Back in Nov 09 I did a V8 swap on my ranger, SVT. I was surprised at how much better the truck performed. Now the time has come for yet another V8 swap on my DD, my 02 Sport Trac 4x4, since the 4.0 is showing its age at 189k miles (and the previous owner ran it hard). I found a good candidate, a 99 explorer AWD with 168K on it with front end damage. Both frame rails were bent at the front side of the control arms. Closer inspection shown that the driver inner fender was touching the AC compressor, but had caused no damage. Everything was there, and so a donor was found.
I started out with a plan to keep this build similar to the way SVT's build started, as close to 100% bolt in as possible, so replacement parts will be easy. With the sport trac having basically the same frame up front as the explorer, everything should transplant. I plan to add a supercharger within the next year. I also plan to keep the 4x4 by using a 1356. I have seen explorer owners do the 4406 swap, but after seeing one in person, I didn't like how bulky it was. After looking at SVT's doubler, I decided to go that route. By replacing 56's shift motor with the one off the ST's 54 shift motor, I should have no issues shifting the tcase with the original dash mounted switch. Keeping things as simple and as stock looking/working as possible is what I'm after. The ST is my DD, but will also act as part time tow rig and recovery rig (when needed), so everything needs to work, and work right.
So here is the detailed build thread. I will cover what will be needed from the donor, what will need to be changed (if anything), and what will be upgraded (not needed, but always nice). The V8 swap portion of the build is taking place as this thread was created. Progress will be posted day to day and added to the first post to keep it easy to find. I will separate the edits with the dates….
(3-13-12)
Here is what the donor looked like when it came home to the shop…
This is starting the teardown of the donor. Removal of the inner fender on the driver side was required, as the battery box was over the AC compressor. Since there is the possibility that I might rebuild the donor with ST's original motor, both inner fenders and the core support needed to be replaced. This meant removing them prior to the drivetrain removal would make removing the drivetrain so much easier. Here is the outer fender removed on the driver side…
Here you can see the inner fender sitting on top of the AC compressor….
Here you can see the serpentine belt system and pulleys are still aligned, even though the belt has been knocked off the water pump pulley…
Here is the front clip removed (the sawzall was kind to help out on this )
The front core support and front half of the inner fenders….
Parts needed to go with the motor:
Altenator harness- This goes to the side of the distribution box in the corner of the firewall and driver fender. One side is the battery, the other side goes to the altenator. The altenator harness is wrapped with the battery cables and has one oval plug…
Here is the oval plug and battery cables on the battery end (cables were cut by fire dept when the accident happened)
Brake booster vacuum feed…
Throttle cable….
ECU and engine harness…
….disconnected at the 42 pin black plug located on top of the motor at the firewall next to the wiper motor..
Cruise control motor and cable….
That's as far as I got today. Tomorrow will be a day going to get fluids and a trip to the junkyard, so not much will get done, if anything.
SVT
3-15-12
Got some work done today, but the rain moved in quick and shut progress down. I had plans to get the ST motor pulled today, but rain moved in around noon. So I got some work done on SVT...Onto the progress, more stuff to undo/remove. Driveshafts...
Trans X-member and tcase skidplate...
Trans shifter cable from trans...
Remove shifter cable from bracket on bellhousing...
Passenger motor mount nuts..
Driver side motor mount nuts...
I removed the radiator and didnt take pics, but the AC lines from the AC condensor on both sides, the driver side needs to stay with the motor, this will be re-used (runs from the AC compressor to the condensor)
Power steering pressure line runs from the pump to the rack, take it loose from the rack, it will be re-used...
Upper radiator hose...
lower radiator hose...
AC line at the evaporator. A special tool is needed, but with it only takes seconds to release the spring..
Fuel line located near the steering shaft. Again, needs a special tool similar to the one needed for the AC line, but a different size...
It's a good idea to keep a box handy to put all the nuts and bolts in. I kept every nut and bolt removed...
Now the motor is ready to come out...
And the motor is out...
Shortly after I got it out and on jackstands (I put a jackstand under each motor mount), it started to get dark and windy. I started picking up tools and getting things somewhat in order, and in less than 10 minutes, the rain came and quick. I had just enough time to get the tools picked up. Thats all for today, I had plans to get the motor pulled out of the ST today, but the rain cut my plans on that one. Oh well, there's always tomorrow...
SVT
3-21-12
It's a good idea to change the trans filter while the motor/trans is out...
I also pulled the tcase off the trans so i can get the motor/trans in the engine bay. I also will be switching to the 1356 tcase that will give me 2wd and lowrange capability...
SVT
3-26-12
OK!!! Had some good progress today.I didn't get as many detailed pics as I wanted to today, but the removal is straight forward and won't go into too much detail removing the 4.0. I will cover the important things related to the v8 swap, but removal of parts is basically the same as the donor..Here is the ST with the hood off. This is the last time it will run....Under the power of the 4.0 that is...
Here are the radiators side by side. The original 4.0 is on the left, the 5.0 on the right. Believe it or not, the 4.0 rad with auto and a tow package is a single core radiator :shok: There is a possibility the previous owner of the ST swapped radiators, but in the condition I received it, its a single. The 5.0 is double row, and is the same size (heighth and thickness of end tanks), which means direct swap :yahoo:
Unplug the battery harness at the distribution box...
My helper. Who knew redheads were good at wrenching :shok:
Here is the altenator/low oil sensor harness...
Going....
Going....
GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!
The empty engine bay. Notice the motor mounts, the position of the bolt pattern...
Here is the driver side. The 4.0 mount is in place, I'm holding the 5.0 mount...
Removing the motor mount on a 4x4 equipped SALA suspension requires lowering, but not removing, the front axle housing. Near the driveshaft flange of the front axle housing is one of two bolts on the driver side that needs removed. The other is just below the motor mount, seen in the pic...
It's tight, but a shallow socket with a regular ratchet can remove the single 18mm nut holding the motor mount in place...
If you have a flex head ratchet, like I used here, it makes removal a little faster as it gives you more room...
Here is the mount removed. You can see the nut that is used to retain the mount in place....
Here is the 5.0 mount in place...
And this is where the bad news starts....For my viewers anyway. My battery died on my phone, so the pics end here. The passenger side is slightly easier. There is one bolt holding the passenger side axle housing in place, located right below the motor mount. There is an access through the framerail right above the halfshaft. I used an 18mm deepwell socket with a 6" extension and a flex head ratchet, but a regular ratchet can be used. With both motor mounts swapped, I took some measurements and compared them to the measurements from the donor's mounts. The measurements were the same :yahoo: I also measured from the motor mounts to the firewall on both sides on both the donor and the ST. What do you know, again, the measurements match up. It's looking like this will be a 100% bolt in swap. With the motor out, I wanted to do some past due scheduled maintenance (fuel filter) I got the old one out, only to find out that the replacement filter was the wrong diameter size. The replacement filter was about 2/3 the size of the original. Didn't think nothing of it, since it has two inlets, one 3/8 and the other 1/4, and one outlet (3/8), until I tried to hook up the engine side. The engine side uses 1/4 size line, the filter housing was 3/8...A quick look at the part numbers at both the box and the new filter, both were different numbers. It appears the filter was either swapped by mistake, or someone wanted to pull a prank...Either way, I was down for now. With the 4.0 out of the way, the 5.0 was now ready for its new home. With the motor and trans attached together and complete, it they went. Things were going good til I got the crank near the core support. Then I remembered when I did SVT's V8 swap I had to remove the upper intake to get the motor in, and had said the motor and trans needs to be separated to be installed. Well, looks like I'm taking another upper intake off to install. Seeing how this is the third ranger V8 swap I've done personally, and all 3 I had the trans connected to the motor and all 3 had to have the upper intake removed, you would think I would remember this, especially since I just did a ranger V8 swap barely a month ago!! Anyways, with the motor in the engine bay, the motor mount plates are sitting on the mounts like they are suppose to. The valve covers are right up against the firewall, and between the water pump pulley and the condensor (condensor was not removed for engine removal/installation, only the radiator and fan blade) there is between 6-8 inches, maybe more. Looks like I will be able to use the 5.0 rad with the stock mechanical fan:yahoo: I haven't measured, but a quick look at the trans mount looks like it will fall in the stock location, so no trans mount mods needed. Once I got the motor on its mounts, I called it a day. Tomorrow I will get pics of the motor in place and the rest of the install. I had pudding face BIG TIME once the V8 was in!!!
Here is a pic of the oil filter housing Ford used on the non-oil cooler 5.0 engines...
And here is a pic of the oil adapter housing used on the 2.9L engines....
Are you following what I'm thinking?? But why would you ask I swap em out?? Ford swapped all explorer 5.0 motors to the 820S style filters which are smaller than the FL1A filters used on previous 5.0's. Also, when I bought the oil filter relocation kit from TransDapt for SVT, I had the straight block adapter left over since TTB rangers need the 90* block adapter. I plan to get another dual filter housing and a couple of lines and going with a dual filter setup. Also, some EFI 5.8 motors had the sandwich style oil coolers, which I could also install between the adapter housing and the relocation block adapter. This gives me some options. I still need to mount my additional trans cooler next to the stock location cooler, as well as install my external trans oil filter... Enjoy and stay tuned for the upgrades...
SVT
I started out with a plan to keep this build similar to the way SVT's build started, as close to 100% bolt in as possible, so replacement parts will be easy. With the sport trac having basically the same frame up front as the explorer, everything should transplant. I plan to add a supercharger within the next year. I also plan to keep the 4x4 by using a 1356. I have seen explorer owners do the 4406 swap, but after seeing one in person, I didn't like how bulky it was. After looking at SVT's doubler, I decided to go that route. By replacing 56's shift motor with the one off the ST's 54 shift motor, I should have no issues shifting the tcase with the original dash mounted switch. Keeping things as simple and as stock looking/working as possible is what I'm after. The ST is my DD, but will also act as part time tow rig and recovery rig (when needed), so everything needs to work, and work right.
So here is the detailed build thread. I will cover what will be needed from the donor, what will need to be changed (if anything), and what will be upgraded (not needed, but always nice). The V8 swap portion of the build is taking place as this thread was created. Progress will be posted day to day and added to the first post to keep it easy to find. I will separate the edits with the dates….
(3-13-12)
Here is what the donor looked like when it came home to the shop…
This is starting the teardown of the donor. Removal of the inner fender on the driver side was required, as the battery box was over the AC compressor. Since there is the possibility that I might rebuild the donor with ST's original motor, both inner fenders and the core support needed to be replaced. This meant removing them prior to the drivetrain removal would make removing the drivetrain so much easier. Here is the outer fender removed on the driver side…
Here you can see the inner fender sitting on top of the AC compressor….
Here you can see the serpentine belt system and pulleys are still aligned, even though the belt has been knocked off the water pump pulley…
Here is the front clip removed (the sawzall was kind to help out on this )
The front core support and front half of the inner fenders….
Parts needed to go with the motor:
Altenator harness- This goes to the side of the distribution box in the corner of the firewall and driver fender. One side is the battery, the other side goes to the altenator. The altenator harness is wrapped with the battery cables and has one oval plug…
Here is the oval plug and battery cables on the battery end (cables were cut by fire dept when the accident happened)
Brake booster vacuum feed…
Throttle cable….
ECU and engine harness…
….disconnected at the 42 pin black plug located on top of the motor at the firewall next to the wiper motor..
Cruise control motor and cable….
That's as far as I got today. Tomorrow will be a day going to get fluids and a trip to the junkyard, so not much will get done, if anything.
SVT
3-15-12
Got some work done today, but the rain moved in quick and shut progress down. I had plans to get the ST motor pulled today, but rain moved in around noon. So I got some work done on SVT...Onto the progress, more stuff to undo/remove. Driveshafts...
Trans X-member and tcase skidplate...
Trans shifter cable from trans...
Remove shifter cable from bracket on bellhousing...
Passenger motor mount nuts..
Driver side motor mount nuts...
I removed the radiator and didnt take pics, but the AC lines from the AC condensor on both sides, the driver side needs to stay with the motor, this will be re-used (runs from the AC compressor to the condensor)
Power steering pressure line runs from the pump to the rack, take it loose from the rack, it will be re-used...
Upper radiator hose...
lower radiator hose...
AC line at the evaporator. A special tool is needed, but with it only takes seconds to release the spring..
Fuel line located near the steering shaft. Again, needs a special tool similar to the one needed for the AC line, but a different size...
It's a good idea to keep a box handy to put all the nuts and bolts in. I kept every nut and bolt removed...
Now the motor is ready to come out...
And the motor is out...
Shortly after I got it out and on jackstands (I put a jackstand under each motor mount), it started to get dark and windy. I started picking up tools and getting things somewhat in order, and in less than 10 minutes, the rain came and quick. I had just enough time to get the tools picked up. Thats all for today, I had plans to get the motor pulled out of the ST today, but the rain cut my plans on that one. Oh well, there's always tomorrow...
SVT
3-21-12
It's a good idea to change the trans filter while the motor/trans is out...
I also pulled the tcase off the trans so i can get the motor/trans in the engine bay. I also will be switching to the 1356 tcase that will give me 2wd and lowrange capability...
SVT
3-26-12
OK!!! Had some good progress today.I didn't get as many detailed pics as I wanted to today, but the removal is straight forward and won't go into too much detail removing the 4.0. I will cover the important things related to the v8 swap, but removal of parts is basically the same as the donor..Here is the ST with the hood off. This is the last time it will run....Under the power of the 4.0 that is...
Here are the radiators side by side. The original 4.0 is on the left, the 5.0 on the right. Believe it or not, the 4.0 rad with auto and a tow package is a single core radiator :shok: There is a possibility the previous owner of the ST swapped radiators, but in the condition I received it, its a single. The 5.0 is double row, and is the same size (heighth and thickness of end tanks), which means direct swap :yahoo:
Unplug the battery harness at the distribution box...
My helper. Who knew redheads were good at wrenching :shok:
Here is the altenator/low oil sensor harness...
Going....
Going....
GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!
The empty engine bay. Notice the motor mounts, the position of the bolt pattern...
Here is the driver side. The 4.0 mount is in place, I'm holding the 5.0 mount...
Removing the motor mount on a 4x4 equipped SALA suspension requires lowering, but not removing, the front axle housing. Near the driveshaft flange of the front axle housing is one of two bolts on the driver side that needs removed. The other is just below the motor mount, seen in the pic...
It's tight, but a shallow socket with a regular ratchet can remove the single 18mm nut holding the motor mount in place...
If you have a flex head ratchet, like I used here, it makes removal a little faster as it gives you more room...
Here is the mount removed. You can see the nut that is used to retain the mount in place....
Here is the 5.0 mount in place...
And this is where the bad news starts....For my viewers anyway. My battery died on my phone, so the pics end here. The passenger side is slightly easier. There is one bolt holding the passenger side axle housing in place, located right below the motor mount. There is an access through the framerail right above the halfshaft. I used an 18mm deepwell socket with a 6" extension and a flex head ratchet, but a regular ratchet can be used. With both motor mounts swapped, I took some measurements and compared them to the measurements from the donor's mounts. The measurements were the same :yahoo: I also measured from the motor mounts to the firewall on both sides on both the donor and the ST. What do you know, again, the measurements match up. It's looking like this will be a 100% bolt in swap. With the motor out, I wanted to do some past due scheduled maintenance (fuel filter) I got the old one out, only to find out that the replacement filter was the wrong diameter size. The replacement filter was about 2/3 the size of the original. Didn't think nothing of it, since it has two inlets, one 3/8 and the other 1/4, and one outlet (3/8), until I tried to hook up the engine side. The engine side uses 1/4 size line, the filter housing was 3/8...A quick look at the part numbers at both the box and the new filter, both were different numbers. It appears the filter was either swapped by mistake, or someone wanted to pull a prank...Either way, I was down for now. With the 4.0 out of the way, the 5.0 was now ready for its new home. With the motor and trans attached together and complete, it they went. Things were going good til I got the crank near the core support. Then I remembered when I did SVT's V8 swap I had to remove the upper intake to get the motor in, and had said the motor and trans needs to be separated to be installed. Well, looks like I'm taking another upper intake off to install. Seeing how this is the third ranger V8 swap I've done personally, and all 3 I had the trans connected to the motor and all 3 had to have the upper intake removed, you would think I would remember this, especially since I just did a ranger V8 swap barely a month ago!! Anyways, with the motor in the engine bay, the motor mount plates are sitting on the mounts like they are suppose to. The valve covers are right up against the firewall, and between the water pump pulley and the condensor (condensor was not removed for engine removal/installation, only the radiator and fan blade) there is between 6-8 inches, maybe more. Looks like I will be able to use the 5.0 rad with the stock mechanical fan:yahoo: I haven't measured, but a quick look at the trans mount looks like it will fall in the stock location, so no trans mount mods needed. Once I got the motor on its mounts, I called it a day. Tomorrow I will get pics of the motor in place and the rest of the install. I had pudding face BIG TIME once the V8 was in!!!
Here is a pic of the oil filter housing Ford used on the non-oil cooler 5.0 engines...
And here is a pic of the oil adapter housing used on the 2.9L engines....
Are you following what I'm thinking?? But why would you ask I swap em out?? Ford swapped all explorer 5.0 motors to the 820S style filters which are smaller than the FL1A filters used on previous 5.0's. Also, when I bought the oil filter relocation kit from TransDapt for SVT, I had the straight block adapter left over since TTB rangers need the 90* block adapter. I plan to get another dual filter housing and a couple of lines and going with a dual filter setup. Also, some EFI 5.8 motors had the sandwich style oil coolers, which I could also install between the adapter housing and the relocation block adapter. This gives me some options. I still need to mount my additional trans cooler next to the stock location cooler, as well as install my external trans oil filter... Enjoy and stay tuned for the upgrades...
SVT