1986 TURBO DIESEL FORD RANGER 36/46 MPG

I remember David85 and someone else talking about these little things. That mileage can't be right...LOL Kinda cool actually. It is even a 5spd...LOL

 

That things pretty dope, id rather have a 4bt ranger though

 

i have actually seen one in the iron, pretty cool little thing

 

That mileage isn't likely too far off. My dad had an '84? Ranger diesel for a few years, with a 4speed in it he was mid 30's. Adding a turbo should bump you up some more. I don't know if you'd hit 46, but I'd wonder about 40.....

 

I think the earlier Diesel Rangers had 2.2L Perkins Diesels in them... started in 84? 83 maybe?

 

Cool little truck. If it were closer I might actually think about it.

 

That would be awesome to throw in a newer ford ranger, like my 99. It would just look cool lol.

 

If you are handy, don't need 4x4, don't care about impressing everyone, want to get great mileage and burn some alternative fuels this is the rig for you. I would offer $2000 and see what he says.

Thad

 

The fuel mileage isn't very far off (he probably just cut and pasted the EPA numbers for that year). Especially for a small, 2wd ranger from the mid 80s with stock tires.

Seriously, look at stance of that little thing. If you drive with a light foot and keep your speed at 55 MPH, you will get at least 35 MPG. Think about it, my truck almost gets 25 MPG under those conditions and it has twice the weight, twice the frontal area, twice the cylinders (ok, that last one is meaningless), twice the length, etc.

Those engines are nice, but are not bullet proof. As long as you are careful with boost, cooling, timing belts (yes, this is an interference rubber band engine), and don't ever ether the poor thing, it will rack up a surprising number of miles while getting great fuel economy. Tappets also need to be adjusted periodically. This engine has a slider cam but a roller cam can be swapped in from the later version 4D56 engine (this ranger has the 4D55-T).

My biggest gripe with it is like most japanese engines from the early 80s, there's a LOT of external plumbing and related brackets for vacuum, boost, coolant and oil lines. All are potential sources for leaks and you need small hands to get to everything. Its not a simple engine by any stretch especially when compared to a bone stock 6.9 of the same era.

However, it has a 3 second glow plug system (shoot me for junking it and not knowing any better!), and is still at the end of the day an all mechanical IDI diesel that gets great fuel economy. Our ranger drives ok by itself, but it has taller tires, taller springs, extra cab, 4wd, high rise canopy with carrying rack and has to work a lot harder for the same distance then that little thing there. Believe it or not, you could actually lay some rubber even with a stock setup in ours. I would think that little thing could move well enough to run out of speedometer. Wonder if it has the factory tach......I'm still trying to get my hands on one.....

 

my buddy has two of them and a spare engine. his are 83's and have the 2.2 perkins. He put a mazda 5 speed in the one. Theyre pretty sweet.