Hey everyone, first time poster, after finally getting myself a ranger! 2004 4x4

i just picked this one up yesterday knowing full well it may need an engine, and just started diving into the tear down. Previous owner said it died while driving, and never would start again. Dealership was going to do timing chains, then he decided to sell. I’m pretty sure the valves are hitting the pistons on left hand side.

I found a nice engine for sale from a 2008 Mustang, but the 8th vin digit is a “N”. Looks absolutely identical, and I’ve read guys are successfully swapping in mustang engines, but I thought they would have the same “E” vin.

Is there a list list of what will work for me, or not? I’ve been searching through the forums for a while, just haven’t found out for sure if this engine would work.

 

Welcome to the forum

Yes, Mustangs did use the 4.0l SOHC(2005+) and you can use the Long Block in your Ranger, you need to swap over oil pan and upper and lower intakes, along with water pump and accesories

Mustang does have different cams for more horse power and less torque, like all car engines did when same engine was used in both cars and trucks, truck got lower HP but more torque, will you notice a difference, no probably not, lol

And yes in cars 8th digit VIN N would be the 4.0l SOHC
In trucks it was VIN E
4.0l SOHC Flex fuel used VIN K and was only offered in Explorers


And just a heads up, IMO, you should change the 2 long chain tensioners every 70k miles to be on the safe side on these engines
Also keep an eye on the thermostat housing, they liked to crack and leak

 

Thanks for the reply!
Would you recommend losing out on the torque to get that much newer of a motor? Being a 4x4, and likely going to get slightly bigger tires at one point.

The mustang engine is being sold locally, for $700 cad with 135km

i also have the option of going with a Mazda engine from a wrecker for $1000 with 123km and 3 month warranty.

Ive been reading a lot about the timing tensioners, but unfortunately right now I won’t have the time to change them before I need the truck for work. My plan was to completely rebuild the other motor in the meantime, possibly twin turbo if funds are available. Sounds like the valves are hitting the pistons on the left side when turned over by hand

Unfortunately, engines aren’t quite as cheap here as what I’ve heard others paying.

 

You won't notice the difference in torque, as reported from others that have done the car to Ranger swap, if you think its an issue then go with the Ranger or B4000 engines

Your 4x4 4.0l SOHC may have a balancer shaft which 2WD Rangers and cars didn't have, again no one that has done a 2WD 4.0l SOHC into a 4WD has reported any unusual vibrations
The balancer shaft was there to offset the always turning front drive shaft in 4WDs, but was only used in the 4.0l SOHC not the 3.0l V6 in 4WDs during the same years

 

Interesting enough, just got the front of the engine torn down to see how bad the chains were, and there is no balance shaft on mine, so it was likely swapped already at one point. Unusual since it has under 200k. Really, really grimy under the front cover too so it wasn’t maintained well at one point.

Also found most of one tensioner dangling inside and the top chain very loose, so definitely piston/valve damage

 

Not all 4WD had the balance shaft, and some 2WD(trucks and cars) did have it.
I think it was added primarily for AWD/4WD but Fords not saying, lol.

But assembly plants need to keep running so I think the engines were interchangeable in a "pinch", so cars ended up with balance shafts and trucks didn't depending on engines "in stock"

 

Makes sense.
So I found and paid for my engine this morning, should be here tomorrow. 2009 ranger with 72km!

Since this is an E engine, what all will I have to swap over from mine?

 

Have a read here: https://www.ranger-forums.com/4-0l-o...-matrix-39169/

The wiring pins on the square connector may be different but if you swap over intake/injector wiring then it will match your 2004 wiring

Always install new rear main seal when any engine is out
Check knock sensor(under intake), wires get brittle and break, hard to get at so replace sensor if wires seem marginal
The thermostat housing liked to crank on these engines as give it a good look

 

Thanks again for the help everyone!

just about ready to throw the new engine in, but noticed something odd when rotating the engine over. Might be normal, but the tensioner moves significantly in and out while turning. I thought it would keep a steady tension in the chain, this seems like it would be extremely noisy. I made a quick/crappy video to see what I mean.

 

If you are rotating it in the correct direction it should hold tension

Normally there would be oil pressure pushing on the tensioner to hold it tight, but for startup its spring pressure should hold it tight

You could pull out that tensioner and see if you can push it in by hand, you shouldn't be able to, if you can then put its end in oil and push it in and out, it should get stiff as it sucks in the oil
Maybe engine has been sitting awhile and lost oil prime in tensioner

Like any new or used engine, I would disable spark and crank engine over 5 or 6 times to get fresh oil circulated before first start up.

 

Perfect! I’ll try that out.
Last question...hopefully.

One of my spark plugs seems like it may it may have been hotter than the others, and the valve has the same look. Is that an indication of valve seals gone?




And here is what the others look like...


Just want to do as much as I need to make a reliable engine before I install it.

 

Well the swap went well, after priming the oil it fired up first try!
on my first test drive, it seemed fine for the first few minutes, then all of a sudden had a miss or hesitation of sorts. Tried cleaning the maf, swapped coils and plug wires, brand new plugs when engine was out. My next thought is fuel filter which I plan on changing tomorrow.
Anything else I should look into?

 

The misfires after a few minutes usually means Closed Loop issue

The computer starts up and runs a Cold engine in Open Loop, like a Choke mode, computer doesn't use many sensors in Open Loop it calculates air:fuel mix based on tables in its memory, just uses RPM and Throttle position

One reason for this is that O2 sensors don't work until they are heated above 650degF, this is why they are "heated O2 sensors", they need the hot exhaust AND internal heaters to get them HOT as soon as possible
When they are hot enough then computer changes over to Closed Loop and relies on MAF and O2 sensors to calculate air:fuel mix

You don't have a history on this vehicle, as to why it stopped working or what happened to it before it stopped working.
Oil and coolant can foul O2 sensors, cause them to give false lean or rich data to computer
So it may be worth while to change them, the 2 upstream O2s, they need to be changed every 100-150k miles in any case so not a waste of money

 

I could see that, but lt only ran smoothly the one time. Even when cold now it does it. I’ve double and triple checked the plug wires, fuel filter just changed. Here’s a video of it happening while climbing a hill.

 

Ok, got it figured out. Plug 6 had a small crack in the insulator, then I decided to check all of them since that didn’t seem to help the issue. Several hours later, plug 3 did the trick! I hope I never have to change that one again! There must be an easier way, as it was absolutely the worst plug I ever had to change.

 

On the 4.0l SOHC the passenger side spark plugs, and the timing chain tensioner, are best accessed thru the passenger side wheel well

Pictures here, post #3: https://www.ranger-forums.com/genera...s-4-0l-130154/

 

Yeah, it’s more difficult with air-conditioning and auto trans to be in the way as well. It’s barely the thickness of my hand to get in there. At least it’s done now