Hello folks, I am new to the ranger forums and have an odd one I was hoping somebody with more experience then I could help clear up.

I have a 2002 4x4 ranger rocking a Tanus V4 4L SOHC that runs great dispite the 220,000 (mostly highway) Km put on it. The thing is that the ranger is my "parts" truck and will never feel the touch of asphalt again.
I also have a 2004 2WD ranger rocking a Tanus V4 3L SOHC that has blown its headgasket and become an absolute muck. And the 2004 is a gorgeous machine I've put alot of time into fixing up nice and proper.

I was looking into doing an engine swap, sticking the 4L into the 2004. In my research I have found that the only 2 items which would prevent this are ECU compatibility and the Bell housing layouts.
I know I can check the ECU compatibilty by seeing if the harness's plugs match. But I don't want to have to drop the transmission on both vehicles only to find out they have unique bellhousing.

I checked out the housing patterns list for the ford tanus engine, and got this stupidity straight from the horses mouth..."3L and 4L bell housing MAY be interchangeable, but they do not interchange with previous colonge engines"
does anybody know if those bell housing patterns match(q)
and the line "previous colonge engines" has me confused, would the 2002 be considered "previous" even though its the same engine, just from a different manufacturing year(q)

If anybody has some input on this it would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT : Gotta learn to read Wikipedia closer. I have a 4L V6 Colonge and a 3L v6 Vulcan... I can't imagine they would be swappable in the slightest, but I am willing to be proved wrong.

also while I am at it, assuming the switch IS possible, what is the experienced gear heads opinion on doing the timing chain replacement for the 4L V6 (q)
I've found kits ranging from 150 to 400$ cad, and I have also found engines in the 130k to 170k range for 500 to 600 cad. Am I better off just grabbing something lower mileage or sticking with this plan of action and doing the timing chain replacement(q)






**Also, my question mark key has broken at the most inopportune time, if a moderator could kindly replace all the (q)'s with question marks and then delete this line, that would be most appreciated**

 

Welcome to the forum

Rangers used 2.8l, 2.9l, 4.0l OHV and 4.0l SOHC all Cologne engines
Ford Taunus was a V4 used in Europe and that name was used in Europe for the Cologne V6 engines, as they were made to replace the V4

Ranger also used a 3.0l Vulcan V6 OHV, not DOHC or SOHC

Also used 2.3l SOHC Lima and 2.3l DOHC Duratec as 4cyls

Ignore any reference to Ford Taunus in North America

2.8l 2.9l, 4.0l OHV and SOHC all use the same block so same bell housing

3.0l OHV Vulcan is different, 100% for sure

Side by side seen here: https://therangerstation.com/wp-cont...ellhousing.jpg

Both 2.3ls were also different than above and different between them

 

OOps, Yeah I wasn't too sure if they were called the Colonge or the Tanus in North Ameirca, my mistake. I'll correct that in the above...

Oh geeze, yeah, a second look at the wikipidea clear shows the V6 3.0L as a Vulcan. I should've read that closer.

I guess the next question is, If I can remove the Bell housing from the 2004, and then drill out the bell housing from the 2002 to fit onto the (I think its a 4R44E) transmission of the 2004. Or would such a swap of engines (Vulcan Vs Colonge) throw off the transmission sensors and generally cause havoc (q)

Thank you for the help!

 

No you can't modify a bell housing to fit another engine, the crank shaft and input shaft(trans) need to be precisely aligned or the input shaft seal and bearing will disintegrate

On automatics the bell housing is detachable and the 4R and 5R used the same bell housing as far as the transmission side is concerned

BUT..................to do it right you should fully disassemble the transmission so you can properly align the front pump, the bell housing is the front case of the pump

Short video here on aligning and installing front pump

Why not sell the working transmission and use that money to buy correct model or rebuild the broken one

 

[/QOUTE] why not sell the transmission and use that money to buy correct model or rebuild the broken one[/QUOTE]

I live in a small remote town so I'd have to wait quite awhile to sell the old one and have the new one shipped in.

I was hoping to save time waiting for shipping and money on the purchase of a new engine for the 2004. I figured there must be some way to get the 4L into the 2004.

Since they are both automatics, I could take the bell housing off the 5R from the 2002 and place it on the 4R - with the need for such alignment work as you stated. Correct?

I have friends who are willing to help with the workload - so the sooner and cheaper I can ka-jigger the 2004 back into working order the better.

 

Yes, A4LD, 4R and 5R transmissions all used the same bell housings....at transmission end, so you can swap them

 

Alright, Thanks a tonne friend! My Google-Fu definitely wasn't strong enough for this one.
Now that I know for sure I can finally call up the boys and get started on the job!