As luck would have it...

[Nalanthi]

This was supposed to be a "I'm going to post a few pointers on swapping a 4.0 from a 94 to a 90 BII (thanks to the fine people here )...

...BUT as luck would have it...

Once I stopped being such a pussy and decided to map/wire everything, I had all systems running as needed - even some of the questionable things that were problematic in other swaps such as the NSS, backup lights - not even tossing a CEL or KOEO or KOER codes. I had an all-clear and god DAMN does she move compared the the 2.9 now sitting in the hatch of the '94 exploder.

I couldn't wait to drive her on Monday (this past Monday). That's all she wrote. One day. It lasted ONE day... and either the HG blew or a head cracked. Needless to say, I'm ****ING pissed.
For the price, I'm just going to locate used crack-free heads instead of pissing with magnafluxing/resurfacing/etc.

She's down, but she's not dead... but... seriously... ONE ****ing day and she didn't even touch dirt yet. What a ****ING cocktease... :sad:

 

[wildbill23c]

Well now that you wasted all that time and money on the 4.0 swap maybe you should have left well enough alone and just left the right engine in there LOL.

You did the swap, so now you gotta live with the consequences that nothing ever works out as planned. Ask me how I know this LOL

 

[Nalanthi]

Well now that you wasted all that time and money on the 4.0 swap maybe you should have left well enough alone and just left the right engine in there LOL.

You did the swap, so now you gotta live with the consequences that nothing ever works out as planned. Ask me how I know this LOL

Because you have a set of swingers - mod it, swap it, break it, bitch about it... then suck it up and fix it.

The original engine (2.9) had slightly less power than riding around on a pile of dogshit.

 

[PetesPonies]

289 or 302 swap. Been there . . very happy with it.

 

[BabyBronco89]

It's okay I just swapped the 4.0 into my 86 br about a month ago, and after replacing the leaky radiator, I'm pretty sure I have a small head gasket leak, but I have a nice set of heads with 60,000 miles on them sitting on the shelf, now it's just about getting the ambition to tear her completely apart again
It never gets old
I guess that's the b2s way of telling me to fix that annoying exhaust manifold leak, cuz it kinda made her sound like shit

 

[country0001]

It happens. Where are you located at? I have an extra 4.0 laying around.

 

[Nalanthi]

It's okay I just swapped the 4.0 into my 86 br about a month ago, and after replacing the leaky radiator, I'm pretty sure I have a small head gasket leak, but I have a nice set of heads with 60,000 miles on them sitting on the shelf, now it's just about getting the ambition to tear her completely apart again
It never gets old
I guess that's the b2s way of telling me to fix that annoying exhaust manifold leak, cuz it kinda made her sound like shit

I have no issues tearing her down again. I'm not gonna let that little bitch troll me like that. lol
On a positive note, I finally got to pop my 'engine swap cherry' at age 31... a big V card I should I should have ditched sometime in my 20s, but better late than never. It's a learning experience, and... well... what would one expect from a '94 exploder I actually DROVE home for $500. Estimates show that I'll get around 200 for the gutted shell with the old 2.9 sitting in the hatch, and I got a spare A4LD and every spare part I need from it.

I got a taste of what this thing does with a 4, and I love it. I just wish it would have held together through the fall and winter.

It happens. Where are you located at? I have an extra 4.0 laying around.

I'm all the way out here in the NM desert.

 

[country0001]

Keep an eye out on CL and find you an explorer. They can be had for 500 bucks with a bad tranny. Take what you need, scrap the rest and make money in the process.

 

[adsm08]

Well now that you wasted all that time and money on the 4.0 swap maybe you should have left well enough alone and just left the right engine in there LOL.

You did the swap, so now you gotta live with the consequences that nothing ever works out as planned. Ask me how I know this LOL

This right here was my biggest fear when I did my 4.0 swap. I did everything just so that should it happen to blow like that all I would need to do is run down to the JY and find an 89-92 2.9 engine harness and she could be back to stock.

 

[wildbill23c]

This right here was my biggest fear when I did my 4.0 swap. I did everything just so that should it happen to blow like that all I would need to do is run down to the JY and find an 89-92 2.9 engine harness and she could be back to stock.

That would be my idea if I ever had the money and time to swap engines, I'd definitely keep the original around just in case, so it would at least be driveable.

However I have the 2.8L V6 and it does just fine and better fuel economy than the 4.0L ever had anyhow so why would I swap engines LOL. Unless I can find another 2.8L V6 with less oil leaks that is yeah yeah, never gonna happen I know.

 

[wildbill23c]

Because you have a set of swingers - mod it, swap it, break it, bitch about it... then suck it up and fix it.

The original engine (2.9) had slightly less power than riding around on a pile of dogshit.

Why not the 302 swap? seems to me if you were gonna swap engines it would make more sense to do a V8 swap than putting in a 4.0L that doesn't get that great of fuel economy anyhow. What was your reason to do the 4.0 swap over a 302, availability or?

 

[adsm08]

Why not the 302 swap? seems to me if you were gonna swap engines it would make more sense to do a V8 swap than putting in a 4.0L that doesn't get that great of fuel economy anyhow. What was your reason to do the 4.0 swap over a 302, availability or?

The 4.0 is comparable or better on fuel than the 2.9, easier to put in place than the 302, and makes the same power.

 

[wildbill23c]

The 4.0 is comparable or better on fuel than the 2.9, easier to put in place than the 302, and makes the same power.

Hmm, weird could never get my 93 ranger past 18mpg, my 84 B2 easily gets 23mpg highway. Would auto/manual tranny make that big of a difference in fuel economy?

302 requires some different engine mounts, and making more room in the engine bay correct? Are you serious the 302 makes the same power as the 4.0 V6, that's pretty funny if its true.

 

[Twister]

Hmm, weird could never get my 93 ranger past 18mpg, my 84 B2 easily gets 23mpg highway. Would auto/manual tranny make that big of a difference in fuel economy?

302 requires some different engine mounts, and making more room in the engine bay correct? Are you serious the 302 makes the same power as the 4.0 V6, that's pretty funny if its true.

The sohc 4.0 makes comparable power.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

[wildbill23c]

The sohc 4.0 makes comparable power.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

That's weird. I figured the 302 would be putting out more power than that. I wish I had the time, the money and another vehicle to do an engine swap into I wouldn't mind driving a Bronco 2 with a 4.0L V6, just after the 93 Ford Ranger my grandfather had and the horrible fuel economy it always got never saw the point in swapping a 4.0 into anything. Should have kept that truck but at that time I didn't have my B2, the engine was good but that POS A4LD transmission was toast for the 3rd time in it so grandpa sold the truck for $700.

 

[adsm08]

The 4.0 OHV produces less horsepower (the unimportant number) than the 302 across the board, but beats the 302 until you get past 3200 RPM.


Remember, horsepower is how fast you hit the wall, torque is how far you move the wall when you hit.

You can design an engine with 1000 horse and 1 ft lb of torque and it won't even be able to move itself. On the other hand you can design an engine with 10,000 ft lb and 1 horse, and it will move anything, but it will take all year to do it.

 

[wildbill23c]

Haha, thanks adsm08, as always you have the appropriate answers. You must have been doing this type of stuff for a couple days LOL.

Maybe someday if I get my hands on a 4.0 really cheap my B2 may see it LOL.

 

[adsm08]

Actually, all of that info has been misappropriated from AllanD.

 

[wildbill23c]

LOL reuse of information great job. Thanks for sharing the knowledge though, very appreciated.

 

[Nalanthi]

Tell ya what... this 4.0 is a REALLY forgiving engine to work on. I tore the entire top end down in about two to two and a half hours on Wednesday night.

Shout out to my lovely lady for putting up with me for as much as I bitched about having to rebuild day two after the swap was live.

Number 4 is down. The plugs told me that story before I even ripped it. Was going to just do one head, but a buddy of mine has a guy who will magnaflux/resurface for $40 a head.
While I'm there, I might as well do the whole top-end.

On to the head itself - No visible cracks and I hope to high hell that the magnaflux job has a happy ending. The head was noticibly warped - put a builder's square against it and saw the obvious gap across #4.

I figure that it was an underlying issue that was going to happen eventually - and I really can't bitch about the $500 donor exploder. After all - I got everything I need including extra parts, an extra tranny, and no headache of having to run all the way across town to the JY every time I needed something... AND I get to sell the shell to the JY when done.


As for the 4.0? WildBill - for the time I got to drive it... I'd totally vouch for pulling a 2.8 or 2.9 even if it IS running well. You'll wonder why the hell Ford ever made a 2.9 in the firstplace.