3.0 Taurus and 3.0 Ranger are they the same engine?
 

Are the Taurus 3.0's the same as the Ranger 3.0's? If not what is the difference?

Oil pickup, oil pan, timing cover, harmonic balancer, water pump, and intake are wrong and must be swapped. The head gaskets are slightly different but can be reused. Of course the flexplate is different too and there are other minor differences depending on year. Basically just strip both to bare shortblocks and put the ranger stuff on the taurus block.

Thanks for the reply. The truck is actually a 98 Mazda B300. If I get a newer engine or the same year just out of a taurus I will be to swap everything?

It seems like a lot of trouble to go through when a ranger or areo star 3.0 is allready set up for rear wheel drive application. It would be less trouble to swap in a 4.0 sohc motor and worth the hassle. It is however feasable. The taurus sho 3.0 will not as it's actually a yamaha engine.