Explorer Radiator Swap

[cdawall]

Precautions:

Never open the radiator hot. Don't dump coolant down open sewers.

Tools Used:

10mm socket
8mm socket
1/4" ratchet
3" extension
Adjustable wrench
Adjustable jaw pliers
2+ gallon bucket

Materials:

2nd gen Explorer radiator

Procedure:

If you purchased a used radiator from a junkyard the A/C condenser will be attached. It simply un-snaps from the radiator.





You are left with these two parts. You can now dispose of the condenser the Ranger one is attached to the truck. I went ahead and pressure washed the bugs and dirt out of the Explorer radiator.

Now lets move onto your truck. Mines a 4.0L, but the 3.0L should be roughly the same. Pull the intake hose with your wonderful 8mm ratchet. The vacuum line pops right out.



Take the two screws out of the fan shroud (10mm) and just set it over the fan.



Pull the other two 10mm bolts out of the radiator along with pulling the transmission cooler lines, overflow bottle hose, and pulling the upper and lower radiator hoses. Be prepared to catch roughly 2 gallons of fluid.

Pull the original fan shroud and set the Explorer one over your fan. I ended up just cutting a little bit off of the Ranger one since my donor Explorer one was damaged. After that it will pull straight up and out. Do the exact reverse for installing the new one.



I ended up screwing the old rubber seal in to cover the area I cut up on the shroud. Refill the radiator and start it up for a leak check.

Couple of comparison shots of old versus new.





Closing:

This is a pretty simple swap for any 4th generation Ranger that needs a little extra cooling.

[VegasRanger02]

Awesome, was just looking into doing this swap and adding an electric fan. This seems super simple and straight forward bolt up.

[96underconstruction]

What years does this cover