I have owned a 2000 Ford Ranger 4x4 3.0 V6 Flex-Fuel since 2009. It was my first vehicle and I (thankfully) never let it get away from me. The truck has gone through many changes over the years. I’ve had step bars, mud tires, even a brush guard with KCs on it at one point. It has been a reliable vehicle over the years, with no major repair work ever being required.
This truck was perfect for me, except in one area: it was underpowered. I had read many stories on this forum of other’s 5.0 swapped Rangers and wanted to do this myself, but it seemed like quite a daunting task. I gathered information for quite a while before biting the bullet and purchasing a 5.0 Explorer donor vehicle. Up unit this point, the most I had ever torn into an engine was replacing head gaskets on a vehicle with another (more knowledgeable) mechanic friend. Previously, the most in depth work I had done was replace the water pump on my Ranger. As with most projects, this took more time (and more $$$) than originally anticipated.
The donor vehicle:
2000 Ford Explorer XLT 5.0 AWD. To me, it was a priority to find an Explorer similar in year to my Ranger for more plug-and-play capability (2000 to 2000). I purchased it in very rough condition (180,000+ miles, slightly less than what I had on my truck at the time). Yes, it did run and drive, but smoked very badly and seemed to be misfiring. I picked it up cheap, but in hindsight, I still overpaid.
Once getting the engine pulled and on an engine stand, I quickly realized why it had been smoking. Someone had installed a helicoil in the head for one of the spark plug threads and broke a chunk off the inside of the cylinder head. This piece had rolled around in the cylinder, knocking half-dime sized hole in the piston. It’s amazing it ran as well as it did! Realizing I would need a complete rebuild of the engine, I called around to some local engine shops for price quotes. After receiving these quotes (all in the $1,800-$2,000 range), I decided to try to rebuild the engine myself. Keep in mind that I am not a professional mechanic (went to school for electrical engineering) and this was a very intimidating project before I got into it.
The rebuild:
I took the block to a local engine shop to be checked, cleaned, and honed. In the meantime, I went parts shopping (mostly at Summitracing.com). Since I was building this truck to still be a functional daily driver, I wanted a little more power but nothing too crazy. I purchased a rebuild kit with hypereutectic pistons, new hydraulic lifters, and a mild .480 lift Lunati EFI-compatible cam. I went by the book (and a few YouTube videos, thanks Thunderhead289) on everything with the engine. I also swapped the GT40P heads out for a refurbished set at a local cylinder head service shop.
Drivetrain:
In addition to the cam, I also added the following:
• Torque Monster headers
• 24# injectors
• SCT X4 Tuner with tunes from 5 Star Tuning
• 4R70W transmission from the donor vehicle
• BW4406 manual t-case and front driveshaft from a junkyard F150
• EGR Delete
• Cats and rear 02 sensors deleted
Here are other components related to the swap:
• Motor mounts: used the OEM Explorer motor mounts
• Transmission crossmember: factory crossmember location was the same for the new 5.0 and 4R70W combo.
• PCM: I used the Explorer PCM and main harness, which plugged directly to the body harness of my Ranger.
• PATS (security system): since both vehicles have the same security system, I was able to swap the PATS module from the Explorer directly to my Ranger. I had my key re-programmed with a Snap-on vehicle scanner to make it compatible with the Explorer PCM and PATS module.
• Fuel system: Both vehicles use the same “returnless” style fuel system
• Rear Driveshaft: shortened and re-balanced by local driveline shop
• Rear Diff: Kept stock Ranger 8.8 rear end with 4.10 gearing (explorer stock gearing was 3.73)
• Tach: I modified my Ranger tach to properly read engine RPMs. This involved unpinning one wire (a ground wire, if I remember correctly) and moving it to another empty connector in one of the harnesses behind the dash. There’s a link to this somewhere deep in the V8 swap threads – if I find it, I’ll post the link here.
• AC: in my case, there were no modifications of the Ranger’s AC components required. The factory locations for the condenser, drier, connectors, etc. was a direct fit with the Explorer’s AC lines and compressor.
• Exhaust: Local exhaust shop welded in Flowmaster 40 dual-in dual-out muffler, with 2.5” pipe and exhaust exiting the rear corners behind the mudflaps.
A year and a half later and I now have approximately 10,000 miles on my “new” Ranger. Everything about my build looks factory, and if you didn’t know better, you would think this Ranger came from the factory with a 5.0. Everything works as it should and it runs great. I would trust driving it anywhere. Many thanks to the forum members who have very detailed write-ups on their 5.0 swap. These really helped me out.
If anyone is reading this and considering a 5.0 swap, DO IT! The difference between the “3.SLOW” V6 and the 5.0 is unbelievable, and definitely a head-turner when people hear you pull up! My swap was probably relatively easy compared to some others, but I’ll be happy to answer any questions about my experience, provide additional details, take additional pics, etc. See my 5.0 Swap picture album for pics related to this swap - link here
http://www.fordrangerforum.com/membe...swap-pics.html