Hey guys.. new here.. I couldn't find any info on this so I decided to post.

I wanted to buy a mint 94 xlt 4x4 body with auto transmission.. engine with bad head gasket i guess? the coolant leaked into the engine and destroyed it. $350. I was wondering what direction I should go as far as getting a replacement 3.0 v6 engine?

This guy on CL has a 96 standard cab 4x4 auto. He says the transmission went and the engine is running. Delivered to my house for $600. Engine has 72,000 miles.

I was looking around and the salvage yards have $500 engines only.

I have to pay for the labor ($400) to put the engine in so I didn't want to bump up the costs anymore than I have to. Thanks in advance!

 

well, all I can say is I definitely wouldnt pay 600$ for an engine with 72k, especially a 96. I just bought an 03 3.0 with 48k with auto trans and transfercase for 600$.. so consider that. but, if someone will do a clean swap for 400$, I wouldnt pass it up. me and my dad swapped mine and it took us about 5 full days of working on it, and running to the store for parts. good luck. oh, and also, there's a place in ohio that sells remanufactured motors in the cleveland area. a 3.0 from them was 1200$

 

Ah okay thanks for the info.. as far as the compatibility though... what would be the best year engines to look for for a 94 3.0? I saw somewhere to do it in groups .. 90-94 and such.

 

I have a 1991 with a 3.0L. That year might be perfect. I would just get an engine hoist and drop it in myself. Have to remove the engine hood first though. If you take great care with it it will go well over 180k!

 

Yea im thinking I may just go ahead and do it myself. It'll give me an excuse to buy a bunch of tools and I get to keep them. I'll just hire my dads mechanic friend to help me out. How much do engine hoists cost to rent?

 

I had an interesting time with my dad swapping it out. its relatively easy man. all the plugs are easy to NOT CONFUSE, because they all pretty much have their own unique plug. I couldn't find any where to rent a cherry picker around here, so my buddies dad let me borrow his for free.. also went and bought a engine stand from harbor freight for like 50$, and it worked out well. and DO NOT use a 91, like mike said. I would definitely do 93-97.

 

the good part is that the engine is already out and in the back of the truck. Right now my only concern is that I'm buying it from a guy who has it sitting at a shop. They thought they were going to get the engine job, but he never ended up doing it. If I bought it from this guy you think the shop can try to charge me for storage or some bs?

 

they might, but you'll never know until you try. if they do, it can't be much, lol.

 

Aww. Come on, man. Don't hate the older Vulcans. Mine was original for 180k+ miles.

 

I'm by no means hating lol. just trying to help this guy go the easiest route.

 

Okay so I finally found out what's going on. Got a hold of the guy and talked him down to $300 for the truck.. he has a sable that has a 3.0 v6 with 104k miles he'll sell me for $200. Then I'll pay him 300 to rip out the engine in the sable and put it in the ranger, with my help. So kind of best of both worlds... cheap swap + me getting to get the experience + using all his tools.

He says he has all of the parts for the swap from the sable to the ranger, and hes a huge gearhead so I'm goin' for it. I should make a project thread and post pics.

er.. are there going to be problems with the cam synch with the sable engine? I'm not really sure what year sable it is.

oh.. and I kind of jumped the gun and bought a used mactools aw434 ($40 shipped). I'll probably need it in the future anyway.

 

you probably wont need the impact. used mine once, and that was to get some stubborn rusted bolts loose.. the breaker bar worked better than the impact 99% of the time lol. sounds good though for the motor. good luck, and keep us updated. need any help, hit me up.

 

heh thanks will do... I'll keep the impact anyway. Don't have any breaker bars :D

 

breaker bar is a good investment lol

 

I use to just put a pipe over a wrench for a breaker bar :P..

So yea I guess this guy is going away to school in a week and he has plenty of time right now. I'm gonna go pay for the truck tommorow.. get the title and then get it towed out of there for 50-100 hopefully. Take it up to this guys garage and start :o.. hopefully finished within the week. I'm going to start another thread in the projects section.

 

Got a first look at the truck today... black.. PERFECT. no dents dings or rust.. at all. In pennsylvania that's ... holy ****. Got it towed out for $50 :). Going to start probably friday. Almost made a huge mistake..... almost put the title in only my name... when my insurance is my parents. Almost $75 down the hole :S

Turns out the sable is so cheap because they can't get the title for it :P looks and runs great.. too bad. Think its a 94 or 95. Just have to turn the engine sideways I guess.

 

do you have a picture of the sables engine in the bay? I can't find a good one on google. I know that I had to take the motor mounts off my 2wd motor, and put them on the new one, because the new motor was 4wd. so make sure you check motor mounts and such.

 

oh... i hope thats not the case . Whatever happens I think the guy I'm working with can handle it. I'll just be the tool holder.

 

the motor mounts off my old motor, bolted right up to my new motor, because its the same block. so it shouldnt be a big deal. I just don't know if the sable motor has all the holes in the block like mine did for different mounts.

 

oh ok it should be okay. I need to take my camera over next time so i can start posting some pics. he said he didn't know of any cam synch? issues. He said it was either a 94 or 95... so who knows... I guess if it doesn't work I'm making him tear that **** out for free. lol.

 

motor still in the sable? then why not drive it around and see how it runs?

 

yea lol I dunno why I didn't think of that. He's a friend of the family so hopefully it'll all be alright. He has to move it from where its sitting to his garage and he said he's driving it there.

 

I'd still drive it just to be on the safe side. when I bought my motor, I just winged it, never heard it run or anything. hoped the guy was honest. he even told my dad if we had any problems getting it started or in, give him a call. so that made me reassured a little bit. first iffy situation that went right for once.. so all you can do is wing it, or drive it I guess. I don't have much trust in people.. but that started the day I had bought my truck, when it didn't even make it home ):

 

damn dude... yea i've kinda been trying to stay on top of things. If I don't make it home it means its a totally his fault!

 

if its not done right by any means, I'd take it back and tell them to fix it lol.