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turbo'ing a 4.0 SOHC


lifted4.0

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hey guys, whats the deal with doing this, any suggestions, anyone been doing it? possibly looking to turbo the 2003 ford ranger. i dont really want to crash my mpg section, but my friend tells me if im just driving normally, it wont crash the mpg at all...but if i start driving at heavy boost, it will...

he said there would probably be a problem with fuel management when doing this turbo, and also what PSI do all you run?? for a stock engine.
 


turbo cat

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keep the boost low like below 8 psi and get it tuned right and it will hold together. it gets expensive but also consider emmissions your locals laws on custom modifications.......bal blah.....if you rear mount the turbo you will need a scavenge pump to return the oil. Also yes if you drive it like a DD it will get milage like a DD but when you get into boost it will start drinking fuel up. You will need things like a wideban to monitor the Af ratio, oil lines, turbo, wastegate, bov?, maf considerations...blow thru or draw thru...if remoter mounted its going to be blow thru, intercooling, tuning, fuel system upgrades....look into the SCT PRP stuff to tune the truck and the AEM stuff to eye the AF

For the fuel system you will need bigger injectors and a bigger pump at least a aftermarket regulatr isnt necesary as you can tune fuel with the SCT PRP. Turbos are more unpredictable as when the boost comes on and how much. Turbos respond to load on the motor (creates resistance and pressure to spool the turbo) unlike blowers that feed a cetain boost for given rpm
 
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lifted4.0

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where are you mounting the turbo? i think i saw that you dont have a ranger, but is the explorer engine bay similar? looking to do a 03 ranger
 

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mine is up front however i have a little more simpler gen 1 than your later model. In any case it can be done and since you have odbII engine managment you will have a better fondation to hook some sct stuff up too
 

lifted4.0

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im not soo fimilar with all of those abbriviated terms, but my buddy said we could probably mount the turbo under the truck somewhere, i dont do HARDLY ANY off roading..soo should be fine i guess...

still kinda worried about fuel management with the boost though..i think??

but i can still hammer out the details of all that, i dont think i would be doing this till spring.. soo
 

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if you keep the boost low the oem fuel system will be fine with littl;e bigger injectors and a bigger pump then tune it with the sct stuf
 

burningRANGERtires

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i've been looking into turboing my SOHC for a while now and pretty much most SOHC that have gone turbo were fine (w/ stock internals) until 6psi.. after you decided to increase your boost you run into alot of problems. As for remote mount.. thats teh same route i will be going when this project starts rolling.

a blow through is teh only way with the RM.. I would also suggest a body lift as it will make things alot easier to work on (running piping from the turbo to the front).. and i would recommend putting the turbo where your current POS muffler is at followed by a glass pack ;)

on my truck Ill be running a t3 from a rb25 (skyline gtst) with a fuel pump and injectors from a mustang.. (and hopefully a MAF) J's racing BOV, HKS GT25 wastegate actuator, and etc.. I'll most likely add an intercooler (havent got one yet) since there is space beside the tranmission cooler in the front. as for tunning.. hopefully a x-cal will work.. haha..
 

lifted4.0

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soo really i couldnt be running more than 6 psi without doing work to the engine?
 

lifted4.0

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where did you mount the turbo and such? i have a 2003, soo its not that far off from your 01, but mine is not lifted.

what kind of work am i looking at for the engine to run a higher psi? forged pistons? anything else, im just looking for like 10ish...but what would forged pistons and such be able to run?
 

ILLEGALCONCEPTS

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You may want to wait on installing the IC with a remote mount turbo. The length of the pipe may be enough to cool it down. An IC at that point would just be one more restriction.

James
 

turbo cat

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soo really i couldnt be running more than 6 psi without doing work to the engine?
you can run higher boost levels but for how long is the question? Playin gwith boost is like playing with fire...keep the fire small and it can be contolled easily. And at 6psi i wouldnt worrie about an intercooler most arent at those low boost levels
 

burningRANGERtires

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you can run higher boost levels but for how long is the question? Playin gwith boost is like playing with fire...keep the fire small and it can be contolled easily. And at 6psi i wouldnt worrie about an intercooler most arent at those low boost levels
im only puttin an intercooler cuz its gonna be a small one from like a volkswagon and so i can say i have an intercooler :D.


You may want to wait on installing the IC with a remote mount turbo. The length of the pipe may be enough to cool it down. An IC at that point would just be one more restriction.

James
well James, that doesn't make sense if you think about it... pressure built up creates heat.. and there's no way the pipes are gonna lose heat after it absorbs all it can so after driving for a while it may cause problems.. i also live in vegas where its gets to temps up to 114 so i have nothing to loose

also it can only make the front of my truck look cooler.

where did you mount the turbo and such? i have a 2003, soo its not that far off from your 01, but mine is not lifted.

what kind of work am i looking at for the engine to run a higher psi? forged pistons? anything else, im just looking for like 10ish...but what would forged pistons and such be able to run?
it can be done... theres alot of space underneath our trucks.

as for higher psi.. depends on what you are trying to hit.. im looking for about 250 hp to the rear... 6 psi should be able to make that happen.. but if you are trying to set a new record... yes.. built everything.. i dont know if D. is member on TRS but he's running alot of nitrous and his parts list on his car is ridiculous.. look into it if you are serious about running over 10 psi

our trucks are slow.. and has limited aftermarket... engine swaps will probably be a wiser choice
 

turbo cat

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it will make installing the cold side easier wit ha body lift but is not necessary there have been plenty of cars and explorers to go remote mounted. One stanmg over at theturboforums built custom side skirts that were the cold side
 

lifted4.0

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mhmm, that sounds all good, i am still batting around ideas..i just posted in the conversion form about boring a 4.0 to like 4.6? or 5.0 if i can get it that big..

just looking for more power, and then probably supercharging that, i just dont wanna lose TOO much gas mileage. on that note, im wondering what the difference would be from a like v6 4.6L supercharged to a V8 4.6L supercharged to a V8 5.4L supercharged all on the same vehicle with gas mileage....are the V6 and V8 4.6 gonna get the same gas mileage cause the displacement is the same? will i only lose 2 mpg with the 5.4? those are all good questions that i need to figure out!! ahahah
 

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