An aftermarket intake may be helpfull if you have baffles in the air tube has some have sugested on the 2.3, or you could remove them if thier removable. you don't want any obstructions in the air track. The baffles are used to quiet the system I would assume, so it may whistle or give you that voroom sound when removed like an aftermarket intake. The thing that will help most from what your describing, is a set of gears, they will get more torque to the wheels against hills and for excelleration. If you have 3:73's, then move up to 4:10's, if you have 4:10's, then move up to 4:30's or 4:56's. This will do more than any bolt on part other than maybe a turbo. Also use synthetic fluids in the engine, tranny and rear diff. It helps reduce heat and friction which can translate into a tad more power, if nothing else, it will help you reach 300,000 mile mark. Also under drive pulley's and electric fans are popular upgrades on the 4 cylinder, may help improve mpg as well. So this where were at-
1) gears
2) open air tube
3) straight through muffler
4) synthetic fluids
5) udp
6) e-fan
7) tune up, clean oil and properly inflated tires
These sugestions should help, but it still won't be no v8, I'm sure others will have some sugestions as well.

 

thank you very much, wendell. im going to look into three of those suggestions ( gears, open air tube and the straight through muffler) Like i said i did a partial tune up so i will finish that and i will try the synthetic fluids next oil change
I do try to stay ontop of my tires and the inflation.
once that bit is completed ill work on the udp and the electric fans ( when summer is here and i can play in the yard some without freezing my butt off )

 

on re gearing keep this in mind. the taller the gear the lower the top end. essentially this means if your truck tops out at say 85 mph and wont go no faster with 3.73 gears and you go with 4.10 it wont run 85 any more it may only get up to 80 but you will get there at a faster rate. also the taller the gear the more fuel you burn when just cruising (hills, traffic, and city aside this is just constant speed over a constant distance) this is becaust with stock gears lets say you cruise at 2,500 rpms and with the taller gear you now cruise at 2750. your going to loose fuel milage. as the gear gets taller the more milage is effected. also when you re-gear get your speedo recalibrated as it will not be accurate. i would not go with anything higher than 4.10 with stock tires. just to give you an idea of what a 4.30 does.. i have a car with a 3 speed and 3rd gears is a 1.00 ratio meaning its like 4rth gear in a 5 speed its a 1:1 or straight thru, and with stock tires of 205.60.r14 it turns 3800 rpms @ 55mph and its a built up v8 and gets 6mpg. i doubt your 4cyl would drop to single digits but you wont see 20+ mpg anymore.

 

Another common power enhancement is to raise the compression ratio of the engine. For some reason this is rarely suggested, probably due to the fear of detonation (pinging) problems. But it is still something to be considered, and you will feel this change on your butt dyno.

Raising the ratio will enhance torque, and this is what you want to get you up the hills. Personally, I wouldn't be afraid to raise the ratio at least one point. Some of the newer engines are running in the 10.5 range, and maybe some higher.

This is accomplished by removing the cylinder head, and milling off some of the surface where it contacts the engine block. This will cause a small change in cam timing(retarding), but I don't think it will have that much affect, especially if you keep the cut to a minimum. I would probably use an adjustable cam gear anyway. For torque enhancement, the cam needs to be advanced slightly. It is just something to think about.

The ultimate is turbo charging. I can accelerate up a steep grade in 5th gear with the torque forcing me back into the seat, and this is with stock settings. jd

 

Great post so far. I have found that with smaller engines straight through mufflers realy seem to kill the low end torque. I have found chambered/turbo style mufflers don't cause such a drop off in low end, actually seem to help a little. Also I woldn't run a pipe larger than 2.25" on that motor, because it will slow the exhaust and cancel any gain you might see. I know Summit racing sells some fully welded turbo mufflers that hold up quite well. The Thrush turbos seem to blow out at the seams quickly. I have a 3.0, but I put on a turbo muffler then a glasspack and then went back to the turbo because it pulled a lot better up the hill to my house. It's a 1/2 mile of fairly steep incline that I run at 55 mph. I have several frinds with 2.5 liters that I have played with. They do seem quicker with the intake resonator removed and a turbo muffler setup. Even if they don't get faster they sound nicer, which might make you think it's faster. Either way I bet you notice a difference in the seat of the pants dyno.

 

I have sugested raising compression in the past, but it doesn't come up alot because it gets more involving than bolt ons. I have 4:10's and my truck will run 90 mph or whatever it is that the speed limiter kicks in, I also get over 20 mpg. 4:10's isn't that bad of gear, it comes allmost standard in rangers these days. Dart7383 your right, some mufflers and to large of pipes can cause loose of lowend torque. The 4 cylinder guy's haven't mentioned it, so it must not be that big of factor on the 2.3, or thier just not telling us ha ha.

 

Good post dart.


CMOS

 

Jim, how HAVE you been?
I'll agree that increasing the compression ratio will probably benefit in this instance. There is another way to do it though. By switching to hi compression pistons, or even longer rods/matched pistons you can not only raise the compression ratio about as much as you want without affecting cam timing, you can also get rid of the weak point in this engine, the cheap and "crack-prone" pistons. Just food for thought.

Oh and Wendell, yes the truck in my signature is mine, feel free to hit the link to my cardomain site if you like! It was my first truck, now it's my restoration project. No 5.0l swap in the future, but I am holding out for a complete 2.3l turbo doner vehichle, preferably the 185 hp Merkur, I want to keep the stock trans.

 

Good idea Smitty!!!

If you go this route, you can also change the crank to "stroke" it to pick up a little more displacement........The longer stroke will definately help low end torque!!!!

 

It could be done this way, but it is more costly plus flat top pistons are much more efficient, no flame front interference.

Just changing to a longer rod will not effect the compression ratio unless there is a change to a higher compression piston.

Stroking an engine does not always produce a power increase results without other changes. shady

 

If you read my post Jim, I said torque.

 

Jim, you missed part of Smitty's post:

"or even longer rods/matched pistons you can not only raise the compression ratio....."

Please don't start your argumentative BS again!!!!

 

actually jim, i have to side with bob (hey bob). The more displacment you have, the better you lowend torque is. Now if you want horses and worse fuel mileage, then your right, increase compresion ratio also.

Also, why do muffelers cost so much? I bought a $20 glass-pack, and it works just as good, if not better than the delta 40.

 

Because 20.00$ glass packs only last 6 months, either they rust out or the glass packing gets broken up and it's like having no muffler at all.

 

I'm not going to continue hijacking this thread, we'll just end up starting a brawl, and there is no resolution to this argument. I don't agree with your statement, but gee, it almost seems like you don't agree with mine either, what a shocker! However, I say again, I've missed sparring with you, and if you want to get into this I'd love to, just not in someone elses thread, we'll do it via PM's or in a dedicated thread, end of story.

Back to the topic of this thread, I've actually always liked glasspacks Wendell, but to be honest most exhaust systems I build end up coming off long before they rust out, it's one of my favorite things to play with.