Do any of the members here have an '83-'84 diesel ranger with the Perkins 2.2L diesel?

 

Do you have an eye on one? I was briefly looking for one before I snagged my 87 4X4 Ranger with the 2.9... doesn't seem to be too many out there.

Now I ponder swapping in a Cummins 4BT or Isuzu 4BD...

Josh

 

had a trencher with one in it !

 

I've owned one for 14 years, an '83 Ranger with the Perkins 2.2L diesel (made for Mazda), it's been a great little truck, extremely dependable, way under powered though, but great mileage at 35mpg around town and upwards of 40mpg on the interstate, top speed is only 65-70mph (with a stiff tail wind).

The 2.2L Perkins is better suited for industrial or agricultural use and really has no place in a truck to be honest, but this engine is bullet proof and virtually trouble free (no timing belt or chain, but timing gears), except for glow plugs it hasn't required any engine work whatsoever other than routine maintenance every 3K miles (Rotella 15w40 and Wix filters) and it's approaching 350,000 miles.

Ford only used the Perkins diesel in '83-'84 than switched to the 2.3L Mitsubishi turbo diesel for '85-'87 and discontinued the diesel Ranger after that, parts can be a real pain to source and that brings me back to the original reason for this thread, i'm looking for the glow plug module (timer) if anyone has one, i currently have a manual switch wired up to heat the plugs, and it works just fine, but i would like to revert back to the factory setup if i can source a gp module, fyi the Mazda b2200 shares the same diesel/gp system.

 

Just throwing this out there, but what about converting a 6.9/7.3 IDI controller?

Josh

 

You cant convert that engine using a 6.9l Controller, the GP controller is too big, and its meant for 8 cylinders not 4. Montana_Highboy, where are you located?

 

Where is the proof that it doesn't? The controller doesn't know and doesn't care how many glow plugs there are. That is why many of the IDI guys are running around with 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 working plugs with the others burned out.

The circuit is wired parallel...

http://www.intellidog.com/dieselmann/glow2.jpg

I see no reason why it wouldn't work, unless you care to show me why it won't?

Josh

 

another place to look would be 1 from a Isuzu NPR cab over truck , the older ones had the 3.9 4 cyl diesels !

 

Have you checked out Ranger Station yet?
The Ranger Station - Your Ultimate Ranger Resource

I asked that in the IDI forum last year (there's a few diesel Ranger owners down there), i was told it wouldn't work, but wasn't given an explanation as to why it wouldn't work, electrical work isn't my forte so i just wired up a momentary switch to heat the gp's, my gp module has a dozen wires going to it (literally), and i can't find a wiring schematic for it, and i didn't want to fry anything by attempting to use an IDI controller, i was hoping for a simple plug-n-play procedure if a can source my correct gp module, i got lax in my ebay searches and missed one by a week , it was used and went for $25 but i would have taken my chances on it.

I'm up northwest of you in the Kootenai valley, the Libby/Troy area, i lived down in Missoula in the late 90's, it's where i bought my diesel.

I'll look into that as well, thanks.


This is what it looks like, part #E3TZ12B533A it's located inside the cab, behind the passanger side kick panel.

 

Rangers were also available with Mazda & Mitsubishi diesels.

 

Perkins 2.2 AKA Mazda Diesel.

Josh

 

Yep, I haven't registered or posted, but have been lurking over there for a month or so.

A lot of tech articles which is awesome!

The main issue with using the IDI controller that I can think of is the compatibility of the Perkins glow plugs to the original IDI ZD9 glow plugs. Like, possibly running the plugs for too long.

But, the Perkins was installed is damn near everything, from the Ford and Mazda to generators, welders, skid steers, boats etc.

But, having 4 plugs versus 8 shouldn't matter based on the schematic.

Josh

 

The IDI controller is designed for powering 8 GP's. When the controller senses a lower load (like with just 4 GP's) it shortens the burn time, to prevent burning out more GP's.
Getting an IDI started in cold weather with 2-4 GP's dead, can be rather difficult.

The manual push button is a rather common mod for the IDI guys, as the stock GP controllers are known for having "issues".

The fact that the perkins engine was used in many different applications provides some degree of hope for finding a useable alternative, if the stock controller cannot be located.


I also agree, ranger station is an awesome site. I found a writeup on there about "Phantom" wipers, and by using the info I managed to evict my phantom of the wipers, without paying ~$50 for a multi-function switch.......

 

I say it's worth a shot if the controller can be had for dirt cheap. Just a 3 wire hook-up using a relay. Just one more wire to integrate the Glow Plug Light.

But for me, using a push-button toggle would at least give ya something to do while waiting for the plugs to heat up.

Josh

 

Thanks, what you say makes sense, i was told by a few IDI guys the controller wouldn't work, i'm content with the manual gp setup i currently have in place, until i can source a factory replacement, everything else in the gp system is new and functioned well, that is, until the gp module quit, a few years ago i replaced the gp's, both gp relays and gp wiring harness, it's just the gp controller itself that i need to return the system to factory original.