Do I need the power steering pump?

Very likely you'll want the P/S pump.

Having done a swap I can tell you that having the complete donor car handy saves tons of time. Little stuff like a length of heater tubing or hose to make an adapter, grabbing a bolt or two, making an electrical connector, a section of radiator support....and the list goes on and on.

You might find it helpful to adapt existing gauges to the dash rather than new gauges to the engine. Maybe use the donor kick down switch. Drive train components might be needed.

I'm sure my swap would have taken twice as long without the donor right there...and mine was a simple swap.

I drove my swap for a few miles without power steering. Tooling around daily whatever stuff you probably wouldn't miss it much, but offroad or backing up a trailer? You'll want PS.

I cut the steel ends off my power steering lines on the Yota side and brazed JIC fittings on them. The MBZ power steering pump actually worked just fine with a standard JIC fitting, which was seriously convenient. Then had a local hydraulic shop fab up some hoses with JIC fittings.

What's that?

What i ment about the power steering pump was do I need the Mercedes pump or could I use the one in the Ranger?

Got the gas tank in but broke a fitting so I wasn't able to try and drive the truck again. It looks like somebody drilled holes in the old gas tank, i hit it with a hammer and nothing crunched. Also Got a little body work done.

For some reason I can post pictures right now but I'll try tomorrow

You don't need the kick down switch unless you are using the MB automatic transmission. ( Mach4 comnverted a MB 380 SL to diesel )

Yes, you need the PS pump and alternator ..

I would not try to adapt the MB gauge cluster into the Ranger, just use the old Ranger oil pressure and temp senders.

Got the engine! The guy wanted to sell all his old Mercedes stuff so I had to buy the transmission to. For an entire working 300dt complete except for the radiator and a couple body panels. All in all it only cost me $350! You g to have to rent another trailer and bring the car home Thursday

I'm in a hurry, but your easiest route would be to use a 98+ 2WD ranger with the IFS suspension. That will make clearing the oil pan a breeze.

There are engine 617 engine bolt patterns over on SuperTurboDiesel.com

I'm sure you can find M05D patterns online easy enough.

240D flywheel is easy, or find a 1-piece rear main SBC flywheel and drill the Mb pattern on it, then turn down to fit in the ranger's transmission tunnel.



I have a 98 2wd, I looped the power steering lines from the rack and swapped in a smaller serpentien belt when my PS & AC decided to explode. It's not hard at all to turn while moving, I like my armstong steering :D

Looping the lines and installing a vent are CRITICAL though-if you leave everything connected you're fighting the pump.

Did you get a 300TD or a 300D motor?

I am very interested to see how this project turns out. With mention of the 2wd ranger above, I'd try this in a 4wd as they are just more useful trucks, assuming you will ever need 4wd.

Good luck.

Got a 300td motor and 300td car with another motor. I'm definitely sticking with 4wd

Interested in selling parts? You are in Mass?

Either way can be made to work, but I think by far the easiest way is to use the MBZ pump and have conversion hoses made up to connect to the Ranger PS, vs having to fab up brackets and pulleys and find a way to mount the Ranger PS pump on the MBZ engine.

For alternator, there are lots of options available for stock or upgraded charging capacity in the existing alternator location. I fabbed mounts and had the stock dual belt alternator pulley bored out to install a Delco 22SI medium/heavy truck alternator. 150A continuous duty(whole different animal from a standard 140A light-duty alternator) - I wanted LOTS of power available and have not regretted it at all.

It takes about zero effort to hook up the power steering lines. Looping the lines just results in fluid being displaced each time you turn the wheel making steering more difficult than it needs to be.

Running most power steering gears / racks without pressurized fluid results in lots of free play in the steering. Most PS units use a rotary valve coupled to a torsion bar. One end of the bar is attached to the steering wheel and the other to the worm / pinion gear. As you turn the wheel, the torsion bar winds up opening fluid passages in the rotary valve. The worm / pinion catches up with the steering wheel closing the valve.

When there isn't any pressurized fluid, the torsion bar rotates until the steering side and worm / pinion parts hit a safety stop. ( the safety stop is a tongue and groove / slot and tab arrangement )

I have converted PS racks to manual by putting metal strips in the groove and adding a ring around the whole thing to keep them from falling out. Don't try to weld the two together as yo will never get everything lines up exactly and the metal is hardened making reliable welding difficult.

As for the steering gears that don't use a torsion bar, that would be most any non rack MB and older Chrysler. These use a reaction ring and some other valving that I haven't spent too much time investigating. In these arrangements, the steering wheel is attached directly to the worm gear making non powered operation possible by just draining fluid.

The stock alternator will be just fine, you have lots of other more important stuff to fabricate. Keep control of the project otherwise it will end up on Craiglist as " lost interest "

I definitely would like to, won't sell either enginebor any of the parts that make it run until September (when I go back to school) but everything else I need to get rid of. Id love to sell tue ranger enfine to (2.9L EFI V6), toubcan have it really cheap. Yes I am in Massachusetts, near UMass Amherst

Got most all of the wiring disconnected from the Ranger's engine. Got to get some more empty jugs so I can start draining the fluids. Going to get an engine hoist sometime this week

Finally finished unplugging everything from the Ranger's engine. Pulled the radiator too. Here's the parts car and is that an oil cooler?

Why yes it is.;)