i want to convert my 2004 ranger into a hybride, or bio gas, or ethonal, witch is more compatable?

 

Hybrid is gonna cost a bit. Might be cheaper to buy a hybrid Escape.

Maybe check and see if you got a flex fuel engine, you can run E85 I think. As for bio fuel, I think that's only for diesels. I haven't read or heard anything about bio fuel for gas pots.

 

Yeah, the price makes it not worth it really. If you want a hybrid, sell your Ranger and go buy one. Converting would be inefficient and practically impossible.

And yes, biodiesel is only for diesel vehicles...hence the name.

If you have the flex fuel, you can run E85, which is cheaper in most parts of the country, but hard to find and is a hit on MPG from what I hear.

 

i was thinking about scowering a junk yard for a wrecked hybrid escape and scavange the componets from it mainly one with a undamaged battery pack

 

I wouldn't spend the thousands of dollars is would take to make it a hybrid to only get maybe 3-5 mpg more. BTW if you were to somehow pull off changking it to a hybrid have fun with the DMV and the smog guy when the time comes around. I'm sure you can keep it legal but will will have to endure tons of paperwork and explain what you did to about 10 different people in great detail before you would have it legal.
To tell you the truth, The 4 banger 5-speed ranger gets about the same milege as the Escape with a hybrid 3.0. Also, if you use your A/C or defroster the hybrid will not benefit you because the motor will runs constantly so that the A/C pump will spin which will put you right back at the same milege as stock.
I personally think the hybrids are a waste of money. Like the toyota prius is around $30k, and it only gets about 50 MPG and thats driving like an old man with the A/C off. You can buy a used 1995 geo metro for about $1500 that has 100,000 miles on it and drive the crap out of it on the highway with the A/C on going about 80mph and get 60 MPG. I used to drive a Geo for work and it was a piece of crap but it never broke down and i remember driving it about 400 miles and only used about 7 gallons of gas.

 

what abot milage for e85 if i have the flex fuel engine just looking at my options without buying another car

 

Mileage with the E85 is actually worse according to all the 3.0FFV users I've heard from on here.

 

good to know my manual says to use 87+ oct and stay away from e85

 

What truck did you buy??? I have an 02 XLT 2wd 3.0 with a stick and i get 19-20 around town and 22-25 on the highway. Thats pretty good for a truck. If you made the mistake of getting a Auto trans and or an Edge, There are known for getting worse gas milege. An edge with a 3.0 and an auto and is 2wd only gets around 15-16 around town and 18-19 on the highway. Or in that case of my freinds edge, He cranked the torsion bars up to lift it about 2 inches in the front and put on 32 11.50 bfgs and he now only gets 14-15 city and 15-16 highway. Plus it rides and handles like crap. He always wants to go everywhere in my truck cause it rides like a car and gets good gas milege.

 

Yeah, this thread has been tossed around here many times. Our vehicles, as modern as they are, are designed to run on 87 octane regular unleaded gasoline, not super, not premium, not E85.
Not bashing you on this, it's just one of those big things I have collected over time from the geniuses on this bored.

 

Yep.

If you have a fully ethanol ready engine, that's one thing. Well, that's the best I could phrase it.

The FFV is a compromise. You really can not have an engine that's made to run on 2 different fuels and not expect to have downside to it somewhere. Like the vastly lower fuel mileage in the FFV 3.slow's case.

I guess I got a gem for a 2.3L truck. I would not mind a Diesel 7.3L CC truck, but I lose 10 mpg or so and pay for diesel. A diesel Ranger would be fine, but if it's an 80s model, I get just as good mileage, but parts are waaaay easier to find. A newer diesel Ranger--in theory? I like not having a payment and still having similar mileage, thank you.

 

Yeah that's the "hidden" beauty of the 2.3L. It doesn't matter what breaks, or how badly, somewhere there will be a the replacement part or a fix for it. It's support network is gigantic.

 

You cant have a 3.0L FFV if you have a 2004....that wasnt an option in 2004. As far as a hybrid goes.....it only gets good fuel mileage in town and basically at speeds lower than 25 mph which is the maximum speed that the electric engine alone will atain. The hybrid escape is not a 3.0L Duratec motor but a 2.3L Atkinson cycle engine which is basically a 5 stroke combustion cycle. The 330V battery pack is very heavy and many safety measures are built into the escape to make it safe such as a battery power kill in the event of an accident. The 750KW motor that they use to push the Escape is hooked to a CVT transmission to make the most of its power. In short....there is no way you can convert a Ranger to a Hybrid without some serious coin. But what do I know...I was only a Ford salesman certified on the Hybrid Escape which is produced right here in K.C. MO at the Claycomo plant.

 

Level2 acts like we said he didn't know anything.
As wonderful as all that stuff was, a simpel sentence of "not possible without LOTS of money" would have worked just fine and we could have skipped the "oh I know what I am talking about and I am the smart one here even though you guys never said I wasn't" crap.


Edited by the moderator.

 

I believe your harsh paraphrasing of Level2's post last sentence is not warranted. He made a very informative, knowledgeable statement directly on subject followed by a sentence that outlined the source of his knowledge. If you choose to read some slight into the way he said it, that's OK, but I can see no reason to take offense or to go to attack mode.
Dono