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Originally Posted by 14'ecocruze
This is all hypothetical just curious of possible results. I have an 02 explorer 4x4 and was curious how difficult it would be to put that v6 into some sort of economy size car. How hard would it be to switch to standard trans and front wheel drive.
Reason I'm curious is due to the efficiency of this engine. 22-23 mpg with a brick that weighs around 4200 lbs. Dropping this motor into a car like a Saturn which is around 3000. Assume the larger motor weighs a tick more so around 31-3200 lbs. With the drastically improved aero and 1000 lb weight reduction and most likely 6 speed manual what would anyone's fair guestimate be for fuel milage? I feel it wouldn't be too difficult to push 40+ but I may be delusional. Obvious upgrades like extra aero spats grill block and partial underbody panels. My dreaming may turn into a reality if there is any positive concensus to my ideas.
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Hello 14'ecocruze,
That's the SOHC 4.0 derivative of the venerable Cologne V6 as cRiPpLe_rOoStEr points out. I've got it's previous incarnation, the OHV (pushrod) 4.0 V6 in my 2000 Ford Explorer manual trans. Do you have the manual trans in your '02? 2002 was the last year for the manual trans in 4-door, the 2-door kept it available for another year or few until or right before it was dropped from production. IIRC. If you do have the manual trans, I'm very jealous.
What are your goals for the swap? If it is just efficiency, you're going the wrong way - most mid-size to economy cars have sub 3.0liter engines already, so you can run them at higher overall load to get better average BSFC out of them. Putting in a larger engine that won't work as hard would be a backwards step in efficiency. Generally, folks have found that by the time they've done a bunch of aero work, load reduction, etc. they are no longer operating the engine in an efficient regime - time to swap a smaller one in.
As for the practicalities, I can't find any Cologne V6 engines in a transverse application at all. The Aerostars that had them were front engine rear drive. So you'd need a transmission/engine adapter, clutch/flywheel adapter, custom oil pan, custom motor mounts, and the fun wiring stuff. Your engine is PATS (Passive Anti-Theft System) so you'll need a custom tune to delete that, else you need to keep a chunk of the dash and steering column from the Explorer plus a key from it to make it run in the new chassis.
Saturns were available with 4-cyl engines and manual trans from the factory, though you may need to look around to find one.
If you want an immediate upgrade with zero labor to ~30+mpg (completely stock, aside from worsened aero due to front end damage, and lighter weight due to rust), I've got a 1999 Chevy Prizm 1.8L 4-cyl manual trans I'll trade you straight up for your 2002 Explorer 4.0L V6 manual trans. :-)