Can a 03 2.3 Engine/trans be installed in a 98?

[Chris_e6]

Really long story so I'll make it as short as possible. My son has a 2003 regular cab swb Ranger, just had the trans replaced about 2 months ago then he rolled it last weekend. He luckily walked away from it without a scratch, seat belts save lives! I have a 1998 Ranger with a bad 3.0 and bad trans but the truck is otherwise pretty mint! I'm wondering if the 03 2.3 and trans will swap to the 98 extended cab swb. If so what all will be required to pull from the 03 other than the obvious and harness? PATS, steering column, instrument cluster?

Included a pic of his truck because it sure was pretty and, other than the cab, not horribly damaged despite being on its top.

 

[RonD]

Welcome to TRS

2003 Ranger and 1998 are not too far apart, both 2WD I assume

2003 2.3l was a Duratec DOHC so different that the earlier 2.3l/2.5l 4cyls used in Rangers in 1998

Yes, 2.3l and trans, plus its computer and engine wiring harness, there will be some splicing for 12v and ground that you will need to check on as this was/is not a common swap

Motor mounts, air filter box, radiator and exhaust

Yes, PATS transceiver on steering column, but 1998 Rangers did have PATS as an option so unless the 1998 is a manual trans you may not need to swap out the steering column just add the transceiver and its wiring
The transceiver is not "married" to PATS, its just a powered antenna so can be swapped out without reprogramming
You will need to change the key cylinder to use the 2003 keys, and door lock cylinders if you want them to match

Fuel systems were both 60 psi but fuel line in engine bay will be different, but you should be able to pull the filter to engine fuel line from the 2003 and use it in the 1998 body

You should probably get the 1998 Ranger EVTM like this: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/142314482199

And the 2003 Ranger "Wiring Diagrams", like this: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/394934706245

Ford publishes these for every model every year so Ford Shops can trouble shoot new models
They were called EVTMs thru 1998, in 1999 Ford changed the name to "Wiring Diagrams" and dropped vacuum hoses part of manual
They were part of the Shop Manual Set that year but often sold separately

These have every wire for all sub models and engine types that year
And the are basically FREE to use because you can sell them just like the person you would be buying it from is doing when you are done with it
These are always in demand

 

[franklin2]

I looked up a 1998 windshield on www.car-part.com and they listed ones fitting up to 2005 so I am assuming the cabs are the same. Seems to me like it would be easier to chop the top of the cab off the 98 and weld it onto the 2003. Not sure what else you would need to fix it up and what else would interchange. Then you would still have a 2003 and not a 1998. You would not need to change the registration or the tags.

I have heard of body shops doing this to fix roll-overs. It sounds easy if you can weld. A lot easier than messing with all those wires.

 

[Chris_e6]

Welcome to TRS

2003 Ranger and 1998 are not too far apart, both 2WD I assume

2003 2.3l was a Duratec DOHC so different that the earlier 2.3l/2.5l 4cyls used in Rangers in 1998

Yes, 2.3l and trans, plus its computer and engine wiring harness, there will be some splicing for 12v and ground that you will need to check on as this was/is not a common swap

Motor mounts, air filter box, radiator and exhaust

Yes, PATS transceiver on steering column, but 1998 Rangers did have PATS as an option so unless the 1998 is a manual trans you may not need to swap out the steering column just add the transceiver and its wiring
The transceiver is not "married" to PATS, its just a powered antenna so can be swapped out without reprogramming
You will need to change the key cylinder to use the 2003 keys, and door lock cylinders if you want them to match

Fuel systems were both 60 psi but fuel line in engine bay will be different, but you should be able to pull the filter to engine fuel line from the 2003 and use it in the 1998 body

You should probably get the 1998 Ranger EVTM like this: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/142314482199

And the 2003 Ranger "Wiring Diagrams", like this: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/394934706245

Ford publishes these for every model every year so Ford Shops can trouble shoot new models
They were called EVTMs thru 1998, in 1999 Ford changed the name to "Wiring Diagrams" and dropped vacuum hoses part of manual
They were part of the Shop Manual Set that year but often sold separately

These have every wire for all sub models and engine types that year
And the are basically FREE to use because you can sell them just like the person you would be buying it from is doing when you are done with it
These are always in demand

This is an amazing amount of information and not nearly as in depth as I thought I would get! Thank you! How "plug and play" would bits be? I realize splicing for power but beyond that how much, if anything at all, is going to "plug into" what is already on the 98?

 

[Chris_e6]

I looked up a 1998 windshield on www.car-part.com and they listed ones fitting up to 2005 so I am assuming the cabs are the same. Seems to me like it would be easier to chop the top of the cab off the 98 and weld it onto the 2003. Not sure what else you would need to fix it up and what else would interchange. Then you would still have a 2003 and not a 1998. You would not need to change the registration or the tags.

I have heard of body shops doing this to fix roll-overs. It sounds easy if you can weld. A lot easier than messing with all those wires.

I would absolutely do this but the 03 is regular cab and the 98 is extended cab. I've considered talking to a body shop buddy of mine to see what he thinks about chopping the firewall out and basically swapping the firewall forward from the 03 to the 98 but I'm not sure it would be any easier than just splicing the harness lol

 

[RonD]

The 2003 Computer just runs the engine, automatic transmission and emissions systems, it has no connections to Cab electrics or vehicle lights

You will probably have to unwrap a few wiring harnesses in the engine bays of both vehicles to separate vehicle electrics from engine/trans electrics but most are separate

That's where the Ford wiring books will come in handy
The 1998 engine fuse box will be different that the 2003, but have the same fuses and relays you just need to match the 1998 wires to the 2003 wires that apply to computer and engine 12v and grounds
The rest are as is 1998

You will still have the 1998 options package, changing the engine/computer does not change the Trim Level, lol

 

[Chris_e6]

RonD you're a gentleman and a scholar! I greatly appreciate your help, I'll report back if I need anymore answered questions. Hopefully I'll be back to post pics of the finished project in the next month or so

 

[don4331]

Isn't the simplest solution to swap the dash (and maybe front clip) from the '03 into the '98? Then do the engine swap

I've done a couple dash swaps (to get power window/locks, etc) and it was only about 6 electrical connectors (3 firewall, 1 each door, rear wires), steering, transmission shifter, antenna, and then ?9? bolts (2 each door and ?5? under defrost trim panel)

Then if you swap all the under hood wires from the '03 into the '98, everything connects.

There's something about '03 wanting speedo drive off transmission that's gnawing me....
And you might need the wiring for the rear - tail lights being different. But it would be one harness to either splice or get from salvage yard.

 

[Chris_e6]

@don4331 I considered that too. I can't use the front clip because there is some damage to the right front side and hood but I could still swap all the stuff under the hood, I assume, and the front bumper and grill/core support all seem to be okay so pulling all of that and the electrics from there shouldn't be a problem. Is it really THAT easy to swap the dash and everything that goes with it? I would lose the factory keyless entry and power locks that are on the 98, the 03 doesn't have them but I added an aftermarket kit for power windows/locks to the 03 so I can swap that easy enough.

 

[RonD]

1998-2000 Rangers get speed signal from the GEM and rear ABS sensor, so not an issue with this swap
This speed signal was used/sent to speedo/odo, cruise and the 1998 computer for automatic shifting

2003 Computer gets its speed signal from the OSS sensor on the transmission, part of transmission's wiring harness
So automatic shifting is taken care of
2003 computer would then send OUT a speed signal to the 2003 cluster and cruise, but not needed in this case

 

[Chris_e6]

@RonD I was already planning on swapping the rearend from the 03 anyway because it has 4.10, the 98 has 3.73. Have you ever done a dash swap? Do you think it would be easier to swap all of that over instead of splicing the harnesses together?

 

[RonD]

Swapping rear axle won't matter, same ABS sensor

No, never swapped out a dash of different years

Off the top of my head there are only 7 wires needed from engine bay to cab
Temp sender, engine to cluster
Oil pressure sender, engine to cluster
Tach, computer to cluster
OD on/off button wire, to computer
OD on/off light wire, to computer
These 5 wires should already be in engine bay, just need to ID them in the 1998 harness

2 wires from transceiver to 2003 computer for PATS, these would be the only "added" wires not in the 1998 harness

 

[Chris_e6]

Again, great info! Only reason I'd be swapping the rearend is for the lower gear ratio. That 2.3 isn't super powerful so it helps with take-off

 

[don4331]

@don4331 Is it really THAT easy to swap the dash and everything that goes with it? I would lose the factory keyless entry and power locks that are on the 98, the 03 doesn't have them but I added an aftermarket kit for power windows/locks to the 03 so I can swap that easy enough.

If you think about how Ford built the Ranger in the 1st place, On the factory floor, they only got a couple minutes per station.

the prewired dash is loaded into the cab and bolted in, and it moves on to the next station.​

the steering column is then bolted to the dash,​

the connectors for radio, doors and firewall are clipped in​

OK, everything is bright, shiny, new and they have the exact right tools, but it went together pretty fast. (It really is best done with 4 people - 2 hold the dash in place while 2 put the bolts in at the doors - that way everything lines up

You also need to add the wires in the steering column to the PATS, and from the PATS to the computer...

Does the '03 have 9" or 10" rear brakes? The '98 SC should have 10" (given 3.0 and auto, but this is Ford)

 

[Chris_e6]

Haha you're correct on the "but this is Ford" because that 98 has 9" rear drums(according to VIN build info) and the 03 has bigger front disc's than the 98 despite the 98 having a larger engine and being a super cab/weighing more. I planned to swap all the front end out anyway because the 98 has roughly 300,000 miles on it and the 03 has fairly new ball joints and such since it was lifted less than 2 years ago