Good morning, I'm Eugene and I live in Jacksonville, Fl.

I have been searching for this type of forum because I own a 2001 Ford Ranger and I love my little truck. I say little but I really put to work like a big truck and it have never failed to do what I ask of it.

From time to time I have needed to ask some technical question and I found myself either going to the Ford dealership to ask or just trying to do the research on line. Hopefully now if I have any questions I can get my answered here.

I know that if anyone has a question that I might be able to answer I will definitely do my part to help out.

I do need to replace the engine it's showing it's age (210K) and I'm looking to do an upgrade. The body and interior are still in great shape but it needs a new heart. I can't afford to buy a new or rebuilt one so I'm looking for a replacement for the 4.0 that it has.

I'm not sure what other engines will fit and pretty much couple up with all the electronics and accessories currently on my original engine.

I did come across another 4.0 from a 2003 Ford explorer but the owner could not tell me if it would fit for sure and I could find any information to help me out at the time. So I passed.

So any suggestions would really be appreciated.

 

Hi,

I lived in Eugene for 10 years, went to college there, very nice place.

The 4.0l in your 2001 is a 4.0l SOHC.
From 1990-2000 Rangers used the 4.0l OHV engine.

These are very different engines but the transmission bolts and motor mounts do line up so in that respect they can be swapped, but you would be better off sticking with SOHC version.
Explorers got the 4.0l SOHC in '97/'98 so the '03 4.0l would work fine for you.

Any other engines would require transmission swap and wiring swap and Computer swap, this computer swap would be a PITA because of your '01 PATS(passive anti-theft system).
The computer you have now is "married" to the vehicle(PATS) if you swap computers the new one would need to be "re-married" and only a Ford dealer can do that.
You could use an older computer and remove PATS from the vehicle, but that can be a PITA as well.
Point of PATS is anti-theft, if it was easy to by-pass or remove then it would be useless as a theft deterrent.

 

Hey RonD,

We've lived in Jacksonville since 03, prior to that we lived on the west coast of Florida been in Florida since 1977.

Thanks for that info so if I were able to purchase that 03 Explorer 4.0 I'd be in good shape.

My son and I were talking the other night about it and we were saying that it would be nice to put a small V8 in it. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks agin.

 

The power increase wouldn't be worth the effort, IMO.
But if replacing the engine anyway then it might be worth it.
4.0l SOHC has 207 HP and 238 Torque numbers
5.0l has 215 HP and 288 torque

The older Ranger 4.0l OHV was 160 HP and 220 torque, these were worth the effort.

Good read here on the V8 swap in '98 and up Rangers: Ford Ranger/Bronco II 2.9 liter Engines