Ok, so i am swapping a 2.3 from a 96 Mazda 2300 that has a manual transmission to a 96 ranger that also has a 2.3L, but is an auto transmission. The engine harness and all looks exactly the same, question is this, do i need to take the harness that was originally in the 96 ranger and but it on the 2.3L from the Mazda or are the engine harnesses the same ??

Thanks.

 

The engine harnesses differ between manual and automatic trucks. It's mainly because of the transmission.

If you're just putting the Mazda 2.3 in the Ranger and NOT swapping transmissions, there's no need to swap engine harnesses.

 

I'm leaving the auto transmission in the ranger. So the engine as it sits has the engine harness from the manual transmission Mazda. So I'm guessing I'm going to need the original harness from the motor that came out of the ranger ???

 

Yes.

 

About the only change you MAY have to do is the intake manifold, thats where most of the sensors/controls live
So you will leave your truck wiring as is, and put in the mazda engine after changing rear main seal and flywheel

Mazda motor may not have the same wire connectors on the sensors, i.e. square/round stuff
So you can either change/swap the sensor or whole intake depending on what YOU SEE

 

The wiring harnesses look identical from with i see ... i just didnt know if maybe the manual harness had different pins .. im going to go through it very closely. And yes, i already have a new rear main seal, oil pan gasket, intake gasket and valve cover gasket in ready to change before i put the motor in.

 

So you are saying that i should be able to leave the wiring harness on the Mazda engine that came from a manual transmission and it will work with a ford ranger with an automatic transmission and the harnesses should be the same as long as the plugs are the same ?

 

No, the harnesses will NOT interchange. The automatic transmission is electronically controlled, meaning it has control wires going to it that are part of the engine wiring harness. The transmission wires are spidered into the main engine harness. The manual trans wiring harness has wires that are specific to a manual transmission, as are the connectors. If you try to run the manual harness from the Mazda, you will not have the proper connectors to allow the automatic transmission to operate properly. The only thing you can use from the Mazda is the engine.

What Ron is saying, is that there may be differences in the connectors for things like the injectors and other engine sensors. Although, this is highly unlikely since the Mazda B-series at this point was produced at the same Ford assembly plants as the Ranger, and the parts interchange.

Basically, just take the 2.3 from the Mazda and put it in the Ranger. Use the Ranger engine harness.

 

Actually what I said was you will leave the wiring harness in YOUR truck, this would be the truck you intend to DRIVE away from this swap, I believe that is the Ranger automatic.

And you will just swap in the new engine to this truck, so you will only take the engine, and no wiring from the Mazda.

IF.......the Mazda engine has different connectors on the sensor, injectors or controls, then you MAY want to swap your old engines intake manifold to this new Mazda engine.

You are, in essence, just pulling out the old engine rebuilding it and putting it back in so no wiring changes are needed

 

The harnesses were completely different ... i took the harness off the ranger motor and put it on the Mazda motor.

 

all plugs were the same