Yes Dub.
Bob, I've done many engine swaps and none have been very difficult, granted they've all had their own share of problems, but none really "hard". I can understand changing an entire harness if ones been burnt or someone has "taken a chainsaw to it" and it's completely unusable. Other than that I see no reason to mess with it. Granted there are some differences between models 9 times out of 10 you can simply pull a sensor off the "old" engine, stick it on the replacement, and move along. I've got an '07 engine sitting out front in a '93GL that proves that. I've got an '01 engine in a '95 Ranger that runs perfectly as well, and neither required any rewiring or wiring modifications. The OP stated he swapped in a and what sounded like the original trans FOR HIS car. Now if he used the OE trans, WHY did he think he needed to change the harness to something different? This sounds like where his problems are coming from unless I've read something incorrectly. The vulcan engine for the most part has remained unchanged from '86 - '07. Yes they've changed sensor plugs and trans plugs, and eliminated the distributor, and stuff like that. The OP only went 1 or two years difference in model years, and it's not like he stuffed an LSx engine into it, so again, I ask why change the harness? He could have simply swapped some sensors, maybe the upper intake if need be, and dropped it right back in. Would he have had a CEL, I dunno, maybe, maybe not. Did he have any lights on, before the swap? If not then one could assume that all the sensors on the '97 engine(OE) were good, and reusable. But, he used the '98+ sensors and harness, which may or may NOT have been any good. Unless it's put back the way it was no-one will ever know. I'm not saying you or anyone else did anything wrong in the way you did things, simply that it may have been easier a different way. I'm also not saying that "MY way" is superior or any more right. There's a saying, you wash your nuts your way, I'll wash mine my way. Either way I'm sure they'll be clean, but it won't take me six months. Please don't misconstru anything I've said here, I'm just trying to pass along a little of what I've learned and experienced in 25 years of wrenching.
This whole conversation should be about education and learning whats
what. I have got lots of good information here that has helped me fix
my car and keep it running on a shoe string budget at times.
I will use your own example. When you put the 07 engine in the 93, you
certainly did NOT use the 07 harness. What i would have done (and
assumed you did) was take the entire intake off the 07 and put the 93's
intake and wiring harness on it. and taken off the dist sensor and put a
distributor in it.
I am sure you did not put a non ranger harness in the ranger either.
The issue here is using a engine wiring harness NOT from the year of car
your using it in. Its a FACT that the wire harnesses are NOT always the
same year to year. Close, but NOT the same.
So you have two choices if you have issues, use the proper wire harness
for the year of car your using, or modify the non proper year to make it
work. changing sensors does nothing to the wiring in the harness if its not correct.
In my case, i bought a 97 Vulcan Gl with bad engine. I had someone drop a good 96 engine in it. Unknown to me at the time, he left the 96 harness on the motor, so the 97 had a 96 Vulcan and the 96 wire harness on it. The car refused to code scan, and the AC would not work. But it ran and drove, so i drove the car during this time even though it had issues. I tried to find out on line what the issues were, but could find no information.
It was only then that i got a OBD2 scanner, factory CD manuals, and
printed schematics and messed with it. got the code scan back quicker by swapping a few wires at the C130 connector. changing sensors would not have brought back the code scan. The AC i did not need at the time, so i let it slide until much latter when it got hot. It was then that i discovered the final part of the puzzle that the AC clutch grounded differently between the 96 and 97 wire harnesses. I ran a separate ground off a cut wire at C130 connector and it fixed the AC. It took a lot of studying partial schematics and trial and error to finally get it all working 100%. Other people had the same issues since and i helped them get there cars going. There is a prior thread on this if you want to look it up.
By the time i realized i had a harness issue, the dude that dropped my motor in had disposed of the 97 core so it was too late. Thats why i recommend using the same year harness on the engine. tracing down all that wiring is time consuming and confusing. It can be done, but you need the resources and time to do it.
Since its not my car, i am not going to devote my life to finding all the issue. But it does seem in that time period, the transmission range sensor (TRS) changed to a digital version (DTR)(98+?) The sensor on the trannie is still the TRS because its the original 97. That should be OK. the PCM is the proper 97, so that should be OK. So what is the only difference? seems the wire harness on the engine. That harness connects the TRS or DTR to the PCM. so if there is any wiring difference, the PCM will sense an issue and throw a trannie code.
Since it seemed the sensor harness change did not solve the problem, i would either put the original year harness on the donor engine, or get all the proper year manuals, print the schematics, and figure out and change the wiring. My guess is the newer harness on the engine was wired for the DTR, and that one or more wires are different or that there was a grounding change somewhere on the harness.
I wish the poster the best of luck in solving his issues