97 ford ranger automatic to manual swap

Terryt · Mar 17, 2018

I have two 97 rangers one with manual transmission that has been wrecked and one with automatic that has a bad transmission. I am putting the manual in place of the automatic.
I know I have to have the pedals transmission clutch master cylinder steering Column gauge cluster flywheel starter. Is there anything else anyone can think of and my next question is am I got g to have to change any of the wiring to get everything to work right. Brain wiring harness ect....... keeping In Mind i have both trucks. Thanks

RonD · Mar 17, 2018

Needs to be the same engines and both 2WD or both 4WD, or transmission won't fit

Need Flywheel and starter motor for flywheel

All Rangers were wired for Manual trans and then Automatic trans wiring was added to that.
So the Automatic wiring will be unplugged just follow it back to 2 places one should be in the engine bay, main wiring harness and the other under the dash above clutch pedal location.
The connector under the dash plugs into the Clutch Switch with a manual trans, with auto a connector plugged into it that when to automatics shift linkage.

Manual trans just has Reverse light 2 wire connector
And in 1997 a 2 wire VSS(vehicle speed sensor) connection, unless 4WD and then thats on the transfer case

Yes, computers needs to be swapped

Terryt · Mar 17, 2018

Yes both have 2.3 and both 2wd

Terryt · Mar 17, 2018

They both have a connection above the bell housing where you can disconnect the harness to the transmissions. The thing I found was the one with manual transmission has a round plug with like 5 or 6 pins on it and the automatic has a square plug with about 15 pins on it. Am I at the right connection point or do I need to look somewhere else.

Terryt · Mar 17, 2018

It appears that I'm gonna have to change the harness all the way to the ecu. And I also found that the one with the auto has an extra plug under the dash that goes up the steering Column that I assume is for the pat which the one with the manual doesn't have that. So if I change any is that gonna screw me or is there a way to bypass that.

RonD · Mar 18, 2018

No PATS on 1997

Wire in steering column is OverDrive(OD) ON/OFF, not needed for manual trans

There is another wire for "key in ignition" which triggers the Chime if you open the door with key in ignition.

Not sure on the connector, doesn't sound right.
All wiring between manuals and automatics are the same except for transmission and clutch interfaces so for Ford to do two separate full harnesses would seem too expensive, but maybe they did

1990RangerinSK · Mar 18, 2018

Isn't there another wire that goes from the brake pedal to the gear shift? That wire prevents shifting out of park without pressing the brake pedal. I *think* my 1990 has that, but I'm not 100% sure. I know a lot of newer vehicles do, but I have no idea what year that started.

Terryt · Mar 19, 2018

I've only gotten as far as removing transmissions from both truck you have a main plug in on the drivers side truck which I think will be fine. I the the harness I will have to swap is the one that goes to the ecu and goes to all the engine and transmission components. The is two plugs at the bell housing on both truck that just run to the transmission but o. The manual it has a round plug and the automatic has a square plug so I believe this is why I'm see I will have to change harness that goes from tranny to engine to ecu. I thing this is the only other change I will have to make.

RonD · Mar 20, 2018

1990RangerinSK said:
Isn't there another wire that goes from the brake pedal to the gear shift? That wire prevents shifting out of park without pressing the brake pedal. I *think* my 1990 has that, but I'm not 100% sure. I know a lot of newer vehicles do, but I have no idea what year that started.

Yes, it is called the shift interlock
It is located at the bottom of the steering column, above gas/brake pedals, it locks the Shift Tube in park, 12volts from brake pedal switch release it
There is often an "emergency" release button on the lower steering column as well

97Thad · Apr 4, 2018

I am attempting the exact same thing. I just created a thread this morning asking similar questions. I have 2 97 2.3 2wd trucks, one auto, one manual also. The problem I ran into was there was no empty plug under the dash to plug into the clutch switch on the auto truck. I had a couple sources that said the plug would be there and just tucked out of the way, but I've searched and have not found it. I have not gone as far as comparing the trans harnesses, but from what you said it appears they are different too. I had hoped that I could do this swap without swapping the complete wiring harnesses, but it appears that swapping the harness will be necessary.

97 ford ranger automatic to manual swap

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