Greetings
I just did a search to see if this forum has had a thread on converting the Ranger to a diesel and didn't get any hits so I thought I'd ask. Has anybody made this change or know of a source for information or adapters?
Thanks
Ron

 

In the 80's you could get a ranger with a 4 cylinder diesel, it didn't go over real well back then, and from what I hear the diesel was much to be desired. Other than that, I haven't heard anything about a diesel in a ranger as a swap or other wise. Over seas, and in mexico you can currently get a diesel in a ranger, that maybe worth explorering, and see what diesel they use, and soforth.

 

Thanks Wendell
Any tips on where they are currently being assembled, or where I might find a web site would be appreciated. I'm not a complete knothead but this one seems to be stumping me

 

I can't be too much help here, but try ford of mexico, or ford/ south america for a start, I don't know where you would go from there. I have found the foriegn ford sites easy enough, but then what do you do? I don't know. Maybe someone else will jump in, and give us some insite.

 

newr: like wendell said in the early to mid 80's you could buy a diesel ranger new. Once in a while one will show up on ebay motors or you might find one in a junk yard somewhere. If you find one maybe you could convert a newer truck from the old ones parts. I know other countries use diesels more than we do in the states. Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Thialand and others have brand new diesel rangers available. Just not here at home. Not sure what kind of mileage they got on the state side diesels either.

 

I seem to remember it being good, high 20s to low 30s. But it totally sucked for power.

Perhaps you could drop in a turbo diesel from a wrecked car or some sort?

Or cram a Power Stroke in there...that would make a lot of Ranger owners drool. lol.

RP
Zach

 

you could convert a gas Ranger, but finding a light in weight enough engine could be tough, as even the 4cy. cummins weighs over 600#. The factory diesels from the mid 80's were light weight small 4 cyl. with al. heads, low power output. I have heard of people usinf engines from fork lifts and skid loaders, but don't know how much power they make.

 

meh, i would just go all out and put a 7.3 in there, and some super high road gears, you could chip it to burn the tires and still get damn good mileage if it doesnt rattle the truck appart.....

 

Lots and lots and lots of rubber between the aforementioned engine and truck lol.

RP
Zach

 

Are there any European turbo diesels in the 3-4 liter range? Where caould we find a donor vehicle? It's a good idea.

 

Don't know about a doner, I'd look into small cube vans and the like, you can usually buy used diesels from applications like that reasonably.
I actually owned an '84 Ranger Diesel. Two engines were used, '83-'84 they featured a N/A 2.2l Mazda, originally designed for a forklift, they only had seventy some horse, but were built to run something like 30,000 hours! After the underpowered 2.2l, came the Mitsubishi 2.3l Turbo. They were comperable to the 2.8l for HP, and I believe mileage was a little better. I don't think the Diesel Ranger was ever discontinued, except for here in the US. Neat trucks, but finding parts isn't so cool, it's why I no longer have a Ranger Diesel!

 

Ever have a looksee how big a PS is? Good luck with that! If it's a conversion you're looking for, I'd shop Mercedes. The imported a bunch of them, they are super cheap, and all of them are RWD orientated. Not to mention they are reasonably light and will run forever. I've seen the Ranger conversion mentioned above. I believe it's on the Pirate 4X4 board. Dude' using a Cummins 4 cyl. out of a bread van.

 

I was thinking along the lines of a VW 1.6 turbo or a MB 2.4. Then I read about the Perkins 192. Still doing research but I will be doing a swap this summer. Anybody know the approx. weight of a 4.0 v6?

 

If you have big pocket book, you could buy a complete engine from the Diesel Jeep liberty

 

The jeep diesel would be a good choice, but the more I think about this, it;s seems like it will be more trouble than it;s woth, unless it's just something your driven to do, but it doesn;t seem to cost effective to me. If you could find a wrecked crd jeep liberty, there's your engine.