I am in a position that I need to swap an auto in place of my 5 speed in a 2003 Ranger 4x4. I was wondering if anybody has completed this swap? I have been reading many post on the reverse auto to manual swap. Swapping the auto in appears that it will be slightly easier.
So far I have figured that I will need to find:
Transmission
Flex Plate
Steering Column
Radiator with transmission cooler lines
Rear Driveshaft
Engine computer
Wiring harness
Pedal assembly
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

Too bad we can't just trade!!!

 

Torque Converter

 

Transmission shift cable.

Cluster gear indicator and cable. Snaps in place of the manual blanking plate in the cluster.

Clutch switch jumper - plug in the OEM automatic piece or improvise.

Automatic blank floor plate on the tunnel. Either buy the OEM automatic part or make your own patch for the manual plate.

If you want to go cheap on the pedal assembly, just do what I did and saw the clutch arm off near the top. (You can't simply remove it completely because it is one piece with the brake pedal pivot. Ford doesn't sell the auto brake pedal pivot separately.)

I doubt that there is any difference in length between the automatic and manual 4x4 driveshafts.

Sometimes Ford auto and manual starters are different. Check with a Ford dealer.

 

Apparently the tail shaft housing is different from the m5r1 to the auto.

 

Very different.

 

I have started the swap and it is not as difficult as I had first thought. My only problem is that I have not been able to locate a wiring harness yet. Apparently not many rangers make it to the pick and pulls around here. There are numerous Explorers, however. Does anybody know if the harness from an earlier Explorer will work? I have asked for the harness at a few yards but they just cut them when removing the transmission.

Thanks

 

The Explorer harness is different. Keep looking. Maybe you can find a self serve yard and pull the complete harness yourself.

 

I have checked every you pull in my area and have not been able to find anything past a '99 ranger. It looks like I am going to have to start calling more wreckers and see if anybody has a ranger that hasn't been dismantled yet. Or worse case scenario I will have to order it from the dealer. At over $400 that will be a an absolute last resort. Do I need a harness specific to my year and model or is the same harness used for multiple Ranger applications?

Thanks again!

 

2001~2003 parts are generally similar. Obviously, you'll need a harness that matches the engine and transmission that you'll be using.

I don't know which engine you have but the 2003 4.0 harness is different from 2001~2002 4.0 because 2003 4.0 does not have EGR.

 

Thank you!
I do have the 4.0L. I will start putting in parts request and see what I can come up with.

 

Just a thought..... buy an automatic truck??

 

I thought about selling the truck and buying another. Since mine is in really good shape I just couldn't justify trading it for another. I did finally track down a harness and am moving forward with the swap. I have the transmission out, column and brake pedal changed and am working on routing the wiring harness. I will get the radiator installed this week and hopefully put the transmission in this weekend. Surprisingly everything has been very uncomplicated.

 

Was it a successfully swap?

 

It was a successful swap. I drove the truck for a couple of years before trading it in.