Hope all is well and that someone may be able to help me out here I’m a mid level mechanic here ,
I have a 02 ranger 2wd auto 3.0 engine. Transmission took a crap so I got one out of a 01 b3000 , installed it and now i have a issue where once the starter is installed it sounds like the flex plate is touching it at some point while turning the crank by hand, once I remove the starter and spin the crank I don’t hear it. I’m getting ready to pull it back down and compare the bell housings maybe ? Or inspect the flex plate . Are the starters different ? Do those Transmissions have parts that need to be swapped in order to work properly ? I can upload a vid of the noise it made once I cranked it up

 

Here the noise it made

 

No, they will be interchangeable
2001-2008 3.0l 5R44E in a Ranger or Mazda B3000 can be swapped, plug and play

Did you seat the torque converter inside the bell housing first, spin it to seat it on the pump and input shaft, before putting transmission on the engine?
If not then you broke the pump and that might be pushing the flexplate forward enough to hit starter gear

Google: How to seat a torque converter

Watch the 1:54 video, applies to all automatics from any car maker

Was there a washer/spacer between flex plate and crank?
Or did you leave flex plate on

 

I’ll be pulling it back down , yes it had a washer I did the rear main while I had it out, as far as the torque converter I watched plenty of videos on how to seat it even watched one specific for ford rangers so I’m sure I seated it correct I’ll update once I have it pulled back down and figure out what the problem is