Ranger Rehabillitation

[AlaskanRider]

Well, i blew it with my little 4x2 2.3 liter. Apparently it didnt like towing large loads at WOT for hours on end. I thought this build might amuse someone, because of my lack of mechanical experience, lack of real tools. I did this all out in the woods, trespassing.

This being my first car, I had a certain attachment to it and didnt want to let it die, so I decided to keep an eye out for parts cars. I am up to 3 different donors.

#1 Wrecked ranger 4.0, axles destroyed, as well as the transmission and likely the transfer case. Good motor 71,000 miles.

#2 Explorer with bad a4ld.

#3 Bronco 2, cracked block, 105,000 miles. Good transmission and transfer case.

So, out with the old, custom engine hoist!


Up


up


And away!!


Goodbye dashboard!


Before I found the Bronco, i was trying to find a 2wd transmission, and couldnt. Junkyard had a 4wd M5od, 400$ no transfer case. This was my best option, so I decided try and use my 2wd guts and tailsection to convert the 4wd to 2wd.

SO, off with the tailsection!


Pondering how to remove that big bearing.


Ended up beating it off with a cold chisel against 5th. What a freakin mess.


What a delightful pile of carefully machined hardened steel sitting in my 40$ socket set.


Right about now was when I noticed the B2 for 200$ with a good transmission and t-case. He took 100$ provided I tow it!

Heres the motor with fm145 attached, holes are drilled in the frame, motor mounts in and time to drop it in!


Its in! What a mess of wires!


And it started what a surprise!

I got the radiator and driveshaft from the explorer, and shortened the driveshaft myself . Im a terrible welder, and was using an ancient stick machine with a broken amperage indicator. It worked, surprisingly. No noticable vibration at 60 mph down the highway if i put the clutch in and put my hand on the t-case shifter.

Currently is driveable, but runs like shit and has little power. Computer gives me code 22, 41, and 51. So i'm chasing wires. Bought a new coolant sensor today.

Anyone have an old MAF for a 4.0 lying around? The ECT was 25$ but mafs run a little more.

[AlaskanRider]

Well shoot, I did some research and apparently 91 4.0 cars made use of a BPS, which I had no inkling of when i stripped the parts ranger. ARG! Apparently i sent a perfectly good BPS to the wrecker, and a new ones 80 bucks. Maybe I can come up with something else.

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Good job so far! Check some of your donors for a maf, all it does is measure airflow, so I'm thinking any should work with a change of wire ends. But I'm not a mechanic...
good luck,

Richard

edit; what's bps?

[06RangerXLT]

Originally Posted by alwaysFlOoReD

Good job so far! Check some of your donors for a maf, all it does is measure airflow, so I'm thinking any should work with a change of wire ends. But I'm not a mechanic...
good luck,

Richard

edit; what's bps?

you need your one specific. its like asking an english person to order Chinese food in germany. cant comunicate.

[AlaskanRider]

edit; what's bps?

BPS stands for Barometric Pressure Sensor. It was on the ranger 4.0 for 1 year only, in '92 they did away with it apparently. It wasn't on the 3.0 or the 2.3. The 2.9 used one.

Ive had pretty good luck mixing and matching stuff so far, bad luck with motors though.

I locked the motor up solid today, so ima need to find another parts car. I forgot to mention, first thing I noticed after I fired the sucker up was that the crankshaft pulley was bent. I replaced that, but my gut tells me that the crankshaft was also bent, and that a bearing just failed. *sigh* its getting cold up here...

[4.0B2]

looks to me like you aint had any luck... man.
i would have fixed the b2 myself! I'm a b2 fan tho lol

subscribed for future updates.

[AlaskanRider]

i would have fixed the b2 myself

Yeah i was tempted to! It came with 31's and its fenders cut out.

The downside was that it had no keys, no title and its vins were ripped out. I wouldnt have bought it but it turned out I had worked with the guy selling it. I didn't think he was a car thief, and had told me about the rig a couple years ago. There was a long and complicated story about its origin that didn't involve grand theft auto, and he told the same one twice.

I have been really impressed by the offroad capabilities of wore out b2's with street tires, but I just have no use for an offroad only toy.

[4.0B2]

ah, i'm just a b2 fan... lol

i know the feeling about an offroad only toy, i've found several rigs i'd like to have and price is right-- but no title or savage title or other crap i didn't wanna deal w/.



so what's this about doing the work on someone else land? you don't have a place to work somewhere legal? lol

[AlaskanRider]

so what's this about doing the work on someone else land?

Well im just a broke ass trashy college student in a 10x16 rental cabin in the woods with no running water. I don't have room to work by my little cabin but theres a lot nearby owned by some inactive state organization.

I've still got the bronco and a spare 2.9, and im eyeing it as possibly my cheapest option at this point on the way to a running pickup.

[jhammel85]

I like your engine hoist, lol Frankly, I would been scared s**tless using that.

Alls well, ends well..Looks like you've got it going. When you converted the transmission, all you did was swap tail housings? I really thought you had to gut the whole thing? Guess not!

Good luck!

[AlaskanRider]

Originally Posted by jhammel85

I like your engine hoist, lol Frankly, I would been scared s**tless using that.

Alls well, ends well..Looks like you've got it going. When you converted the transmission, all you did was swap tail housings? I really thought you had to gut the whole thing? Guess not!

Good luck!

Well i was scared too, lol, I just made sure never to be under it while it was lifting an engine. I climbed around on it and jumped on it before hand (safety first!). It did the trick.

You do have to gut the whole transmission, unfortuneately. The 2wd output shaft is longer than the 4wd. And in order to remove the output shaft reverse comes out, and the input shaft, and you have to move the countershaft back and down in order to create clearance to remove the input shaft.

I'm sure there isn't an easier way, as it is BARELY possible with all the above.

I ended up using a bronco 4wd transmission in the end, and a shortened explorer driveshaft.

[AlaskanRider]

So i am the happiest moron in the world today. Engine was NOT siezed. It turned out the power steering siezed, killed the engine, and locked up the rear wheels in 5th.

I was off the gas when it failed, because i let up and put the clutch in when i noticed it starting to go, and when I let the clutch back out again the wheels left skid marks on the concrete. I was going about 65 when it happened, lol.

I had no idea that this was possible, I would have expected it to shred that belt first.

My PS pump came with the motor from a wreck, and had the radiator wrapped around it. I think it must have messed up that bearing, as the left headlight was within 12" of the master cylinder.

Pulled the belt and drove it home! Still running rough though... You really cant give it any gas below 2,000 rpm as it lugs and jerks. I hope its just that BPS.