1990's explorers plenty of power, more compact than a v8. and best part - cheap, cheap, cheap. any thoughts

 

i own a 97 ford ranger with a 4.0l and would never dream of
puting that piece of in a toyota, i would highly recommend a 4.3 vortec, i bought a chevy donor truck from
a wrecking yard for $500 bucks with a small block 350, do your homework before getting in over your head, good deals
r out there, just be patient

 

if your gonna do a swap do it right a v8 swap 5.0 ford is narrower than a 350 and is much better because the distrib is in the front i mean i have a 350 in my yota and you will never dream of gettin as much power out of a v6 plus they have all the parts you will need to do a v8 swap for ford or chevy havent seen anything for a 4.0 ford swap so i think it would be pretty tough definatly not cheap by any means to do any kinda swap

 

and the evergreen guys chime in ! but still a v8 is too big "imho" 4.3's have been done again and again, i want something a little different.hyme, what troubles have u had with yer explorer. i wheel the wee! outa mine, the only prob i've had is water pump 3x

 

my '97 ranger is 2wd with a leveling kit, my 4.0l ticks like hell...i call it the "tick'n time bomb"
i go where 4x4's go all the time, i do get stuck every now and then, but then again it's my
beater truck that i bought for 500 bucks

 

4.0 are nothing to be desired, even the OHC engines are nothing to write about. Do a 4.3 Chevy V6 swap or a Toyota 3.4 swap. If your a Ford guy then run a 302.

James

 

Clarification- dont want a v8, too big. lets stay on target. opinions are great, but " why " is important too. is this just another ford vs. chevy thing or is there something wrong with these things. was considering using a two wheel version with the ford 4 speed auto in my yota dually for a tow rig

 

any more thoughts

 

anybody ?

 

buy a ford ? don't disgrace a toyota buy putting a crappy motor in

 

Here's my opinion:
The push rod 4.0 is a good engine, but not a great one. The main problem i see with a 4.0 push rod swap is the bell housing is different from the common sbf. The trans that comes behind those is an off-shoot of the ford c3. There are some manual transmissions, but parts interchangeability isn't going to be as good as it could be.

If you want a ford v6 that is compact and cheap, get a 3.8 from a mustang or better yet a 4.2 from an f150. These engines are externally the same, and share the same bell housing bolt pattern as a sbf. The smallest intake manifold that will fit either one is the one from a windstar van. The van intake is small-normal sized, the mustang intake is kinda big, and the truck intake is HUGE. The big intakes make power but don't fit. Every sensor on these engines can be used with megasquirt if you don't want to screw with a factory pcm, and the factory EDIS6 ignition is excellent. The accessory drive from the van is the shortest too, the one on the mustang and the f150 are both pretty deep.

The gm 3800 v6 would be a great swap too. The later model ones have an intake manifold made of aluminum top and bottom, and make the most power. Durability is great, parts availability should be good as there are TONS of late model cars that came with this engine. There are supercharged versions of this too. I don't know about the bell housing though.

I know you don't want to hear about v8 swaps, but this v6 swap will take just as much time and money. I think the power would be sufficient from any of the above v6's though.

 

good luck getting it to run right. When i worked as a mechanic we did a lot of Fixing on those 4.0's Lots of random misfires. Not the best choice in my opinion.

 

I wouldn't do it. I'm sure it can be done, but why spend $2,000 trying to put a ford motor into a toyota?

The weak link on your toyota post swap will be the motor.

 

I don't have any idea how hard it would be but I had a 94 ranger with a 4.0 and it was a great motor. drove it for years and never had a problem. even submerged it once. pulled the plugs and pumped it out, changed the oil and away it went never had a problem. I say go for it. Im doing a 5.0 swap right now but if you want a V6 I think the 4.0 is great.

 

I was under the impression that the 4.0s were decent motors. tons of power and good mileage. my buddies puting a built 4.0 with around 280 horse in his bronco II soon. As far as I know I thought they worked well. A lot of guys are using them as race motors in the SC trucks

 

If you want to go with a V6 ford the 3.0 is a more durable and dependable engine. Plus they get better fuel mileage than the 4.0's (I had a manual 3.0 Mazda and if i drove it sensibly I got 32-34 MPG on the hwy). I have 30+ year's as an ASE certified master tech mechanic for a living and this has been my experience. I think your road block will be adapting the engine to the trans or transfer case (or maybe you have access to a talented machinist) unless you use the whole drive-train (so why not just build a ranger)(. I don't think its a Ford against a Chevy thing it's just a practicality thing you know Bang For The Buck. my vote is for the V8 if you really want a V6 the 3.4 Toyota motor ($6-700.00) is the easiest and most economical swap even if you had a free Ford donor truck. Then again I have done unusual projects before just because. Good luck. You could do what Mazda did and put your toyota emblems on the ranger LOL

 

Where do you people keep finding 3.4s at for that cheap? Here in Utah I can't find a 3.4 for less then 1300 at the least. But, this is Utah as well, offloading is what happens quite a bit.

 

I'm not sure where in utah you are but here is 1 somewhere in utah
1999
Engine
Toyota 4RunnerON SHELF READY TO SHIP169,600A026072$700Save-On Auto USA-UT(Vernal) Request_Quote 435-789-1311 / 877-789-8669 Request_Insurance_Quote
Try car-part.com

 

I'm curious to where you found this info. That engine is about 1.5-2 hours east from me. Hmmmm, this is great news!!

 

http://car-part.com/