step by step 4.0 engine removal guide

coopab · Sep 29, 2013

I'm trying to find a good donor motor for my 99 Ranger. Carparts.com lets you search regionally. I'd like to get a motor with 100K miles or less but not spend a fortune. Craigslist I found a yard with three possible motors ranging between $750 and $1400 and varying mileage between 25K and 135K.

Another option would be a local "pull a part" yard which advertises "motors with cores" and "motors without cores." Since the "with cores" category is $50 higher than "without cores" I'm guessing they mean if you take starters, alternators, etc. along with the motor. I've done a few junkyard motor swaps over the years and since the pull-a-part motors are cheap I'm thinking the "sweat equity" might be worth it, especially since I'd be able to see what the odometer reading is rather than just trusting the yard to report mileage honestly.

"Engine with Cores $179.00 - Engine without Cores $129.00"

The yard has an area for DIYers to remove engines, trannies, etc. I have a PDF from ARRC which I've uploaded to RS. I've seen these kind of "step-by-step" guides before and they can be misleading. If you have any suggestions on where this guide is good, bad, or ugly I'd appreciate the advance guidance. My main concern is that I get the motor out and loaded into my pickup in one day.

coopab

RonD · Sep 30, 2013

Whats wrong with original motor?

Do you just need a short block, a block with crank and pistons install but no heads.
Or a long block, short block with heads attached and torqued down.

You seems to be pricing out complete engines which will have intake and accessory brackets, which you probably don't need.

You want to swap all the sensors and intake from the original engine to the "other engine" so the computer won't need to be changed.

I think 1998 is when they were swapping the 4.0l OHV to the 4.0l SOHC, which one do you have?

The PDF looks fine.

hilltopfarm · Sep 30, 2013

If I were you, I would go with a remanufactured engine from PROMAR out of Patterson NJ. That is what I am currently putting into my 03' Ranger 4.0L SOHC. It looks like your engine is probably a OHV, which is available from Promar for $1,899.00 with free shipping, no tax, and free core return. Promar has a three year, unlimited mile warranty.

The engine can be found on the Promar websiteHERE OR on EBAY HERE (on EBAY you can get the EBAY bucks if you buy something.)

Anyway, if you were to get something like this, you would not have to worry about anything going wrong with the engine for quite sometime.

I hope that this is helpful.

coopab · Oct 5, 2013

Best Cheap Fix for my Ranger

RonD said:
Whats wrong with original motor?

Seems a little underpowered, leaks and burns LOTS of oil, I've had a couple of overheating incidents that are not due to lack of coolant. Haven't established whether problem is head gasket, water pump, thermostat. I have another vehicle available so I've been letting the truck sit in the driveway except for very short trips.

Do you just need a short block, a block with crank and pistons install but no heads.
Or a long block, short block with heads attached and torqued down.

I've been considering a used motor that can be swapped with minimal
hassles. I might not have been clear about that but my goal is to have a truck that I can drive a couple of hundred miles without having to keep a gallon of motor oil in the truck. Also I like to get something approaching 20mpg as opposed to current mpg in low teens.

You seems to be pricing out complete engines which will have intake and accessory brackets, which you probably don't need.

i had been considering a rebuild but research reveals that would not be a way to achieve my goal at minimal $$COST$$.

You want to swap all the sensors and intake from the original engine to the "other engine" so the computer won't need to be changed.

Would that be true even if I found a '99 Ranger donor engine? My truck is stickered CA emissions and has no EGR valve.

I think 1998 is when they were swapping the 4.0l OHV to the 4.0l SOHC, which one do you have?

Mine is the OHV. i think the change to SOHC was either late 1999 or 2000

The PDF looks fine.

Based on the extrem oil use, what chance is there that I could repair the existing engine and make it serviceable?

adsm08 · Oct 5, 2013

You could rebuild the existing engine. To give you a good possibility of repairing the existing engine we would need to know the condition of it. How is the compression, why is it using oil, etc? Some of that info can't be fully obtained without tearing it down.

I had about $900 in my rebuild, but I started with an engine that was in really good shape already.

Just remember when buying a used engine, you are also buying an unknown number of unknown issues.

When you consider the cost of the swap don't look at money out of pocket TODAY. Look at what doing it right, with the best stuff out there will cost, then look at how much longer you want to own the vehicle. If you want to keep the truck another 10 or 20 years, spring of the reman engine. If you want to get rid of it in 3, go to the junk yard and find something that go hit in the rear. The biggest advantage of finding and engine in a wrecked vehicle is that you KNOW that thing was running when it got taken off the road.

Marty'70 · Sep 9, 2018

coopab said:
I'm trying to find a good donor motor for my 99 Ranger. Carparts.com lets you search regionally. I'd like to get a motor with 100K miles or less but not spend a fortune. Craigslist I found a yard with three possible motors ranging between $750 and $1400 and varying mileage between 25K and 135K.

Another option would be a local "pull a part" yard which advertises "motors with cores" and "motors without cores." Since the "with cores" category is $50 higher than "without cores" I'm guessing they mean if you take starters, alternators, etc. along with the motor. I've done a few junkyard motor swaps over the years and since the pull-a-part motors are cheap I'm thinking the "sweat equity" might be worth it, especially since I'd be able to see what the odometer reading is rather than just trusting the yard to report mileage honestly.

"Engine with Cores $179.00 - Engine without Cores $129.00"

The yard has an area for DIYers to remove engines, trannies, etc. I have a PDF from ARRC which I've uploaded to RS. I've seen these kind of "step-by-step" guides before and they can be misleading. If you have any suggestions on where this guide is good, bad, or ugly I'd appreciate the advance guidance. My main concern is that I get the motor out and loaded into my pickup in one day.

coopab

I know this is old and hope you're still on here, but the PDF you attached isn't showing up on my tablet. may be too old or something. Is there any way you could repost it so I could see it?

Sent from my ASUS_P00J using Tapatalk

step by step 4.0 engine removal guide

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