Questions about my Ranger..

[Brauap]

Hey guys! I finally picked up my first truck and I am soo excited! It is a 1987 Ford Ranger with a 2.0L Inline 4. It is a 2x4 and a 5 spd. I was looking under the hood and I noticed how few things the motor had to turn (only the fan and the alt. & the pig pumps have already been removed) and I am looking to put as less stress on the motor as possible. I had noticed however, which I don't like, is how the exhaust gases are reused and are released into the air box. Here are my plans:

Trace the airfilter onto the bottom of the air box and cut down the extra. Do the same for the lid, but I'd use a nice piece of sheet metal I will make look nice so It will be a free breathing pod filter.

But that will leave the big "pipe" comming from the manifold and a bunch of other emissions crap. I was wondering if I would be able to use the manifold off the 2.3L if it doesn't have that same hose. Or would these work? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-H...Q5fAccessories

Also, all the other hoses that lead to the airbox, would the motor be fine if I have them all run to a remote location somewere either than the air box in the engine compartment? I am trying to get the entire engine compartment as need and tidy as possible incase anywere WHERE to happy, it would be very easy to diagnose.

I am also going to add a COMP Extreme Energy towing cam to it because the previous owner (mechanic) said it'll need one soon and I do alot of towing, weither it is a single dirt bike in the back or an entire trailer loaded with bikes going to West Virginia.

And to go with the whole "as less stress on the motor as possible" concept, I am also going to add an electric fan and remove the clutch fan that it already on it so it is yet one more thing the tiny engine has to turn.

Also, I have an exhaust leak, does anyone have any experience with these? http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-680016/ I hate the high-pitch "noise" the Ricers make with their cherry bombs on their 4 bangers! Sounds like CRAP! I like either quiet 4 bangers or this.. atleast the discription sounds good! hah Anyone have any input? (I am going to eliminate the cat)

I asked this on a Ranger specific forum with no results and I thought this would actually be a better forum because of how well populated and informed you folks seem to be! ;)

So, what do you guys think?

Thanks!
Colton W.

[trailrider894]

Colton i would be very careful when messing with emissions related things. In the state of MO i believe it is a felony to remove your Catalytic Converter. They take that stuff serious... It WON'T pass inspection if certain things have been removed.

[smr]

dern good trucks. My son bought the same year model. Kind of funny too....when I first read your post I thought, sounds like my sons truck. Then I got to the bottom. My son's middle name is Colt and our last name starts with a W.

anyway....after getting through all that I realized this isn't him.

now back to the truck.


87 and 88 was a great year for the ranger. Take care of that motor and it will last a long time. Not really all that sure why you are wanting to do so much work to it, I would be more worried about reliability than performance.

I guess what I'm saying is, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

[CJM]

This is the best place to ask such questions, best ford truck forums on the net: http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum35/

Dont mess with any of the vacuum and emissions related stuff. Good the smog pump was removed but leave the rest alone.

Dont swap from a mechanical to an electric fan, it isnt gonna gain you anything but more stress on the alternator and no more mpg

You sure you need an entire exhaust system? 10 bucks says the manifold is either cracked or leaking right at the engine as thats what usually happens. New gaskets and maybe headers would be good.

Towing cam is fine, remember if its basically an RV cam (rv cams were used in trucks with slide in campers/towing packages in the old days) its gonna have alot of lowend torque and it will not have as much highend power so keep that in mind.

Also bumping up the timing ever so slightly say 2 degrees, will help these old engines. I reliably bumped up timing on many old 4.9, 5.0 and 5.8 engines-it really helps. Replacing the wires and plugs with a good set and making sure everything else is in tip top shape would be a good idea.

[woodsracer144]

if it runs fine right now just leave it be. those motors run for ever! join the rangerstation...

i had a buddy that has a 2.3 4 bangger and hes got lie 230K on it with no problems.

i say just leave it be.

[Brauap]

Originally posted by trailrider894
Colton i would be very careful when messing with emissions related things. In the state of MO i believe it is a felony to remove your Catalytic Converter. They take that stuff serious... It WON'T pass inspection if certain things have been removed.

Ohio doesn't have any inspections. :)


Originally posted by smr
dern good trucks. My son bought the same year model. Kind of funny too....when I first read your post I thought, sounds like my sons truck. Then I got to the bottom. My son's middle name is Colt and our last name starts with a W.

anyway....after getting through all that I realized this isn't him.

now back to the truck.


87 and 88 was a great year for the ranger. Take care of that motor and it will last a long time. Not really all that sure why you are wanting to do so much work to it, I would be more worried about reliability than performance.

I guess what I'm saying is, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

haha that is pretty strange! And don't worry, I plan on babing this truck soo much! And being I am already a motorhead, I am going to keep up on the oil (changing it more frequently), oil filter, and other fluids. And the reason I am looking into this is because I am looking to put as less stress on the motor and allow it to breathe as much fresh air possible.


Originally posted by CJM
This is the best place to ask such questions, best ford truck forums on the net: http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum35/

Dont mess with any of the vacuum and emissions related stuff. Good the smog pump was removed but leave the rest alone.

Dont swap from a mechanical to an electric fan, it isnt gonna gain you anything but more stress on the alternator and no more mpg

You sure you need an entire exhaust system? 10 bucks says the manifold is either cracked or leaking right at the engine as thats what usually happens. New gaskets and maybe headers would be good.

Towing cam is fine, remember if its basically an RV cam (rv cams were used in trucks with slide in campers/towing packages in the old days) its gonna have alot of lowend torque and it will not have as much highend power so keep that in mind.

Also bumping up the timing ever so slightly say 2 degrees, will help these old engines. I reliably bumped up timing on many old 4.9, 5.0 and 5.8 engines-it really helps. Replacing the wires and plugs with a good set and making sure everything else is in tip top shape would be a good idea.

Thanks! I'll have to go check that site out!

Why not get rid of all the breathers that run to the air box? Is that not the stuff that gums up the carburator and stuff? I am not saying delete them but have all the hoses run to another location.

How would deleting the fan cause more stress on the altinator? I mean it is all the same belt and the fan is simply bolted onto the crank pully (I am not sure if that is the proper term or not..) so it would still be traveling the same route, just one less thing it has to turn. And remember, this is a tiny 80hp motor.. I think that ever little thing I can do to put less stress on it could help, right?

The reason I had brought up the manifold on eBay is because it doesn't have the extra emissions hose that runs to the air box, instead it is straight out. Plus it is a long tube header which will give me more grunt down low! And I brought up the muffler because mine is well rotted through-out the system and I figured I might as well replace it! The leak itself doesn't bother me, but when I was looking for it I noticed how rotted it truly was.

Yes, low end is exactly what I want from this truck. I mean if I wanted to go 150mph down the highway, I would have gotten a V8 but this is just a good on gas, crusing truck. And it already is a 4 banger so it is lacking a bit on the bottom anyhow.

Thanks! I'll have to try that out when I get my cam in.. and I am already getting new wires for it too and I am looking into the E3 spark plugs. Any thoughts?


Originally posted by woodsracer144
if it runs fine right now just leave it be. those motors run for ever! join the rangerstation...

i had a buddy that has a 2.3 4 bangger and hes got lie 230K on it with no problems.

i say just leave it be.

I am not sure if this truck has either 111K or 211K, is there anyway to be able to tell the difference? And I am just wanting to tune it up a bit to make it run cleaner or healthier so maybe I can make it to the 300K mark! ;)

[CJM]

Leaving the lines alone like ford intended is always better. The carb wont get gummed up if everything is running right. I dont like deleting all that stuff cause most of the time one or more of the lines was truly needed and something doesnt run right afterwards. Course every vehicle is different and you could always put it back together to stock.

As for the fan vs E-Fan: Your just gonna make that tiny alternator work hard pushing out the amps to spin the fan. It already is a tiny alt, more things you add to it the worse it is. Removing all that junk really doesnt free up any usable power (maybe 1-2hp and you wont even notice that-if it even does hold back that much hp in the first place). The old mechanical fans work very well too, if you want to do it thats cool but Id leave it be till the fan clutch blows or something.

e3 sparkplugs, irridium,etc are a waste, these old engines dont benefit at all from them. I would just run NGK or similar standard plugs (my fav brand of plug)-not double ground or whatever other fancy plugs. You want single ground plugs. PS dont buy bosch if you can NGK or motorcraft, autolite or champ is much better. Might be able to score the plugs and wires from sparkplug.com

There is tune up procedure that will produce both more power and a big more mpg (it goes along with the timing setup I mentioned). What you do is replace the plugs with new ones, gap them slightly more (were talking if .44 to .46) than stock, use heavier duty racing type wires (hotter spark), use a brand new motorcraft or accel or MSD coil (I prefer the accel or MSD), and bump up the timing slightly by 2-4 degrees. Old fords came detuned from the factory slightly-I have no idea why-perhaps emissions IDK. But doing the above tune up till free up power.

Also getting a better air intake or fabbing your own works well on a truck like that (since its carbed) you want to get as few turns as possible (not sure how yours is setup but it might be ok) as you can out of it and make sure its sucking in cold air not hot air from the engine. I recall the newer rangers I remember seeing (fuel injected tho) had the intake come straight up into the airdamn by the hood.

But I guarantee you do that tune up I mentioned your gonna see better power and a slight gain in mpg.

Also, pull the valve covers and see how much sludge build up you got-if its not to bad then get some seafoam and pure it right into the carb about 1/4 to 1/2 a can, let stall out and then come back 20 mins later and it will smoke like nuts but it does clean everything out. ATF, even water misted into there does the trick on an old carb engines believe it or not. If the engine has sludge DO NOT do this, it will cause engine failure b/c all the crud breaks up and gets sucked up by the oil pump and then it clogs and starves the engine for oil.

Lastly, no true way to tell the miles unless you have some kinda documentation as the odo flips at 99k back to 0. So could be 100k, could be 200k, could be 300k. Last time it was titled they often have the mileage-course if its listed as exceeds limits thats that and its a guess.

[250x_kyle]

Originally posted by Brauap
Ohio doesn't have any inspections. :)


i was thinking the truck my buddy bought in ohio had an emissions sticker on it. might want to check

http://www.dmv.com/oh/ohio/emissions-testing

[Brauap]

They've been saying for a decade now that they are going to start checking.. they never have. Plus the DMV doesn't require you to get an inspection..

[250x_kyle]

i know they dont require inspection. inspection isnt the same as emmsions testing two seperate stickers.

[Brauap]

I'll just through on a high-flowing cat.. not a big deal. It'll just make everything simplier! haha

And I had just noticed that the link for the headers above does not work. Here is the new link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PACESETTER-82-90-Ford-RANGER-2-3L-2WD-Exhaust-Header-/390280828051?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3ARanger&hash=item5ade8cd493

[Brauap]

I had just talked to my father and he said that they if they DO check emissions it is on comercial trucks only. He said the entire time he has been driving (he is 56) he has never been checked for emissions.. so I don't know...

[CJM]

Might not matter in your state, where I am they check emissions now and thats it.

[ProspectorJim]

drop in a 4.0 from an explorer. They almost drop right in. Just sayin.

[Brauap]

I'll do a swap whenever this blows.. but I already have a nice 302 sitting in my garage for that purpose! ;)

[CJM]

Originally posted by ProspectorJim
drop in a 4.0 from an explorer. They almost drop right in. Just sayin.

Thats a pointless swap, a 302 is a much better choice :)

[Brauap]

Originally posted by CJM
Thats a pointless swap, a 302 is a much better choice :)

I know, right? :blah:

[CJM]

Originally posted by Brauap
I know, right? :blah:

Im not a huge fan of the 302 in the heavier trucks like the F series, but ranger and anything smaller like that really do shine with a small V8.

[Brauap]

Originally posted by CJM
Im not a huge fan of the 302 in the heavier trucks like the F series, but ranger and anything smaller like that really do shine with a small V8.

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[Brauap]

But like I had said, that is only when/if this motor ever decides to blow. I really like the simplicity of this motor too! Very simple design. And I like how clean the engine compartment is with the carburation - only what is needed and not anything more. And when I put the elec. fan on it is going to really clean it up along with getting rid of as many emission hoses and stuff I can. (Don't worry, I am going to be getting a higher output Alt. in it because I am going to also be putting a nice "system" in the truck.. nothing expensive or fancy, just something better than what it has and it is obviously going to pull more amps.)

[ProspectorJim]

Originally posted by CJM
Thats a pointless swap, a 302 is a much better choice :)

pointless for this kind of truck yes. Swapping in the 4.0 is more popular with offroad guys.

[CJM]

Originally posted by ProspectorJim
pointless for this kind of truck yes. Swapping in the 4.0 is more popular with offroad guys.

Maybe if you want the V6, most I know would prefer the v8 anyday. More power and a rather easy swap imho.

I could see the 4.0 being usefull as you could take thje entire drivetrain out of a later model ranger and swap it in tho. But you could also take the 302 out of a later explorer and have most of the parts, or just for the engine a stang or f150/250.

[ProspectorJim]

Originally posted by CJM
Maybe if you want the V6, most I know would prefer the v8 anyday. More power and a rather easy swap imho.

I could see the 4.0 being usefull as you could take thje entire drivetrain out of a later model ranger and swap it in tho. But you could also take the 302 out of a later explorer and have most of the parts, or just for the engine a stang or f150/250.

yea, it's mostly because you can find them dirt cheap at most any junk yard. The 8.8 rear axle from the explorer goes in very easy too.