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97 ranger 5speed swap wiring questions


geo3015

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I've been searching and searching and searching and havnt gotten the answers i've been looking for. Usually the answers to people asking similar questions is, do a search its been covered, just swap harnesses, or "you have to wire it up". None of these answers have helped. I have a 97 ranger, 2.3 automatic 2wd. The truck has 230k miles on it and the trans is starting to shift a little hard from 1st to 2nd. I've been on the look out for a cheap 5speed parts truck so I'll have everything I need when it comes time for the swap. Swapping in the transmission itself doesn't seem challenging to me, its the wiring im afraid of. Im just looking for some clarification about "swapping the harness". My 96 cobra had a transmission harness that unplugged and could be swapped for an auto trans harness. Is the ranger set up like that? Or is it all one engine/trans harness in the ranger. I see the harness block in the corner of the engine bay. If i swap harnesses, do I do it at that plug? Or I have to swap the whole damn thing including the harness off that plug leading into the fire wall. I've read over maybe pages of people doing it on older rangers and bronco II's but those cars arent OBDII and also have a different automatic trans then I do.
 


D1LL0N

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I will be watching this as I have a 1998 I am looking to do the same thing to. Keep us updated on this.
 

geo3015

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iv been trying to figure this out for awhile, id like some guidance from someone who's done it. I don't want to leave the auto shifter in park or neutral to fool the car into thinking its still has an auto, and then leave the the auto trans solenoids loose under the car. If there is a cleaner approach to doing this i'd rather take that option.
 

adsm08

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The engine and trans harnesses are all one piece. You will have to rip the engine wiring out too.

The part that you did not ask about as directly (but did allude to) that would worry me is the clutch switch. I know in the early trucks the dash harnesses were the same and there was just a dummy plug in place of the clutch switch and closed that circuit. I don't know if that held through to 97. I'd peek up under the dash and look to see if you have a plug with a dead-end dummy plug in it near where the clutch will be.


Also, you will probably have to switch computers to one for a manual trans (as opposed to leaving the solenoids free under the truck which will still trip lights and codes for other things).
 

beluga420

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ADSM, don't know where you got your information from, but your totally false, maybe older trucks are one piece but not 3rd gens.

Done it on my 97 ranger, it was auto and swapped to the m5od pretty easily...

The tranny harness and engine harness are completely different. Just go to the scrapyard and look under the manual truck and see all the plugs on the tranny and follow them till they plug into engine harness and remove it, it is direct plug in for your swap and no need to get all the engine harness with it..

IT IS NOT ONE PIECE with the engine harness.

The plug is right there under the dash for the clutch sensor too. What you will need will be the clutch master and all the line for it, with the manual pedals stuff... A flywheel and flywheel bolts since the flexplate ones are not long enought.. If you have a 97 you probably have a ARR2 ecu, the one your looking for the manual is the CSY2, just get it from the truck you will get the harness and stuff from the junkyard...

Thats about all I can remember.
 
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Vexy

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My truck is a 1996 4.0 4x4. Would I have any problems if I swapped in a 1994 5 speed 4x4 transmission computer/electrical-wise? In other words, will the 1994 tranny+engine harness plug in no problems on my truck?
 
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Yoge840

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Ranger 5speed swap

Im doing a 5speed swap on my 1994 4x4. I have a donor truck which is a 1994 Ford Explorer with a 5-speed in it they are taking everything out and put it in the Ranger I'm running into a problem what's the wiring I need to know how to wire the neutral safety switch plug from the Explorer to the Ranger I have the wire off of the Explorer just need to know which wire's to splice into so that I have in neutral safety switch and back up lights thank you
 

Denisefwd93

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Im doing a 5speed swap on my 1994 4x4. I have a donor truck which is a 1994 Ford Explorer with a 5-speed in it they are taking everything out and put it in the Ranger I'm running into a problem what's the wiring I need to know how to wire the neutral safety switch plug from the Explorer to the Ranger I have the wire off of the Explorer just need to know which wire's to splice into so that I have in neutral safety switch and back up lights thank you
there is some information on the tech pages you could check their it's one of those things that everybody says it's so simple and it must be because nobody has documented the wiring changes

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Shran

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Nobody documents it because of three reasons:

- Wiring diagrams are readily available and free and most of us just trace down the wires we want to use
- Wire colors change by year, vehicle, trim level, etc.
- Complexity of the swap itself varies from dead simple plug and play to extreme, soldering a bundle of wires and tracing things for days.

What is a green wire with a red stripe in my truck might be purple and black in yours. Thus "documenting" what works for me is quite possibly useless to 99% of the community and if I post it, it better be right, or someone is inevitably mad and asking tech questions that I have no experience with and no answer for.

To answer the question that resurrected this thread, the easiest way to fix this is by removing the transmission harness from the 5 speed donor and putting it in your truck. Can you use the auto harness? Sure, but why, unless you simply don't have it and can't get it. Then you need a wiring diagram.
 

Denisefwd93

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Manual
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
stock, may get leveling springs in front "somday"
Tire Size
235
Nobody documents it because of three reasons:

- Wiring diagrams are readily available and free and most of us just trace down the wires we want to use
- Wire colors change by year, vehicle, trim level, etc.
- Complexity of the swap itself varies from dead simple plug and play to extreme, soldering a bundle of wires and tracing things for days.

What is a green wire with a red stripe in my truck might be purple and black in yours. Thus "documenting" what works for me is quite possibly useless to 99% of the community and if I post it, it better be right, or someone is inevitably mad and asking tech questions that I have no experience with and no answer for.

To answer the question that resurrected this thread, the easiest way to fix this is by removing the transmission harness from the 5 speed donor and putting it in your truck. Can you use the auto harness? Sure, but why, unless you simply don't have it and can't get it. Then you need a wiring diagram.
Actually the clutch wiring is pretty consistent year-to-year if you do look at wiring diagrams, anyhow giving somebody a lecture really doesn't help them does it?

Sent from my LG-M430 using Tapatalk
 

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