03 ranger fx4 level2 302 engine swap

i was just researching the 302 engine swap online today when i came across this site and signed up, in hopes that i could get some help. this saturday i was weelin my stock ranger and decided to hydrolock my engine( beleve me, i felt and still feel like a jackass, being that the truck is my daily driver and im still paying it off). i changed the oil and removed the spark plugs, and the starter just clicks and still wont turn the engine, and the battery has a good charge. it got dark today, before i could remove the fan to turn the motor manually by turning the harmonic balancer... but by the way the starter is acting, i think the motor might be toast. so im thinking if ive got to get a new motor, id like to make it a wheeling machene and put in a 302, maybe a 351 if its possible. so i suppose im just wondering if anyone has done that swap in a later model ranger like mine, and if so, what might i be looking at as far as cost, time, and difficulty. if anyone has any info i would greatly apreciate it. - josh

If the starter just clicks then I'd check battery conection as well as the sylnoid its self... Thats what is actuly clicking..... not the starter... and it usualy does that when its not getting enough power to it....
HOW did you hydro lock the motor???
Tim

i hydrolocked it when i went through too deep of a puddle a bit too fast... i was just about to leave the park where we were wheelin completeley unharmed and i had swiched into 4 hi from 4 low, and decided to go through some water holes i had been through before and i just made too big of a splash. it wouldnt have been too deep if i was just creepin through it, and i was within 3 feet of the end of the puddle that was like 150 ft long. and in 20 more feet, i would have been on the main road. i think ill stay away from puddles untill i have a snorkel from now on.

it was a good puddle though, it came about half way up the doors.

Originally Posted by jhall_metal

it was a good puddle though, it came about half way up the doors.

Thats not a puddle thats a river.
Did the motor stop right away like it locked up?? or did it just die and bog out?? If it hydro locked it would lock up and not turn over ... maybe you just drowned out the distrubitor. if you pulled the plugs and truned it over and no water came out... maybe it just drowned the distrubitor. Pull the cap and check for water dropplets and such.... might just need to dry it out....
Did you check you battery and or conection for the sylnoid clicking deal??
Tim

My friend did the same exact thing w/ his Ranger except it was a frozen pond in the middle of winter. That was the end of that for him too.

ohh man, last april i did the same thing. I was at the far end of the place, and decided to head back, and just as i got to the end of a pit, water bogged me out. It cut off, but started up on a few cyl's, i got out of the hole and, took the intake tube off, drained water from there, dried the filter, and fired it up. Ran terrible after that and i struggled to get back to the road. But it still runnin' 10k later. well.... about 2 qts of oil a week.
If you decide to swap out, i'll buy that 4.0 if your close enough

As far as a 302 swap, I was considering a 302 efi swap on my old 91 exploder...with 200K+ of hard abused miles, wrecks, and 4low action, she was rode hard and put away wet.
I looked into a 302 swap, and I was considering a efi 302, with a C4 and a trans adapter {not in the mood to mess with AOD}, on the older first gen explorers, small body life to clear the ac firewall box, 302 ecm harness spliced into the explorer harness, plug into stock V6 fuel lines, pump is ok for a stock 302, otherwise have to bump up to a better pump for anything lukewarm or better over stock...suspension changes not needed, front springs {atleast on my explorer} were rated to handle a 351W.
Look around for "ranger 302 swap" on google, should find a few sites.
Don't know it all, but a stout 302 will fit easier than the 351W according to a few that have done the swap when I was checking.

Concerning the current status of your truck...if you had the thing up to the doors, did the interiro get soaked?
Unless the harness connectors were siliconed shut, odds are you have coroded connectors.
Off hand, does the newer 00+ stuff use a crank position sensor? Could of swore they do, being under water ain't the best on unprotected stuff.

Years back, my mom had a nice '95 labaron convert, took it to the car wash, detailed everything outside, and decided to steam clean the engine bay with hot water, fried 3 of the 5 computers on that car, blew the maxi fuse, fried the harness. On the flip side, she traded it off for a then brand new 2000 GT mustang convertable.