95 Sonoma TBI 4x4 4l60e/ Need a donor motor/ What years will plug and play

[Rangerfan2.9]

I believe my current motor is blown after talking with some mechanics. I took it out mudding and after nearly redlining I heard a loud knocking sound that sounded like a rod. But then it went away as I was limping back home and after putting half a quart of gear oil in it. Now there is smoke coming through some of the vacuum lines and the truck runs like complete crap and doesn't sound like its running on all cylinders.

I want to go to the junkyard and find a 500 dollar 4.3l motor and pay someone to install it so that I can either sell it or run it for another year at least till I get the money to have something nicer. What year of truck do I need to find in order to put another TBI 4.3l in it that will just plug and play. I read that 95's were different in some way? PLEASE I NEED SOME HELP QUICK THANKS

[Tink]

For a throttle body motor, you should be able to use anything from 88-95 (86-87 cars and Astro vans had throttle body 4.3Ls also, but the oil pans are different.) However, some 95s were OBD II and had a hole drilled in the bottom corner of the front cover for the crank position sensor. You'll need to check your's to determine if you need this (which would keep you stuck with the late 95 motors) and here is why:

The problem in 95 was there was mid-year change... the early engines used a "first design" tin front cover with 10 bolt holes. The later ones had the "second design" plastic cover that had only six bolts, so the flange can have either six or 10 holes drilled in it. That means that the tin cover won’t work on a block that was drilled for a plastic cover, so the blocks aren’t always interchangeable. Basically, if you get an earlier block with the narrow flange do not use the plastic front cover from your 95 because it will leak oil.

So, if you are looking for a complete, exact replacement and have the crank position sensor on your current motor, you are stuck with the late 95 motors. If you just wanted another block to put your top-end parts on though, you could go with 96+ as it would have that front cover. But, if you do not have the crank position sensor on your current motor, you can get an 88-95.

[SCredneck]

Also, some of the early 95's had the plastic 6-bolt timing cover WITHOUT the crank sensor...mine does.

[intuilk09]

Definitely tighten all you can down but your motor mounts are for sure toast.