Won at Auction! 97 Explorer 5.0 wrecky - General Ranger Discussion - Welcome To Our Ford Ranger Forum

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Idahome

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Took a chance and bid on a v8 explorer, I won!
$315 out the door
Sight unseen
1997 V8 RWD with 256K, clean clean truck looks like it smacked into a pole dead center of the front bumper
The excitement builds!
Who knows what you will find, sometimes these suckers come with a rebuilt trans, ford reman engine, new rear axle, new tires, who knows!!!
I will go pick it up on Friday then we shall see what we got.

I will buy as many of these 5.0 trucks as I can get my hands on at this price.
People will say, "Jamie, why the hell would you want a 260K RWD 5.0?" and I would say because I can rebuild engines and transmissions....these trucks are going to get harder and harder to find. I NEED as many 5.0 donors as I can fit on my 23 acres!!
We shall start with this $315 unit.....

I hope it has all 4 center caps.....I need them for the 98 V8 truck
Funny I can buy 4 center caps on ebay for like $100 or buy the whole truck for $315.....hmmmm

stay tuned!

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Eddie Money

Posted: Thu Feb 27th, 2020 11:02 am

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JAMMAN

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That stub rear 2WD 4R70W is hard to find cheap, trust me. I bought mine from Florida, had it freighted here to Ohio. Good catch!

Total I spent more than your entire vehicle.

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Posted: Thu Feb 27th, 2020 11:38 am

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Scrambler82
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Not sure what to say..., congrats, hope it turns out ok, hope for the best parts will be there ?!?!?!
Lol !
Sounds like a good find for someone in your position.

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Ltr,
2003 EDGE, Std Cab, Steppie, E4 Red, 5sp, 4x
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Hurst Shifter
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Front and Rear Bumpers by Custom 4x4 Fabrication, OK; now Mike's Welding and Fabrication.
Working on more Mods, just need more time, longer days would work !

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Posted: Thu Feb 27th, 2020 12:38 pm

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Idahome

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I now have two rwd 5.0 drivetrains
In all my years in Colorado I never even saw a RWD explorer let alone bought one, been here a short time and already acquired two!
We are planning a few RWD builds......

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Posted: Thu Feb 27th, 2020 06:17 pm

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1qaz
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Great score!

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Posted: Tue Mar 3rd, 2020 09:58 am

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Idahome

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she's home
they hit something pretty dang hard, made it all the way to the front frame crossmember!
Lucky for me only the waterpump sustained damage, the crank was spared....at least as far as I can tell.
Very clean truck before the accident. Looks like somebody had a gallon of milk inside then slammed into a concrete pole? Yikes

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Posted: Tue Mar 3rd, 2020 11:37 am

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Scrambler82
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Looks like they were trying to beat the Traffic Control Posts that come out of the ground.
They don't usually bend LoL !

What is happening here, drivetrain out, does it have disc brakes, that rear axle could be a goof find !

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Posted: Tue Mar 3rd, 2020 02:05 pm

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Idahome

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yes it has rear disc brakes, all Explorers 95-01 use 31 spline 8.8 with disc brakes
All 5.0 Explorer have 3.73 limited slip rear axle
I bought this truck for the engine and transmission and the computer.
Engine will get rebuilt, transmission will get rebuilt. Rear axle will get sold or put in a Ranger, seats will be sold, cat converters and the rest will be recycled......
I have crushed 20 of these in one summer before..... doing my part to recycle!!
I am in the process of collecting as many 5.0 trucks as I can, they are getting older and harder to find.

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Scrambler82

Posted: Tue Mar 3rd, 2020 02:13 pm

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Scrambler82
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It's too bad Ford didn't make a 5.0L Ranger, always evaded me as to why... they said it infringes on the F-150 ! I think that was the original reason for getting rid of the Ranger.

If I had taken the time a few years back I would have gone Explorer rear axle.
I was sudo working out of a JY in NH, the hay-day of The Gas Guzzler turn in.
Explorers all over the place, I was doing the interiors, wish I had a better handle on what the Explorer actually had in it.

Good Luck with all that, wish I lived or you lived closer, I'm a good helper !
Ltr

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Posted: Tue Mar 3rd, 2020 03:30 pm

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Idahome

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the 5.0 v8 was never put into the ranger because it would have taken the chassis into another class for crash test certification, maybe it was too heavy? I am not sure but I was told it would have required a re design of the 5 mph bumpers, side impact bars, and more so they never offered it in the Ranger
The 95 and up Explorer and 98-11 Ranger were designed around the SOHC V6, why Ford decided to stuff the remaining pushrod 5.0 into the explorers is likely to compete with the Durango and Grand Cherokees of the time. I'm just glad they did because they used a half ton transmission, the cobra mustang gt40 engine and all the goodies required to stuff it in the Gen II engine bay. Short front serpentine dress with high volume water pump and metal power steering pump, 135 amp alternator are all great for us Ranger guys tired of the whiney plastic power steering pump and weak pinto C3 based automatic family of transmissions......
Alot of Californians are headed this way, heck even North Ca and 3/4 or Oregon wish to be a part of what we have going on up here in Idaho! (protect your rights and freedoms)

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Posted: Tue Mar 3rd, 2020 03:43 pm

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Mike69

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Jamie, how hard would it be to put a 5.0 in a Explorer Sport 2 door that currently has a 4.0 SOHC motor in it if I got a 5.0 Explorer donor truck. Since the 5.0 & the 4.0 SOHC were both options in the 4 door Explorers would it be a swap out the engine compartment harness & drop in the 5.0 w/trans, is there any thing else that would need to be done wiring etc?.

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Posted: Tue Mar 3rd, 2020 04:00 pm

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Idahome

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only thing that needs to be done is the rear driveshaft length is different
and you have to adapt the 5.0 exhaust into the sport, or get custom exhaust from the cats back, etc

That is a 99.5% bolt in swap
there are some differences in years to years that may need to be addressed but as far as conversions go it does not get any easier

The rule of thumb is if the RBV came with a SOHC engine then a 5.0 pushrod can be bolted in its place
Sports had the sohc from 98-04 I believe , putting a 5.0 into a 98-04 Sport is super super simple.

For example if you had a 2001 Sport and wanted to install a 97 5.0 then you would have to convert the engine to work with the return style fuel rail or convert the sport to work with the return fuel system
If you want to run a 98+ 5.0 in the sport you will need to transfer the PATS components over from the donor truck
There are mid year changes to be aware of like 96-97.5 5.0 use analog signals, 98-01 use digital, so you want to match what the computer and dash want to see
But that is what I am here for, there are no surprises with a swap I like this when I am involved.
I have been through every possible battle with these conversions and we are still winning the war!

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Posted: Tue Mar 3rd, 2020 07:32 pm

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Mike69

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Jamie, thank you so very much for the reply. My wife's 99 Sport has a little timing chain rattle on cold morning start up only. The Sport has 110K miles on the clock & I am thinking of swapping in a 5.0 in a few years after I retire. I guess it is time to start looking for a donor Explorer. My wife's current 99 Sport is her 3rd Sport & second 99, when we purchased the first 99 Sport new we wanted to get it with a 5.0 but were told by the Ford dealer where I worked at the time the Sport's could not be ordered from Ford with the 5.0.

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Posted: Wed Mar 4th, 2020 02:54 pm

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Idahome

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You should consider changing the timing chain tensioners on her engine with the cold start rattle
The timing chain tensioners are pumped up hydraulically when you start the engine, on a cold start a worn tensioner takes a minute to pump up, the chain is slack and the engine is out of time. The slack in the chain can cause major wear on the nylon chain guides, which leads to further damage.
Many SOHC engine owners have a secret trick you can press the fuel pedal to the floor and crank the starter for 6-8 seconds, this will build oil pressure early before you start the engine. Apparently the engine will not start with the throttle wide open, which gives the starter a chance to prime the oil pressure. This helps pump up the tensioners to avoid a slack chain.
Ford recommends the LH and RH head tensioners be replaced at 90K miles.
The SOHC engine MUST have synthetic oil and it must be changed frequently or timing components will wear premature.
Now interesting fact I stumbled upon when I purchased a 2014 Polaris Rzr xp1000 back in 2014, it too had a cold start rattle. I knew the sound immediately and was not impressed. Some investigation revealed that Polaris used the same cloyes tensioners in their OHC engines! Nothing like buying a $18000 toy to find out it has issues from the factory with timing chain tensioners.
Year later we bought my wife a 2015 Xp1K, same noise.
The aftermarket came to our rescue and now there are several types of tensioners available. Spring loaded ratcheting tensioners, a Yamaha design works great....but they are large and may not fit the Ford engine. Then there are manually adjusted tensioners where you set the pre load on the chain, lock down the jamb nut and forget about it....no oil pressure needed. This is what we run in our Rzr's and have never had a cold start slack chain rattle noise since.
Now here we are years later you can get stainless steel manually adjusted tensioners for like $40 each........they screw directly into your SOHC engine. Turn the adjuster in finger tight then back out 1/8 turn and lock down the jamb nut. DONE. On the 99 model year SOHC engine you will have to remove the thermostat housing in order to get access to the drivers side tensioner....the pass side is accessed easily through the pass wheel well.

Ford never offered the sport with a 5.0 nor the sport trac, only 4 door explorers from 96-01 had the 5.0. They are all automatic transmissions and came in either RWD or full time AWD.

Hope this helps

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Posted: Wed Mar 4th, 2020 03:09 pm

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Mike69

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Thanks for the info Jamie. Whenever I start her truck on cold startups in the morning I always crank it a few times to build up the oil pressure, & that usually greatly reduces or eliminates the rattle. I have already replaced the hydraulic tensioners, & use synthetic oil in all our trucks.

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410customs

Posted: Wed Mar 4th, 2020 03:17 pm

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Idahome

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I just learned about the hold the pedal to the floor and crank the starter trick this AM! I had never heard of such a thing before....
The other thing you can do is remove the oil cap and have a look down in there to see the upper chain and guides on the drivers head.

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