the SOHC engine
 






The ohv is a tougher motor,just less power.I would just save the time and rebuilt the ohv
 






a better way YES INDEED

the 97 SOHC is the first year of the SOHC, Again I wouldnt touch one of those personally, it seems the 2001+ SOHC is much more reliable

I would do like you just said if you are set on using the SOHC engine with an automatic... convert the 94 Ranger to OBD-II using the dash, wiring, rear axle, everything from the 97 donor

to clear the 94 Ranger front beam suspension the 97 SOHC will need the OHV oil pan, I believe you can use the OHV engine mounts and possibly the Y pipe with a little modifications

you can keep the 94 cooling setup and the fuel setup, you will need to make some fuel lines

keeping everything 97 is a far easier approach, although you are still looking at alot of work, then trying to adapt the SOHC engine into the 94 truck

if you are going to do all this work, why not skip the Gen II SOHC drivetrain and go V8?
This is exactly how I ended up with a V8 under my hood.. the 4r70w auto transmission is what I was after... a auto trans that can TAKE IT

brett and I duscussed the SOHC conversion for many years before it was ever done...I was sleptical because they still use the A4LD family auto trans, no thanks!
If you can live with a 5 speed manual or a 3 speed automatic then the SOHC is a *****in upgrade... a SOHC with a built C4 behind it is an awesome setup (look around So Cal, they do it alot down there in the desert)
 






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