My son will be getting his license soon. I have a 03 Ford ranger that I plan on giving him. I’m not happy with the four cylinder engine in it though.
What’s a good ballpark figure for putting a six cylinder engine in?
Should I get money discounted if I let them keep the old engine that is still perfectly good?
Anything else I need to know?
Any junk yard will take a working 4-banger out of an 03 Ford Ranger. A used 6-banger will cost you anywhere between 1500 and 2500 depending on what shape it is in. You need to check lots of things before just buying one and getting rid of the other…transmission, torque converter, firewall, size of compartment etc… Does your son have 3k [or do you] to get a new engine installed? Or are you doing it?
No my son and I don’t know squat about engines. I have the money, the question to me is: Is it more cost effective to just buy a good used truck with a bigger motor? Or do I come out ahead putting a better motor in the one I got?
You would save yourself a lot of aggravation if you bought a used 6-cylinder truck that came that way from the factory. You may also save yourself money in the long run.
Just buy the truck you want then. Swapping engines is something you do because you enjoy the challenge. I took a 4 banger out of a 74 Mustang and shoe horned a 289 V8 in it’s place when I was a kid. You couldn’t pay me to do that now days. It was a pain in the ass. Fun as hell to drive when it was all said and done, but a pain none the less.
Your son is just about to get his license? And you want to give him more horsepower? Baed on being a guy and knowing the insurance odds - he’s going to wreck with either engine. Go cheap.
If the 4 banger is ill, a rebuilt 4 cylinder engine would be less money for insurance, installation, and fuel economy. I’m just not following your choice.
I do not know those particular engines or frames, but I can say that changing engine-block types can often be VERY problematic. Wiring harnesses, engine mounts/locations, tranny dimensions/specs (as mentioned already)…sometimes it is very much not worth it. You would likely need to fab most of a new exhaust system as the pipe diameter recommended may be different (?), and maybe change some steering-related things.
There are a LOT of things that depend on the engine’s block and where the peripheral stuff mounts on it. I would be surprised if it were feasible, but I am more of an ‘old timer’ and stay away from newer engines with all those darn emissions things everywhere. I would imagine you could do a light-rebuild of what you have for what it would cost to install a non-OEM engine (??)
Pardon me for interjecting…but WTF…a 16 yr old and a perfectly good 4 cylinder…seems like a good match to me.
I agree .He is better off with a slower car as he learns to be a better driver.
You might get lucky with a Ranger, in that the frame is probably the same regardless of engine, but it’s going to be a lot of work. The engine and transmission mounts will need to be replaced, possibly all the way back to the frame; the wiring harness may need to be replaced to match the new engine; the transmission tunnel may need to be cut and/or replaced to fit the new transmission, and there’s going to be a list of somethings that you had no idea that you would have to deal with. Besides that, the brakes and suspension may be beefier for the six cylinder models.
For what it’s worth, I used to drive my ex’s Ford Courier (The Courier was the precursor to the Ranger and came with the same 2.3 liter Pinto engine.) I’m a former mechanic and I gave a lot of thought to replacing the engine with a six or a small block eight, but in the end I just rebuilt the original engine with a slightly taller cam. It just wasn’t worth the hassle.
I am not sure what the air quality regulations are like in Texas but changing an engine on a modern car here in California is a pain in the ass.
I’ve swapped different engines before for performance reasons. That was in the day’s of carburetors. With today’s modern engine you have to deal with wiring harnesses and all kinds of little parts and brackets. You are WAY ahead just buying another truck and selling/parting out the one you have.
To do it right you would want a donor vehicle to scavenge parts off of. If you found a private vehicle where the rear end was totaled you could make it work but if you’ve never tackled something like this you are in for a world of hurt.
If you insist on giving more horsepower to your teen driver (a dubious position, IMHO) then you’re much better off just buying the vehicle as it came from the factory. What you’re wanting to do is certainly possible, the 03 Ranger had an optional V6 so it should be a relatively simple bolt-in exchange. It makes no pragmatic sense to make this swap though.
If you plan on going forward with this plan then take the truck to your local Ford dealership and get an official, written estimate for the work. DO NOT AGREE TO HAVE THE DEALERSHIP DO THE WORK! You’re looking for information about the expected cost and if existing major components like the transmission and transfer case will need to be replaced. They’ll give you a list of new required components with an estimated labor charge at the bottom with more digits than their phone number.
If this doesn’t frighten you off then take the dealership’s estimate around to several, independent garages and see if they can beat it.
2.3 Liter Fords like turbos and it would be a lot easier and maybe cheaper to do that instead of an engine swap.
Agreed 100% - as a 25 year-old male who loves driving fast. You’ve got many years available to drive fast - as long as you don’t have a fatal accident as a young and inexperienced driver…
You want the turbo version for the oil gallery on the exhaust side and the proper head gasket. Better to pull one from a donor vehicle because you’ll need the correct computer, vane air meter, throttle, injectors, intake and exhaust manifolds. If the later model is used then it will require some fabricating for the intercooler because ford used a ram air hood scoop to feed it. Not sure if the stock fuel pump would work but it’s a common engine swap so there are probably how-to’s on the internet. The later Ranger 2.3L engines used a roller cam that is very close to the turbo specks and would be a good transfer of parts.