I have a question. I have a 1988 Ford ranger with a 2.3L four in it. I have just rebuilt it and have a k&n and flowmaster exhuast on it. It has 500 miles on the motor. it has just got broken in and when i drive it on the highway it will only go 70 in 4th gear, then when i shift to 5th it doesnt gian, it did this with the old motor so i did everything i could think of to get power. The old motor had blown rings and burnign oil with no compression. the new motor acts exactly the same way, no improvment. I have tried everything, everything ont he motor is new except the computer and ariconditioner. could the airconditioner not be working correctly and holding back power? my brother owns a ford f150 with a 351 wiht k&n and flowmaster, and a 2.3L ranger long box extended cab pulled away from him on a off ramp. I just wonder why mine cant even do 75 on the highway. any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to FTE!!!

It might be due to the rear gearing, what gear do you have?

 

im pretty sure its a 3.73, first goes to 15, 2nd to 30

 

Are you sure you don't have a restriction in the exhaust or intake, is the fuel pressure OK.

 

it has twin tanks and i just got new fuel pumps for each tank, and the regulator for both the tanks was reading at 37 psi. I got a new exhuast and boiled out the intake manifold and exhuast manifold. It had all new filters and injectors put in. i have no catalytic converter and it is pretty much straight piped except for the muffler

 

Anyone have some more ideas, I'm not familar with the 4 bangers.

 

I might be reading something into what you first said but how fast should the 2.3L go with the a/c on? Have you tried the top speed test with the a/c shut off? I might be way off base but a/c & 4cyls. don't match very well.

 

I dont run with the air conditioner on, but i heard some people say that something in the air conditioner may be brocken and ristricting power, it doesnt work anywayz, i have re filled it before, so i might as well just take the belt off to it. i dont expect it to be a speed demon, but i do want to be able to cruise at 75, since i live in idaho, that is the speed limit.

 

Is the fan clutch frozen up, that could take some power away.

 

If the 2.3L is anything like my 2.0L, you don't have much power to spare. Some good points have been brought up, AC and fan clutch. With my 2.0L, I would have a hard time doing 75mph on flat ground. If there's a wind against me, I don't have a chance, 65mph floored is hard to atain with wind. I think it'll top out at around 80mph on flat ground with no wind. Hills are tough too. These trucks are not aerodynamic, lol, pushing a square block down the road at 75mph. Yeah, 5th gear is of little use, doesn't seem to help with gas milage either. You should be able to do 70mph in 5th if there's no wind. 4th should get you there most of the time otherwise. 4th won't help you though if you've got a bit of wind against you. You may hit 55mph pegged on bad days. Then you might want to think about 3rd gear, lol.

 

I've owned a Ranger from the same 'year grouping' as yours and I have two potential suggestions for you - especially if you reinstalled some things as close to 'specs' as you could . . . First, when you rebuilt did you replace all of your vacuum hoses? Any type of vacuum leak in my old beater used to make it into a real dog. Second, (presuming we are talking about the EFI fuel system) about that time Ford was using a final fuel feed line (from the high speed fuel pump to the engine) that had a small final fuel filter or possibly a check valve built into it (never did find out which). Problem on mine was it failed or plugged. I put a new one in (same type at about $90.00 from a dealer). Worked great for about six weeks and I had the same problem again. Disconnecting the line from the engine and trying to start it got 'dribbles' of fuel through the line. Disconnecting the line from the High Speed pump and attaching a braided high pressure fuel line, and the HS pump blew fuel from one end of the garage to the other. I finally used the braided hose and double clamped at each end - never had a problem again and would run 100 without missing a beat if I wanted it.

 

i have had all the vacuum hoses replaced and they all had good pressure. i have replaced the filters also but i have not replaced the line. i might try that, thx for the input. when i first but the motor back in, i brought it to a true mechanic to just check everything over, so i think he checked the fan clutch, but i will check anyways. also, did you just use normal steel braided hose found at homedepot? thanks for the input

 

i forgot something else that just happened to it. it ran fine, but still low on power, for about 500 miles. i was filling it up at the gas station, and when i got done i switched tanks over to the rear tank. now it wont rev above 2500 in gear. it revs fine out of gear. ive heard something may be clogging the fuel lines, but im not sure. would running some injector cleaner fix the problem?

 

If you suspect a clooged fuel line run a volume check, if you need the specifiction I can try to look it up for you.

 

When I replaced that bad piece of fuel line in my truck I used the High Pressure braided fuel line (there are two types available). The High Pressure type is rated for EFI systems, whereas the older is rated for lower pressure and may fail - your parts store should know the difference.

Before 'replacing' the fuel lines, a good flow test is an excellent idea . . . beyond that, before replacing them I would try blowing them out with a compressor first (it's cheaper) - hold a clean rag over the ends of the lines as you blow them so you can see if there was anything in them. My only other thought goes back to your AC system - have you by-passed it yet?

If it's compressor is shot and it's 50+% dragging it 'can' be robbing you of power just keeping it turning. Another thought is a weak spark - caused by a failing coil . . . enough to keep things running and working but unable to keep up at higher demands - like a ground short, a small glitch in the coil can be a power stealer . . . the more demand, the more heat, the more heat the more the short or glitch opens and the more power it takes to jump it . . . a vicious cycle with either a failing coil or a simple ground short. (also more of a pain to identify).