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Gunslinger
Joined: Sat Nov 4th, 2017
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The running theme thus far is the explorer falls into one of three categories, with some overlap.
1. Way too expensive.
2. Complete rag.
3. Wrong year range/engine size
I took another look at what changed throughout the years, to see if I could widen my horizon any, but it seems that any significant changes from 98 or older would make the swap more difficult than it will already be.
Although a lack of PATS would make things easier, and I doubt a lower fuel pressure with a return line would make things scarier, one thing that caught my eye was how the speedo gets it's signal.
From 98 and earlier, it comes from the transmission/transfer case, not the rear axle like my Ranger.
I'm satisfied that the signal coming from the two sensors are different, and therefor are decoded differently, making swapping from one system to another not an easy feat.
So, looks like it would be wise to keep with a 99 to 01.
That said, I'm considering perhaps buying a complete vehicle from my local salvage yard, as explorers in this year range are easy to come by from that yard. I would likely have to trailer it home, but I expected to have to trailer it to that yard after the swap anyway.
I may be able to get one cheaper this way, which means more funds to put towards other parts and tune up components.
Whichever way I go, I also noticed a couple other things while reading a tech article on this swap. The 5.0's radiator apparently is twice as thick, and some people have reported having issues keeping the trans temp cool with an electric fan.
My Ranger has a two speed Taurus e fan, and I wish to stick with it. Depending on how the expo radiator looks, it may be in my best interest to swap in the expo radiator, or buy a new radiator if this one is less than favorable.
Just looked them up on rockauto. I can get one for around $100, but I noticed a difference. One is listed with a 1" core depth, and the other a 2 1/4" core depth. The Ranger radiator selections do not list core depth options. That said, we'll figure that out when we get there. Obviously the more parts I can reuse the better off I am, with some exceptions.
Back to the trans temps for a moment, I would like to add more cooling to the trans to keep it comfy. My Ranger has a cooler on it already, and I suspect the Expo will as well. I could plumb them up in series, save myself a few dollars and call it a day, or I could hop on ebay and get a bigger cooler. They appear to be $40 on up to whatever you want to pay, so not a huge cost to consider.
The deeper I dive into this, the more I realize that there are going to be a lot of little things that will have to be sorted out, beyond the big things at play here. And we've only started contemplating the engine swap, lol.
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1999 Ford Ranger XLT - 3.0 V6 4x4 - Loaded (Totaled) 143k. Rest in Peace, Gold Dust.