I need help. I recently bought a cheap ranger with known engine problems. Cylinder 5 misfire. After my purchase, I found it had sprung a coolant leak after driving it home (less than 10 miles). Upon further inspection I found the leak.... The radiator was cracked, and the previous owners epoxy finally gave out. Jumping the gun before diagnosing the driveability issue, I installed a new radiator. The cooling system pressure test revealed I had an internal leak. Sure enough using my borescope I found coolant in cylinder 5. This past weekend I ripped the heads off and found multiple cracks on the head and signs it has been severely overheated. With the high mileage, 192,000 mi. I'm heading down the path of installing a salvaged engine. Wanting to keep the truck a 3.0 I found that $700+ for a salvaged ranger engine is more than I want to invest into this turd. I can find taurus 3.0's in the salvage all day long for half the price. The problem I am doubting the most is will it fit. I am aware of what needs to be swapped from the taurus engine to the ranger. My question is if the eighth digit of the VIN, indicating the engine, means it has slightly different bell housing bolt holes? If anyone can point me in a direction to find the answer or has done the research, please help.

 

Welcome to the forum

Yes the 3.0l Vulcan engine was also used in Taurus and sables, and it will work in a Ranger, the head gaskets are different since the cooling system ran front to back on the transverse mounted 3.0ls
But many have done that swap without changing head gaskets and all seemed fine, no usual over heating

BUT..........the Taurus and sables also used the 3.0l Duratec engine as an optional upgrade, which is much different than the 3.0l Vulcan

8th digit
Taurus used a U for Vulcan gasoline only, or a 2 for Vulcan flex fuel, 3.0l Duratec used S
Rangers used U for gas only and V for Flex

Only real difference between gas only and Flex is the fuel injector sizes
The computer in the vehicle is programmed for the injector size so if you use Flex injectors with a gas only computer you will get RICH codes, and visa versa
So match the injectors to the computer

Head chamber shapes were slightly different between gas only and Flex, but again, swaps have indicated no issues either way on this

 

Thank you RonD. I work at a Ford dealership and surprisingly no one there could deliver a solid answer. Nor could I find any information online on Ford's Workshop Manual ...

 

Yes, the 3.0l Vulcan was last used in 2008 Rangers, so 10+ years old now, I think most automaker have 10 and 15 year old limits for keeping data around, lol, there in the business of selling NEW cars
If you are driving a 10, or more, year old vehicle you are not even on their radar as a potential customer

 

You mentioned aces only keep data around 10 years. I am female needing to swamp 08 engine on ky chevy Silverado truck. Why would i need data swap? And how do i go about doing that? I found an engine same year and make BUT the 8th digit is a C and mine is a 3....will that work? Please email me at fishergirlk87@hotmail.com

 

Howdy,

I'm buying a salvage engine for my 2001, 3.0 flex fuel Ranger (has a V in the VIN). The engine I want to buy is unleaded only or U in VIN. I saw Ron mention in the old thread below that It don't matter much but the injectors are diff sizes. Just wondered if they still fit the fuel rail?

Just hoping I can swap my flex injectors into the new block so it doesn't run lean. Looking forward to getting that nice juicy 16 mpg these things give you on a good (downhill) day.

Thanks Caleb

 

thats an old post, but the answer is yes.

 

awesome thanks D, I thought this post was too old for anybody to see! I made a new post been trying to delete it - but cant figure it out

take care

 

Before you commit to a Taurus 3.0 swap, it’s worth double-checking exact engine compatibility by VIN rather than relying only on the displacement label. Using a detailed VIN-based history and spec check from a service can help confirm the precise engine variant tied to the donor car, including block casting, mounting points, and drivetrain pairing, which is important because the 8th VIN digit usually identifies emissions calibration and application rather than a different bellhousing pattern, but there are small year-to-year and platform-specific differences.

 

Thanks Ambios - I bought a 2001 Ranger engine on from an engine reseller on ebay unkown miles. The block stamp number said it was made in 1998 but that''s pretty normal for large supply chain production, it was pulled out of a 2001 and everything fit up good. When I got inside to replace pumps and seals it was all nice and gold, no varnishing, then I found a decal bolted to the side of block saying it was remanufactured by Ford in 2010- nice bonus. Runs so nice - purrs. I'm still chasing down vacuum stuff and maybe a cam synchro that's not stabbed in perfect. Very slight surge at idle, MPG aint great at 18 highway going easy at 65/70. So i'm going to try rotating the synchro a tooth clockwise and CCW to dial it in. That's all I can think of.

One funny thing the ignition coil block was backwards, I hired a young mechanic to do it in my driveway and he had it the reversed, but when I put it right it ran real bad - last night I found Ford says either way 123/564 or 564/123 is ok! so i'm leaving that dog lie.
Photo below