I'm definitely following this and I applaud your effort, it will probably help people for years to come, though I do have one question. You can generally purchase a salvage LR3 V6 for a very reasonable amount of money, although you might have to travel a bit, why go through the effort of installing a slightly different engine?

I can't wait for this project to be done, a comprehensive guide on this switch will leave us with far more options when it comes to engine failure,

 

There are certainly many more LR3 V6 4.0L engines available in the USA because there are 10 times more people than there are here in Canada, and many people on the internet have suggested that the Ford 4.0L SOHC engines are exactly the same (they are not) even in the Land Rover version. Those engines (Ford SOHC 4.0L) are readily available here pretty inexpensively, so to me this is a bit personal challenge and a bit curiosity, and when the opportunity came to get this 2007 LR3 awfully inexpensively I didn't hesitate. A plus is that my whole career was spent in industrial electronics, so fear of the allegedly notoriously unreliable electrical system was very far back on my list of concerns. Perhaps if I had known then what I know now, I may not have been so quick to take up the gauntlet, but am now so far down the path that success is (I think) pretty darned close, we are likely going to start putting the engine back in next week. Unfortunately, the best place to work on it is at my friend's shop and it's 85 miles away, so lots of time wasted commuting, plus the hunt for some of the Land Rover parts or their equivalents or making them is pretty time consuming. As we approach the end of the project though, we are pretty satisfied that we have likely helped a few others who may have entertained similar thoughts about LR3 4.0L V6 engine repair swaps. Personally, if I had to try it again, I'd try the Chevy LS V8 swap, if you are going to have a hard time with an engine swap, you might as well go big, and the engine and transmission swap has apparently been done successfully (transfer case works) by a person in Texas I think, so not completely unknown...

 

I just marked the crank and flex plate during disassembly. Easy peasy since the same engine was going back in. There is a thread out there that explained how to re-fit a flex plate on LR3 V6. Possibly on the Ford Ranger forums?

 

Thanks, I did mark where the flex plate registration hole was but useless since camshaft gear has slipped, but on the Ranger forums and the FordTechMakuloco and Cloyes videos they say the only way to be sure is to look at the cam slots when you think you are at TDC compression stroke on #1 and if the slots are BOTH parallel to their respective cylinder head tops AND below the centre line of the cams, ONLY THEN is the engine at #1 TDC compression. Of course this is when the engine is chain timed correctly, so then you add the flex plate, with the registration hole at the 3 o'clock position. Also easy-peasy and will check it out today on Mr. Ranger, along with micrometer measurements of the flex plate spacer...

Edit: Look here for explanation; https://www.explorerforum.com/forums...cement.295805/

 

Sounds right. I actually confirmed TDC by turning the engine over by hand (without the spark plugs installed) to feel the compression stroke, then peeking inside the #1 cylinder to see the piston location (with a USB borescope) and had the cam chain tools installed to validate. I was nervous as a long tail cat by a rocking chair when doing this... there are a few threads out there where the cams were not set correctly and destroyed the engine. Just for those who are not familiar with these engines... no keyways or any other way to assemble the cam timing components without using special tools to set everything in place and then just torque the bolts to hold it all in time. Some people have made their own tools to avoid having to buy the tool kit. I wouldn't recommend it. The kit doesn't cost that much and sets all aspects to the precise location, including a tool that looks like a tensioner to hold the chains in the correct position when tightening the cam sprockets.

 

Ranger with some LR3 parts on left, LR3 with some Ranger parts on right

Well, we are just about ready to start buttoning up everything, the WPT-1231 connector from Ford dealer fits perfectly, we are going to be torquing all the bolts for the girdle, oil pan, OHV cover, water bypass? (thermostat housing in other vehicles), removing LR3 engine from lift and attaching the engine spacer plate, spacer (exactly the same size as LR3 spacer 0.752 " thick and 0.746" diameter center hole) and flex plate. Used the Ford timing kit (Chinese knockoff version) to double check the TDC and cam positions (note breaker bar w/19mm on the harmonic balancer after fine adjustments), plus am checking the fuel injectors (both engines use Ford (Bosch?) 0280-158-055) and we have installed the knock sensor on the driver side of the engine between cylinder 4 & 5 near the girdle. We are hoping to get it installed Wednesday and perhaps have it running Monday or Tuesday, other family responsibilities take precedence...

 

Thank you for the dims on the flex plate spacer. Looks like you're on the home stretch. Something else you may want to do while the engine is out... I back flushed the heater core. The core can become plugged on the driver side which will result in no heat on that side. It's a fairly common issue and is easy to flush when the engine is out. I didn't have an issue and didn't see but just a few specks of "stuff" come out. Bar the engine over a few times without the spark plugs in on the stand and put your mind at rest that you don't have any interference. A couple days and you'll get to drive your LR3 for the first time!

 

Haha! Thanks for the heater core flushing advice, we'll need that to work here! We will be changing the fluids for the tranny, transfer case, axle, and any other thing we can think of, PLUS the sunroof drain stuff (just received those inexpensive Chinese 12mm? drain pipe connectors) before we do any driving. Oh... I just remembered, have got to smear the ECM connectors with dielectric grease before reassembling also. You are correct though, am looking forward to giving the machine a test drive...

 

Well we checked out the Ford fuel injectors (Bosch) today, torqued all the stuff up, double checked the timing CKP flex plate position and soldered up the pigtail for the oil temp sensor, so tomorrow is just installing the new OHV cover gaskets, batten down the covers and slip the engine into its new home. Probably will not go that easy...

 

Well the 2008 Ranger engine is now installed and bolted up to the 2007 LR3 ZF transmission housing but not the torque converter (yet). We'll be doing this tomorrow and photos are pending...