hi i was wondering if anybody can tell me about this 83 ranger 2wd 2.3 motor. i was told it has a newer motor in it has a serpintein belt. they replaced the clutch, slave cyl and clutch master cyl. im looking into drive this truck to cali and bacl cause im moving to there from wa. im not sure if its a 4spd or 5spd. i heard from the owners its really good on gas.

 

'83 was the first year of the Ranger.

The 2.3L is well known for being good on gas. The only 4-speed manual was the Toyo 4, so it's probably a 5-speed. You should find out soon though.

Is it carbureted? Be nice if we knew for sure what year the engine was.

 

it is carb. owner told me it was a 4 speed.

 

i was wondering if these trucks have timing belt or chain? also if anyone know how hard is it to replace the valve cover gasket and oil pan gasket? thanks

 

It has a timing belt, which is quite the PITA to change.

The valve cover I would imagine would be easy on an older engine. The oil pan I've no clue about, hopefully someone else with a 2.3L can chime in on that.

 

The oil pan will give you a headache, you'll almost certainly have to lift the engine a little to clear. The valve cover gasket is very easy, just be careful to clean the surface thoroughly before putting the new gasket in, and if you can get a rubber replacement instead of cork, you'll have a better chance of not ripping it. The timing belt idea is a good one, and you might consider installing a new thermostat while you have the timing cover off, it makes the bolt nearest the cover much easier to get to. The TK4 is a great transmission, as long as you keep the fluid fresh it'll serve you well, but still listen to it carefully for signs of abuse/neglect. A truck that age, expect to fix it though, it's 25 years old!

 

i was thinking of putting a 5 spd froma 84 ranger should justbolt right up.

 

I imagine this truck repainted in retro-stile of early 80-s, tranny swaped to 5 st, engine to v6, awd..... lifted a bit...

 

there saying this truck is black but its like a dark dark gray color and has the original pin stripes. i wanna keep the truck a 4cyl but wanna put a 5 spd might be a 4spd ihavent checked. i wish i can giv ford my vin# but the truck might be too old.

 

It's not too old, I gave my 78' f250's vin and they mailed me the results, about 3 months later lol...

 

Hey AC94EXPLORER,

Did you ever find the answer to your question. Would the 5 spd from early Rangers be a direct bolt-in swap?

I also have the 83 with a 4 spd. Seems to be a pretty solid unit, but I have no top end.

 

Did you ever find the answer to your question. Would the 5 spd from early Rangers be a direct bolt-in swap?
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Seems to me not. You want to use V6 engines. Early ranger with 4-cyl engines had 4st and 5st trannies, that do not fit any v6. All Cologne V6 engines share bolt pattern, but 3.0 and 3.8 V6 have unique bolt patterns.

Cologne L4 and Lima L4 engines have different bolt patterns so tranny swap with special plate is possible, but there early tannies had non-integral belhousings. M5OD has integral bellhousing.

There is one old way to fit any tranny, like T5, silverado tranny and other using A4LD bellhousings mashined for relevant tranny. I did it to fit GAZ tranny to 3.0.
It is a good way becouse there are so many really dead tranniers for any ford engine on JYs nearly for free.



But pay atention to clutch. I had to use flywheel, starter and pressure plate made for Ford and clutch disk that fits this tranny. It is not all, I realised that external slave is better and drilled 2 holes in bellohousing to bolt it on.

Made by Valeo clutch have much longer life then slave.