hey, guys & gals.
my name is Phil & i am new to this site & will probably have questions about the v8 swap i'm getting ready to do from a 98 5.0 explorer AWD. first thing i plan on doing is dumping the AWD for the 4405 transfer case. the factory ranger fuel tank is gone & a rear 25.5 gal rear tank from a 79-86 bronco, i will be using an external elect 300lph fuel pump to feed the fi-tech 3004 injection system i will be adding to the 5.0 once it is in my ranger. 31 spline disc brake rear end is already swapped from the 5.0 w/matching 4.10's. as for the sending unit..........it only has 2 wires as does the external elect fuel pump. is this going to be a no brainer to hook up or a headache?!?

 

Welcome to the forum

Reads like a nice build

One thing jumps out at me, "external" fuel pump
High pressure fuel injection pumps have 0 ability to SUCK fuel out of a gas tank, that's why high pressure pumps are put in the tanks at the bottom, that's the only place they work

The old mechanical 7psi fuel pumps on the engine could suck the chrome off a bumper, lol, but as EFI came into use and electric fuel pumps needing higher pressures, it was found that suction on these pumps was almost non-existant
In early Rangers a "Lift pump" was used in the gas tank and then an external high pressure pump in the frame rail, that was changed in 1989 to just a high pressure pump in the gas tank, which would be your best option, in my opinion

You can drill the gas tank to put a fuel line at the bottom and the external pump at least 1" below that hole so it has a constant gravity feed, but that puts the pump at a low level and exposed in most builds

Also fuel return and Fuel Pressure Regulator(FPR)
EFI computers rely on a consistent fuel pressure, say 60psi, it can fluctuate 5-7psi in either direction without causing running issues in most cases, but staying as close as possible to computers "set pressure" helps it to run the injectors better, for obvious reasons, lol

Ford tried doing an FPR on the output of the fuel pump(in the gas tank), 1998-2000 Rangers
It didn't work as well as engineers hoped, lol, pressure could fluctuate 10+psi from the expected 60psi
So they changed the system a bit in 2001
FPR stayed in the gas tank but a Return line was added to the external fuel filter, 3 port fuel filter
So fuel pump had a direct out to the filter, and engine, and a return line to the FPR in the gas tank
What this did was to smooth out the fluctuations to 5 +/- psi for the computers calculations

i.e at 60psi fuel pressure computer calculates injector open time as 100ms
When you floor it computer changes that open time to 500ms but if pressure drops to 45psi because of higher demand then computers calculations are wrong, should be 600ms at 45psi, so engine stumbles until pressure comes back up or computer can recalculate based on Lean O2s

I would revisit the fuel delivery system, also plan on an FPR

And just a heads up, 300lph is about 80gallons per hour at 60psi so would support an 800 horse power engine
Not for nothing, but you would be fine 60gph(about 200lph) which would support up to 600HP at 60psi
Even 40 or 50gph which is what Rangers used

General rule of thumb is 1gph needed per 10HP at 60psi
3.7 liters per US gallon, or just use 4 to make it easier, lol

Nothing wrong with the 300lph but really need an FPR

 

the inline elect fuel pump was advised from FI-TECH! i am a little leary, though. as for the explorer being old & decrepit,,,,,,,,,,,i'm rebuilding it to 350-400 hp, just so we are on the same page, there is "NO" replacement for horsepower! i'm upgrading because "I CAN" & want to!

 

As for the pump, look at the WHOLE fuel system they are recommending, often there is a "fuel cell" involved and it sits HIGHER than the pump, so gravity feed

Its not a pump issue, as far as brand or reliability, its a feed issue, high pressure pumps can not pull fuel in, it must be pushed in, by gravity or a low pressure pump in the tank if bottom of the tank sits below high pressure pumps level

 

decided to get a unit from tanks inc. my 25.5 gal tank has to be modified to accmmodate the pa-rec which the sender & pump will attach to. it's a little more than i need but the fi-tech will calibrate the fuel intake with their 58 psi built in regulator. fpr is essential & a must for fi-tech efi system.