Ok, I got my brother's old Ford Ranger after my car's tranny went out. Now I'm wondering what I can do with the engine. I know the carb hasn't been tuned for quite some time. I'd actually like to repace it with something else to get rid of all the vacuum hoses and such. Any suggestions?

Also, do you guys have any suggestions on tuning the carb as well. The most carb tuning I've done was with a 3.5hp Briggs&Straton. Can you guys give me any suggestions on what to do? Know of any good sites that show what to do?

Right now the choke is on pretty much all the time. It either idles really high or really low. Even in the middle of the summer, it'll stay on high idle. It has an electric choke thing, the only computerized thing the engine has. My brother's played with it before but hasn't been too successful. It drives well otherwise. It's not too spunky, but hey, it's a 2.0 liter. The engine is pretty unresponsive unless the petal is floored. It seems to have a 2-stage carb. When the petal is floored, it opens up another fuel jet or second intake plate or something, not sure. Even when I floor it, the thing mostly only makes more noise. I'd like to fine tune it though if I knew what to do. I'd like to replace it with better carb if I could find something out there for it. Suggestions?

Some notes:
The truck is basically the base line model, power nothing.
Only current upgrade - K&N air filter, all else stock
I'm a college student, can't afford big upgrades, no engine swaps or anything mmm V8, vroom

 

Okay, you can't get rid of the vacuum hoses. They are there for a reason. 1988 would be a 2.3liter not a 2.0 (I have never seen a 2.0 in a ranger). I would start with this:
Air filter (which you already have)
Fuel filter
change oil and filter
new spark plugs
new spark plug wires
distributor cap/rotor
ignition module if equipped.
And last but not least a Haynes manual.
Sound's like it just needs a good tune up.

 

Actually it is a 2.0L and I know there is a 2.3 as well. The engine, from what I have found, is actually a Toyota engine. It uses a AISAN brand carburetor. I have yet to find any other carbs to actually be able to replace it with. I've heard the brand Wagner or something similar to that name around. I'm not sure if that was standard equipment for say the 2.3L. I found a HollyII that fit the 2.3L but so far nothing for the 2.0L besides what came with it.

Besides everything you said, a fuel filter would be the only thing to look at, everything else has been (somewhat) recently done.

Currently, I'm just really interested in tuning the carb properly. That fast idle is getting really annoying. The truck runs at about half throttle out of gear.

 

Is it computer controlled?

 

I've got the turd 2.0 with the Aisan carb in my ranger too. It is indeed a Ford motor and rangers did come with them (unfortunately), its basically a 2.3 minus the extra displacement. All the vacuum lines are a nightmare and the carb can be a pain. The first thing you need to do is check ALL the vacuum lines to make sure they aren't leaking causing the idle problem. Second thing is to properly time the motor. You need to have a tach to do this, my truck didn't have one. Next, tackle tuning the carb. If your carb is the same, this is how I tune mine:

1) Unplug the idle actuator (cylinder with wiring harness attached to the carb) and push the plunger all the way in. This is to prevent the computer from trying to adjust the idle while you are. There should be a small set screw with a nut on the front of the carb (closest to the radiator) that the idle control actuator plunger pushes against. Loosen the nut and back out the set screw until no threads can be seen. If the engine dies, then the primary idle screw needs to be adjusted. This is on the opposite end of the carb (closest to the firewall). You can access this by standing on the passenger side of the truck and using a flat head screwdriver. The screw has a spring to prevent it from moving on its own. Adjust this if the truck is dying as you adjust back the idle actuator screw out.
2) Once the idle actuator screw is backed out, adjust the primary screw so the engine idles at about 850rpm.
3) Now you have to adjust the idle mixture. This is the biggest pain in the butt. On the side of the carb that is closest to the valve cover, near the base of the carb, is a screw that controls the idle mixture. You will either need strong fingers and a philips head screwdriver bit, or a 90 degree philips screwdriver (home depot has them). When I adjust it, I put a towel over the valve cover so I don't burn my hand when adjusting it. If you have a vacuum gage, use that to achieve the highest vacuum at idle by turning the screw in or out. If you don't have a vacuum gage, turn the screw until you get the highest rpm.
4) Now that the idle mixture is set, back the primary idle screw out until the motor is at about 700rpm.
5) Now you need to move back to the idle actuator screw. Plug in the idle actuator and if its working correctly, it should extend and try to contact the set screw to bring the rpm's back up to about 850rpm (it might not make contact depending on the stroke of the actuator since you turned the screw all the way out at the beginning of all this). If it doesn't try to extend, turn off the truck and start it again to reset the actuator. Now turn the idle actuator screw in until it contacts the actuator (if it hasn't). The idle control should adjust the actuator so the engine maintains about 850rpm. Turn the set screw so there is about 3/16 to 1/4" of threads showing and it is contacting the idle actuator.
6) Hopefully that all worked. If it has, you have set the carb the best way I have figured out on my own. If the carb still has problems idling, you may try turning the set screw so more threads are showing to allow the actuator more throttle control.

As for other carbs, if you wanted to eliminate all the emissions stuff, I would put a Holley 350cfm 2 barrel on it. It will need a spacer to adapt to the manifold on the 2.0. Summit or Jegs has these at a decent price remanufactured.

Your not going to see any big power increases without going internal on the engine. For cheap and easy increases, I advanced my timing and flipped the air cleaner lid over. The engine makes a noticeable growl with more airflow and it helps on the lowend. The next things I would do would be a free flowing exhaust (keep the pipe size about 2" though, you don't want to kill the lowend torque on this little engine) and an aftermarket carb like the holley. If you get daring, get a cam and lifter kit.

I have the original 2.0 in my truck and its still kicking, but I got tired of loaded school buses being faster than me, so I pulled a turbo 2.3L to swap.

Hope this helps, I'm sure its confusing, let me know if you need more help.

 

That's what I was looking for. It's a little confusing to read initially but not too bad to follow. I read over it again and I think I'm good to go, seems pretty simple. I'll try it out tomorrow morning to see where I get with it. I don't have much for tools, but I do have a 90 degree philips screwdriver to use, yay.

I'll try your tuning method out and see where I get. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I don't have a method of measuring engine rpm. Will that affect my ability to set the idle? I assume I could just guess. Most cars are set around 850rpm, so it should be a "normal" sounding idle.

 

If you have a good ear, you can get by. But I can't stress enough how important a tach is. If I had three things in my toolbox it would be a 1/2"- 9/16" combination wrench, a hammer and a tach. Make me happy and at least get a used one off of ebay. I honestly tell everyone that should be their first performance upgrade if they don't have one.

Something that I forgot to mention about my carb was that a few months ago I tore it down, cleaned everything and found that the brass transfer tube from the accelerator pump to the verturi wasn't hollow. I don't know if this is intentional by Ford or not. But I drilled the tube open and it did pep up the truck a little. If you ever tear it apart, let me know if yours is the same. I don't recommend clearing the tube the full inner diameter though, it seems to be a tad rough when stomping the throttle.

Good luck

 

Ok, I took a look at it this morning. I was hoping for a quick adjustment, but there's a little more to it. I've got a Haynes manual that goes over the adjustments to some extent. I didn't have a lot of time this morning to do anything with it, so I'm waiting till Friday to get cracking on it. I thinking of taking the carb off and hosing it down with some carb cleaner too.

Does anyone know where I can get a good set of schematics for it, where all the adjustments are, where all the vacuum hoses go, etc... Otherwise, I'll have to get out my tape and a pen, lol. I'd love to see an exploded view of the carb. I'm probably asking too much. The Haynes manual doesn't show a lot.

 

You talk about using a Holley carb. Is it the 2300 model? I did a quick look on Jegs and Summit, and I'm not really sure what to search for to find the spacer to addapt to the manafold you're talking about. Would my stock air filter assembly go right over the new carb? I'm just looking at options. So far, I can find nothing about the stock Aisan carb used on my engine. I'd like to see some schematics and exploded views of the carb to see how everything's put together. There's a 390cmf 4 barrel too. I guess that one doesn't fit my little engine.

 

Maybe the stock would be in a 88 but if it had the 2.0 my 85 has got u can get rid of the hoses because someone did it and it runs like a champ. It looks like they clamped off a pipe on the left of the engine and removed all the vaccum hoses and filter and what not. They taped off the lil EGR or whatever the ufo lookin piece is and it runs great believe it or not!! Just idles high to low and smokes a lil but it sat for sometime and Im missing some screws on the throttle body toward the firewall and believe that I need a new ones really One of the screw seems to set the idle and the other moves some flapper piece but have yet to find one that fits. On the 2.0 carb I put a universal small inline filter but pushed it to high up and had to lower and re clamp it as it bumped up against the lil toggle on the front and made the ranger rev hard when started and it idles great then revs and smokes. I installed a small air cleaner and cleaned the carb good and it runs like a big truck now along with new oil filter and oil change new starter new battery cables and new solenoid and if ranger anger got the same 2.0 as me then its a 1bbl universal carb from what i have found they also have carb kits available online just google it and im hunting down a new throttle body or an eploded view of one if anyone wants to send me one that would kick a$$. Im doing floor pans in it now and a lil body work before starting in on my engine any further but its a hard running great lil project truck im loving this ford which is new for me really.

 

I think the electric choke isn't actually computerized but basically just heats the choke coil when the engine starts to shut the choke off (open the baffle and move the high cold idle cam) you could just replace all that with a manual choke but i personally like the auto choke thing if you can get it working well.

it also (assuming the other tune up ideas make no improvement) sounds like the accelerator pump make be bad. if they sit it seems they harden up.

take all that with a grain of salt, i'm no master mechanic but just my thinking or 2 cents...

i came across this sight and it seems to be a good resource for carbs.
http://www.bob2000.com/carb.htm

 

If you are good with mechanics and leverage theories. You can remove a lot of the vacuum lines on the aisan 2 barrel I did mine and did some jet work and other things to it. Now it'll out do the 2bbl volleys and it only cost me about 40 bucks

 

But you do have to by pass the egr remove the vent tube from your exhaust manifold and plug the hole take the get off and cap off the vacuum lines running to it. All you need is a steel plate big enough to cover where the egr was and some gasket material. And drill out your bolt holes in the plate. Also if you convert your carb over to manual from vacuum take that Damn automatic idle control off just in book it and unbolt.

 

Old thread.... FordAnger's last activity on the forum was 13 years ago! BTW, welcome to the forum.

 

Whoops and thanks