You can do it as long as the engine you swap in was available the year your truck was made. The 5.0 or a 4.6 would have no problem passing emissions test as long as you buy a good motor and replace the cats. If the motor passed emissions originally it can pass it now.

Your truck is an '02 I think Ford a pretty much over to the 4.6 by then so if you want a 5.0 see if they still made it for OMC or Mercruiser or somthing like that.

That said I'd go with a v8.

 

I heard that the engine has to be from the same class of vehicle. A Explorer and Ranger are different since one is an SUV and the other is a compact pickup. As a matter of fact Xtreme 4X4 swapped in that V8 into the Wrangler because they said it was the same class vehicle.

 

May be the the same class not sure each state is different. I remember them doing that they put a 5.7 hemi in to a wrangler from a cherokee I think.

 

I think CA is one of the worst when it comes to smog laws.

 

CA may be the worst but Jersey is not far behinde it's real hard to pass an emmisions test here.

 

a lot of northern states take CA laws and modify them slightly.

Basically, if its legal in cali, its legal everywhere.

 

very true. Glad I live in florida where if it looks like you have cats (gutted, or welded pipe through them or otherwise) you are OK. lol

 

go get a junkyard motor and run the one you've got till it blows, then swap. 3.0s are pretty bullet proof, anything with under 150,xxx miles from a salvage yard with good compression numbers should be fine to run. pick one up for 300 instead of 1300! :)

 

EXACTLY what i said earlier.


get a replacement engine...throw it in. possibly get away with a 30k engine for $500. engine swaps are easy.

 

He took it to a mechanic and so far he has only found bad lifters. The tear down isn't complete yet.

 

oh god. Why even mess with it? A 3.0 is a dime a dozen in the junkyard. the money spent on the mechanic to dick around with it could've allready been spent on a decent swap.... back on the road and running by now.

 

nah man they are both classified as trucks

honda guys who swap in the b20 out of a crv run into this problem all the time, my friend got his integra to pass though cause the guy didnt look at the block close enough and he left it unmodded and a b20 is pretty close to a b18b

 

UPDATE:

Talked to the mechanic and my pistons are broke. Seized the lifters as well. Needs new engine or rebuild... I guess I'm going to go with this one since they got good reviews.

http://www.everdrive.com/partdetails.aspx?sku=4000714

sigh.

 

Why would you replace it with another 3.0, especially one that costs that much. Junkyard you should be able to score another 3.0 for around 500 bucks

 

Ya but how do I know its a legit motor? and where's the warranty?

 

I wanna put a 4.0 but I would need the tranny too and I don't got that much $$$ to spend on it. Plus what's wrong with a 3.0? That aren't that bad.

 

I know but if your doing all that work anyway. The 5.0 will bolt straight up to your truck. I bet you could get a 5.0 + tranny for cheaper than that motor. Thats just what I would do though, your emission laws might not even allow that.

 

call around to different yards.....get prices and warrantee info. if you have to drive a little bit to get it...do it. i know for sure i can get a 3.0 w/ low miles for around $500 with at least a 6month warrantee.

 

I'm telling you man. $1300 is too much if all they do is clean the engine and test it. You can get a completely reman engine for the same price. I would go reman myself if I blew my motor. If you want to save money my buddy's dad runs a "U Pick U Save" and I'm sure he can find you an engine.

Quote from their site: WHAT TO EXPECT:
All engines will be test run when possible and checked for oil pressure and compression and/or spun to ensure not seized.
All engines will be steam cleaned or pressure washed.
All engines will have fluids drained.
All engines will be shrink wrapped and banded onto a pallet.
All engines will have warranty and customer service information attached.
Proper installation instructions found on warranty card will need to be heeded to meet warranty guidelines.

 

Don't even waste your money on a 3.0 again might as well as get a 4.0 its more worth it in the long run anywho. Just pull it from a junkyard.

 

Its a bit more involved that just swapping in a 4.0 and driving away. The tranny needs to be changed as well and also there are slight wiring differences and you would need a 4.0 ecu.

 

I'm going to keep looking around for an engine cus I called that place and they said they aren't rebuilt so I don't trust em. I'm still shopping around, and I want to put a 4.0 in there but I don't know if I have enough money... You guys think I could get a 4.0 with tranny for around 2grand?

 

You could do a 5.0 for 2 grand and some change with enough shopping around.

 

What do you guys think of this engine for $700 and free shipping?

http://karking.com/product_info.php?...roducts_id=159

 

I just ordered a tranny from them. Thanks for the link. A 4.0 manual 4x4 tranny is hard to find.