Making big HP with the 2.3L. It can be done!
 

I have not ben on here much I spend a lot of time at the RPS ford ranger forums.

I just wanted to let you all know how much I like these 2.3L's they are one of the best built motors out there in my mined.

I have a 98 ranger had the 2.5L in I took the motor out took the crank and pistons rods out got a 2.3L crank from a 97 ranger put the 2.3l turbo pistons in with turbo rods they are the same as the stock 2.3L rods.

42lb injectors, 90mm MAF, stinger turbo header, 38mm external waste gate, h1c holset turbo, 3" exhaust, I have it tuned with SCT's pro racer pack wich makes so I can do all my own tuning.

I started with the auto tranny. It held up for 200ft on the road 1st drive. So I bought a 5spd out of a 97ranger that had the 2.3L in, I put that in with the stock clutch the clutch helt good to 8psi of boost then it would let go. So I ordered the stage 4 spec clutch it now holds up fine, I am currently running 20 psi of boost, I have it equipped with the front mount intercooler that makes 20 psi safe.

The stock head gasket holds fine. The motor is the same as a stock 2.3L all except for the pistons. I dynoed it a few weeks ago and made 278RWHP @ 5300 rpms and 300ft lbs of tq.

If any of you ever want more power a turbo is the answer. It could have been done a lot cheaper. 1st time mistakes cost $$.

Here are some vids I made of it 3 days ago when the weather was still nice.

copy and past these to your adress bar. with the http:// in front of it it will work.

prodieselsledpulling.com/Ranger%20vids/Turbo%20ranger%20road%20run.wmv

prodieselsledpulling.com/Ranger%20vids/Turbo%20ranger%20burnout.wmv
Pic of truck
http://prodieselsledpulling.com/Rang...ids/ranger.JPG

Dude.....I mean DUDE......That is CRAZY....lol.......

I have a 1993 2.3l and I just passed my first car yesterday. I usually get beat off the line by a bicycle, although I generally take the kid on the skateboard.

Amazing what you did with the dinky donkey engine...ROCK ON !!!!!

These engines have a lot of potential to be worked on. I'm looking to get a turbo'd 2.3 out of an old t bird to put into my 91. We had an 88 turbo'd t bird with that engine, and man it would FLY.

I did a lot of inquiring and searching over the last 3 years. from what I have seen these motors will hold together well up to 400-450 HP with stock internals. All you need is the turbo pistons.

yea alot of poential to be worked on my 88 ranger 2.5 was a every weekend deal with me putting parts on the thing to make it run one more week. and to have a bed behind that cab was no less than one of ford weaker ideas , it had the power of a vw bug. its unreal that you get that power out of that engine without wearing the rods for earrings. I have owned many 2.5s without any luck with them. great to see someone has the know how to make them puppys humm.. The truck is sharp looking. looks great. a high 5 to ya

I think you mean the 2.3 there 78frd4evr. The 2.5 was only used for a couple years in the 90's. But I get what you mean:).

yeppers 2.3 pinto motor

way to go powerdog. if i may ask, what trim turbo are you using and when does the boost come on. i have a svo mustang and am wanting to move to a t3/t4 hybrid, but am interested in what you have. keep up the good work with that ranger!

I am not sure on the trim. It is the H1C holset with the 18cm exhaust housing. The boost comes in around 3k.

I'm interested in those injectors and the MAF. Where'd you get those from? Turbo is a little extreme for me, but injectors and a MAF are definitely do-able.


If I'm reading correctly, it seems that the H1C Holser is used in 88-02 Dodge Cummins motors. Maybe a boneyard dive would prove useful.

can you list where you got all these things? im having a hard time finding some things. would my truck benifit at al with the forged pistons, and injectors w/out the turbo, because i cant afford it all at once

Yes, it would be great if u could get a list together where u picked up all those pieces to make this converstion, even with the turbo.

Here is a list.

I got my pistons from ebay they are the std size piston for the turbo coupe. The stock rods are fine up to 97 2.3 all you will need to do is put these pistons in. You can get the rings for em at advance aut seal power rings.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-3-f...spagenameZWDVW


Turbo charger came from a 92 dodge cummins H1C holset.

Intercooler came from a volvo.

intercooler piping kit from ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/UNIVE...28745639QQrdZ1

The exhaust header from ebay stinger header is what it's called.

38mm external waist gait.

90mm MAF 90$ ebay

255 LPH in tank fuel pump. stock replacement 70$ ebay

Stage 4 spec clutch good for 500+ hp 400$ From http://www.nolimitmotorsport.com

custom tuning program from SCT with the Xcal-2. from http://www.sctflash.com/

42lb high impedance injectors. from ebay. Make sure they are high impedance or it will burn up your injector drive.

Re gap the plugs to 30 thous prevent the spark from blowing out

There is a complete turbo kit you can buy from ebay. For 600$ good for 500HP with injectors fuel pump and a large maf with a built motor and custom tuning.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/T3-T4...spagenameZWDVW


I curently have the motor apart to check on the bearings and wear. There is no sign of wear on the bearings it's un real I thought with this much friction they would wear twice as fast. It all looks good. This is after 5000 mi of hard running with 20 PSI of boost.

I am now installing head studs from ARP. A steel head gasket from summit racing. Some 60lb injectors. I am planning on hitting the track this spring with 400+ RWHP. I will dyno in a month or less to see if i have made the mark of 400rwhp According to math it should make it with the 30PSI of boost I will be funning when it is back in the truck with the 60lb injectors.


Stinger Header on Ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-3-L...28304220QQrdZ1

pics of under the hood

http://prodieselsledpulling.com/Rang....3%20turbo.JPG

http://prodieselsledpulling.com/Rang...the%20hood.JPG

http://prodieselsledpulling.com/Rang...d%20filter.JPG

hmm thats a really good price for the kit on ebay no pistons though. if i just put in new injectors, fuel pump, maf, will that be alright? i cant really afford it all at once since im in college =\

How was tuning your ranger? What did u all do and get from SCT? Also what did u use from boost controll?

what rpm's are ya makin the torque at? If your foot stays light can ya still get 20 mpg?
I would love a setup like that but it would be inna 4x4 truck, so I would need torque to come on fairly low.

Very cool powerdog! There is a Mustang with a 2.5 in the December issue of Car Craft,turbo,nitrous, C-4 trans, 9.80's at 135mph!

I get 300 ft lbs of tq at 4300 RPMS.

For boost controll I use a 38 mm external waist gate. With an adjustable boost controller from ebay for 20$

With easy driving I get mid 20's.

Tunning was pretty easy I got the pro racer pac from SCT. I had a local shop run it on the dyno to get it tuned in.

It could have ben done a lot cheaper. All you need is the xcal 2 from sct tell them what you are running for injectors and MAF let them know how much boost you are going to run they can send it with a tune for your truck.

thats seriously rediculous, i didnt think this could be done for so cheap

Did u use a blow off valve at all???

No i did not.

If I go with blow off it may mess up the MAF meter. I will be installing a bypass valve.

Just curious, why did you go back to the 2.3 stroke? Wouldn't the 2.5 given even more power?
Dan

$$$$ I could do the 2.3 a lot cheaper. Yes I could have made 50+ more hp with the 2.5L but I would have gotten 800+ more $$ in the motor.

For you 90mm MAF does it matter what vechile it comes from or can u use any one?

Just as long as it comes from a 95 or later ford car truck or SUV.

You can learn a lot more about turbo rtangers at RPS I am jesshwarren over there. Go to the turo tec in the 2.3L to the 2.5L section.

Sry messed up on the spelling in the above post.

I will have the ranger out of the shop tomarrow.

I installed some new pistons had the block cleaned at a local machine shop. Installed the ARP head studs I am going with a 3 layer steel headgasket 30 psi of boost is going to be a lot of fun! I need this thing to perform as soon as the track opens. I should run low 12's.

Pic below.

http://prodieselsledpulling.com/Rang...s/SUNP0006.JPG

http://prodieselsledpulling.com/Rang...s/SUNP0007.JPG

is that the origanal 2.5 block or a older 2.3? I didn't think the newer ones had the hole for the distributer.

Also are you using the sodium filled stainless valves like the ones in my 87 Turbo coupe? Or the stock twin plug head.

It is the 98 block that looks like a dis hole but it's not, it's the breather hole.

Stock dual port head.

Yea, the dizzy hole would be a little further to the left of the breather hole in the pic...

where did you get the turbo and how much??

Ebay it's a holset H1C from a 92-93 dodge cummins. The earlyer holsets from the 87-91 non intercooled dodge cummins won't spool as quick. I gave 85$ for it.

Here is a list of turbos that work great.

IHI from 87-88 thunderbird turbo 2.3 stock turbo.

T3 from SVO mustang.
The IHI will spool very quick. The t3 is pretty good to but these turbos will not make the power like the turbos listed below.

Below some good turbos that have a little more lag but make a lot more HP.

Holset HX35
Holset HY35
Holset H1C These holset turbos will do very well into the 400HP bracket. I would recomend a performance header such as a stinger header helps a larger turbo spoll quicker.

TTere is a guy in T with an SVO mustang 2.3L turbo he runs 9sec in the 1/4mi makes 700 RWHP I heard he is running a turbo off of a cat diesel motor.

There is also a turbo on ebay sold from SSautocrome it is a t70 supper spool it spools fast and is good for 500hp.

on those 42lb injectors do they have to be specifically for a 2.3L or can they be used from a mustang or focus? and also on the stage 4 clutch i didnt find one for a 2.3L ranger is there another model to use?

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Just as long as they are high impedance injectors. Focus injectors will work to. You will need to tune injectors and maf on a dyno. Finde a local dyno performance shop that is a dealer with sct. You could use 36-60lb injectors just so they are high imp.

if you need a stg 3 or 4 clutch check here http://www.nolimitmotorsport.com/ I used a spec clutch.

A tad off topic but I have a question about injectors.

I have been looking into converting my 99 2.5L Ranger to E85 fuel and am thinking of buying the injectors for the 3.0V6 flex fuel engine. Will they work with my 2.5?

i was also wonderin. i heard you have to take out the heater boxes when installing a turbo is this true?

hmmmmm. Not sure. I'm thinking they will.

i have kinda the same question 2 when u install a turbo do you get to keep the heat and a/c or do they gotta go?

With the stinger header I got to keep heater & AC while being able to run a larger holset turbo with a 3" down pipe.