'88 Ranger outfitted with a Kubota diesel...

Ford : Ranger Ford : Ranger | eBay

 

Wow, the dude used a small Bobcat engine. Wished he would have said what tranny he has, I'm guessing a ZF5 or similar.

Josh

PS: I hate you Montana, I'm really trying to convince myself to keep the gasser 2.9, this ain't helping

 

Lol, i'd be interested to see what diesel you decide to go with when/if you do the swap.

 

At the bottom, in the Q&A section, he states it is the factory '88 5 speed trans, as it "is heavier duty" than the earlier trans......
Would be nice to know if any type of trans adapter was needed, or if the engine mated up easily.

 

that engine should have had a SAE#3 bell housing on it !

 

Just checked that out... The seller states he used the stock 88 trans! Say what? I would assume that would be the turd Mitsu FM series trans?

Interesting, but with a detachable bell-housing it might be fairly easy to adapt versus an M5OD or ZF...

Josh

 

From the reply given, it sounds like he is referring to an M5OD:
I can't say I agree with the "very heavy duty" statement though.....
It would be interesting to see photos to confirm which trans, and whether any type of adapter plate was needed.
I'd kinda like to have a few more options for when the 2.3L in my 95 bites the dust. Diesel would be my primary interest for a swap.

 

I had to look up at Ranger Station, the M5OD debut for the 2wd trucks in 88, otherwise it was 91/92 for the 4X4 trucks.

I am curious about the "off-brand" diesels, like this Kubota, or a Deutz or even a little D50/MityMax 4D55 4 banger.

Otherwise there is the popular Cummins 4BT, or my personal choice the Isuzu 4BD. I have a lot of wrenching experience with the Isuzu. Tough little engine.

The part I realy do not like is in aquiring the engines. Especially the Cummins/Isuzu. Either you fork out big bucks for a reman or try and buy an entire delivery truck at cheap auction prices and hope to scrap it out or resell it after yanking the engine.

As much as I have done crap like that before, I am not really up to scrapping an entire delivery truck...

The junkyard near me as one of those little Mitsubishi diesels (2.3L?), looks halfway decent too. Anyone know any history of those engines?

Josh

 

They were used in the '85-'87 diesel Rangers, the following is taken from the Mazda 2.2L board....

A little 4d55 info:


The Mitsubishi 4d55 is a very reliable and well built engine. Parts are very easy to find because they are still in production overseas in everything from mechanical injection to common rail injection. Most all part can still be had from the Mitsubishi dealer. The 4d55 has been in production for over 30 years and it's still going stong in a stroked version called 4d56. From the factory it makes 13psi of boost 86hp and 134ft lbs of torque. But it's not uncommon for owners to push 25psi and 115hp and 200 ft lbs of torque with a few mods.

I do understand that many feel it is unreliable because it has a timing belt and an aluminum head. But having an aluminum head does not mean it's going to fail. Mitsubishi did there home work and used 18 head bolts to secure the head which is complete overkill. The head issues were resolved when Mitsubishi made improvements to the head back in 1984. Also be aware, that head failure is always mechanic, or driver error. Never ever lug the Mitsubishi 2.3 engine while driving up hill. Always keep the rpm's over 3K and wind out the motor. Timing belts never fail if they are changed out every 50K miles it's just that simple.

There were 13 different diesels offered in compact pickups during the 80's and the 4d55 was the best of the bunch. It produced solid proformance, excellent economy, and great reliability. Others turbocharged engines like the Renalt JS8, Isuzu 223T, and Toyota 2LT offered similar performance but they all convetered from non turbo engines. Because of this these engines were not capable of handling the added boost. For example the 223T had serious rod issues even in stock form and the 2LT was plauged with head issues.

The 4d55 was designed to be an turbocharged engine as well as be a marine and industrial engine. It can run at high rpm's for days on end. Some cool fetures include, instant glowplugs, water fuel seperator, sleeved cylinders, watercooled injection pump, oil cooled pistons, 3 chromolly rings per cylinder, oil cooler, and bosch injection system.

It's a great little motor, crate motors are still available from Perez Wholesale. Another cool thing about the 4D55 is it is compatible with the stroked 4d56 engine.

I hope this helps those who want to know more about these little motors. I have had many different diesel from the 80's including the 4.135 perkins and the 4d55 is the best all around motor. And by the way I liked my 2.2 perkins but it was way underpowered,esspecially sice I live at 5000ft and there really weren't any ways to safely make more power.

 

Wow, I didn't realize that was the engine that replaced the Ranger Perkins...

Ok, I really hate you Montana . That junkyard Mity-Max is looking even more tempting... Now to convince the wife why I really need to splurge some cash on a diesel

Josh

 

Yea, it sure was, it offered about 50% more power than the non-turbo Perkins diesel Ford used in '83-'84

....it's a hard sell but you can always try the "diesel will pay for itself in fuel savings" argument.

 

My personal experience with Kubota motors has been all great. I have owned two 1990's B20 backhoes. One I bought was from a rental place. You know that must have seen some abuse and still ran great everyday untill i sold it. I currently own two B26 backhoes and motors have performed flawlessly. Also own one Kx121-3 also a great motor. I think they are bullet proof. You can't kill them.

 

Thanks, that's why I am inclined towards the Isuzu 4BD. My previous company had 10 Sakai SV70 compactors with that engine. Bomb proof and what impressed me the most was we used the compactors to block trailers, storage units for security. Many many times the machines would sit for a couple weeks in 0 degree or less temps and ALWAYS fire up first crank. No other machine we owned even came close to that, Deere, Cat or Ford Powerstroke.

Josh

 

Are those Isuzu diesels indirect injection or direct injection?

 

The 1st gen 4BD-1 was direct, the 2nd gen 4BD-2 (mid 90s) was indirect

I am only familiar with the 1st Gen.

I'm not sure when I can make it back over to that yard that has the Mitsubishi diesel. It's also the kind of yard that doesn't keep inventory so a phone call to see if they still have it would be for naught. It's a salvage yard I only visit once in a blue moon.

But this reminds me I should pay more attention to import section of my favorite salvage yard. If they had something it would only be $149 + core. Now if they would start accepting Isuzu NPR box trucks I would be set!

Josh