So took the truck I JUST bought to my mechanic today to have him look it over and he told me that not only are the head gaskets bad, one of the freeze plugs had rotted out and had been shoddily replaced and there was a hole in the oil pan that they filled with silacone and then painted over......... So basically he told me the best option is to drop in a new motor.. The truck is a 94 b3000 and my question is do I have to us an engine out of only a 94 or can I use a 95 or 96...?

 

Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market is returning me 3.0 Ranger engines from 1991-94 as direct interchanges; you should be Ok with B3000 engines or 3.0L Aerostar engines up to 1994 as well.

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech...rformance.html has an overview of the 3.0 Vulcan engine. In 1995, the distributor was dropped (went to a distributorless ignition), which is why putting in a newer 3.0 into your 1994 would be somewhat hairier - ie: you'd need the newer wiring harness and computer (and somebody smarter than me to give you the thumbs up on this operation)

Also I know that 1992 and newer Aerostar 3.0 engines got a roller-cam design - doesn't really affect your swap but probably nice to have.

There are also 3.0s in Taurus and some Windstars, but they are front wheel drive (cross-mount) and you would need tio do some reading up on some of the differences (water pump, headgasket, something about flywheel ring a bell) before considering one of these as a donor.

some more interesting reading at http://rogueperformance.com/vulcanFAQ.html

 

Thank you this was very helpful!!
But now I have another question.. If I get an aerostar motor out of a 94 does it matter if it was an automatic? Would this swap be possible to do in a driveway in maybe a weekend or should I leave it up to a mechanic???

 

When you ask whether the donor is an automatic, I tend to assume your Mazda truck is a manual (5 speed). If this is the case and your donor 3.0 is an auto trans, at a minimum you will need to move over your flywheel from your existing truck 3.0 and get a new pilot bearing for the end of the crankshaft next to the clutch.

Unless you're quite sure you have all the parts and read up on things really really well, and/or have a couple of similar engine swaps under your belt, I would budget time for this more like: first weekend drop the engine out of the truck and have a good look at the clutch components and probably send your flywheel out for resurfacing that Monday. Then spend the next week gathering up the parts you need now you have seen things apart and putting (at least) new valve cover gaskets, spark plugs and oil pan gasket on the donor engine and (hopefully) start putting the donor engine in the next weekend, with a third weekend budgeted just in case you get hung up on the install. If you get things done in one to two weeks, fine (great) but you DON't want to rush a job like this and you DO want to be taking your time and marking and/or bagging everything you pull apart for later (maybe talking lots of digital pictures) for later when you put it back together. This can be a cool learning experience, particularly if you have a buddy tagging along and helping, but can be hell if you are in a hurry and are depending on getting the truck back running on a tight schedule!

Also keep in mind your mechanic may not be too thrilled if you get stuck halfway and take him a half-completed, half apart project to finish off and may charge more to fix up a mess than to do the job outright.

 

yes my truck is a 5 speed 4x4.. sorry should have given that info in the first post... thank you for the info!!!! gonna do some homework and see if i have all the necessary tools and workspace to do this transplant lol. first thing is to get a chiltons manual..

 

Sorry got a phone call before I finished my last post. Yeah, the 4x4 puts a few more parts in there (but gives you more space getting under the truck)

Good luck with your project!

 

so i have another question.. if i do get the motor from an aerostar would i have to get a new wiring harness and ecu or can i use my existing ones??

THANKS!!

 

not sure on the exact difference but you should be able to swap wiring, intake manifold etc off your old motor if they are different. oil pan might be difference as well.