I have a 2004 ranger with a 2.3 engine and I don’t know what year. So, I need a computer for it but the vin doesn’t match the engine.
what do I do now?

 

2004 Ranger 2.3l would have "Z" or "D" as the engine VIN code

So what engine VIN code do you have?

"D" is a 2.3l DOHC Duratec engine, used mid-2001 to 2011 in Rangers and Mazda B-2300
"Z" is same engine but in Cars

"U" if it was a 3.0l V6
"K" if it was a 4.0l V6


2004 is first year for digital clusters so they are a Matched Set, need the computer and cluster from a 2004 Ranger that had a 2.3l DOHC engine, also a working key from same vehicle

 

That’s the whole thing. The vin doesn’t match the engine because there’s a “new” engine on there. The vin corresponds to a 6 cylinder engine. The engine in there now is 2.3 4 cylinder.

 

Whats the VIN code number?
8th digit of the VIN, it matters

Look at the VIN on lower windshield drivers side AND the one on the back edge of drivers door, make sure they match

 

The vin is not for the current engine, it’s for a 6 cylinder

 

2001-2011 2.3l 4cyl Ranger looks like this under the hood: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/pr...4YQ8AASon-quJA

If that's what you have then get a 2004 2.3l computer there are only 2 computers available for a 2004 2.3l Ranger, one for manual transmission and one for an automatic transmission
It will need to be programmed to work with current instrument cluster, so not plug and play

 

How do I know if the 2.3 engine that’s in there is a 2004?

 

Wouldn't matter

 

We found the harness wires were the cause but because of so many wires it basically seems hopeless.