It Works!!!!

[scotts90ranger]

I had no idea... this engine is great!

ok, so it has it's issues like the no tach (don't know yet why not), 12-1500rpm idle (no tach, so it's hard to tell), rough hot restart, and the whole missing at full grunt issue, but I love this engine!

I'll try to get pics eventually, but it made it in without too much renecking (there was some drier vent and duct tape involved)

I've never been able to accelerate in 5th gear, now it moves faster from 50mph to 70mph than my speedo has ever moved before :)

the swap to DIS is pretty easy too, works good, also swapped to a 2.9 radiator as my old engine tipped over on the old one (would have been too small anyway)

turns out you have to drill out the rear two holes in the oil pan to 3/8" from 1/4" and get a couple 8mm by 50mm bolts to use the stock aluminum pan on the '86 engine

the air filter situation gets interesting in the second gen with the battery in that corner too... hence the drier vent and duct tape...

[capri1979]

sorry but what engine?

[scotts90ranger]

2.3L Turbo out of an '86 T bird into a '90 ranger

I have a couple sensors I didn't identify, one sensor in one of the heater lines that I didn't have a connector for or wires to, and one sensor I only have the connector to, the other end apparently went into the dash where the guy cut it off... that and I haven't hooked up the EGR valve to vacuum yet, and I seriously need to work over the PCV system, there was a bad spray from out of the dip stick tube, I ziptied a rag around the handle for the moment to keep away some of the spray...

[dieselboy740]

oh its fun. we had a prob with the bronco and we gapped the plugs down to .32 and its crazy. bII @ 19psi and 456 gears is scary

[Bill G]

I was just wondering if you had been working on your swap and you have it running already. I would love to see some pictures of it.

I'm hoping to have mine finished by the end of this month. But I've been saying that for months.

[scotts90ranger]

what's holding you up bill? anything I could avise in?

I pulled a couple tricks on my swap, the heater box moding kinda sucked, but it didn't turn out looking too bad, I moved the O2 sensor down by the frame, which I put in the wrong spot and is like 1/16" from the frame... you learn, I'll be redoing the exhaust at some point to get rid of the 2" in favor of some 2 1/4" anyway. considering the drier vent for the air filter adapter and the small exhaust (my tail pipe fell off so there's less resistance than there could be) it pulls damn good.

my computer blew, so pictures might be a bit, plus I don't have any webspace anymore... I'll work on it though

it took me a month with only a few long days working on it (the one when I was out there from 11pm to 7am being one of them, and it was around 20*), if I was to do it again I could probably do it on a weekend if I had a spare hand and a clean garage...

I'm seriously thinking of grabbing a sploder radiator, the 2.9 rad is bigger, but probably not sufficient for my plans (wheeling and towing)

oh, I didn't mention, I think I'm around 16mpg from 19mpg, not too bad all things considered being early in the experience (like I'm going to take it easy at this point)

[Davis]

originally posted by scotts90ranger:
I pulled a couple tricks on my swap, the heater box moding kinda sucked, but it didn't turn out looking too bad, I moved the O2 sensor down by the frame, which I put in the wrong spot and is like 1/16" from the frame... you learn, I'll be redoing the exhaust at some point to get rid of the 2" in favor of some 2 1/4" anyway. considering the drier vent for the air filter adapter and the small exhaust (my tail pipe fell off so there's less resistance than there could be) it pulls damn good.

Do yourself a favor and do it right the first time and go 3" on the exhaust. :icon_thumby:

[dieselboy740]

Do yourself a favor and do it right the first time and go 3" on the exhaust. :icon_thumby:

yeah +1 there.:icon_welder:

[Bill G]

what's holding you up bill? anything I could avise in?

Most of my hold up is lack of time, the other problem is I'm lazy and don't spend the amount of time I should on it. It's getting closer though.

I'll post a picture tomorrow if I get home from work when it's still light out.

You can also attach a picture here even if it's not hosted on the net. It's down in the additional options section.

[scotts90ranger]

nifty, I'll do that once I get my puter up and running again, thought you had to be a paid member to do that here

believe me, I understand the time and energy issue, that's why it took me a month and not just my 4 day thanksgiving weekend... most of my issues were more intimidating than anything, worst part was welding the exhaust with a stick welder...

I was going 2 1/4 because I already have a tailpipe and some scraps from work, but might as well save up for a high flow cat and some type of good muffler and only do it once...

[Bill G]

Scott,
Here is a quick picture of my work so far. I'm still working on the water lines and thinking about going to steel braided lines for the water, not sure yet.

Maybe I'll get it finished by the end of the month. It doesn't need much.

[scotts90ranger]

ah, most of the things I did wouldn't apply to your engine...

are you sticking with the distributor, or go with the DIS? the conversion isn't too hard, the hardest part is getting the aluminum oil pan to fit and drilling and tapping the three holes for the crank sensor.

[Bill G]

ah, most of the things I did wouldn't apply to your engine...

are you sticking with the distributor, or go with the DIS? the conversion isn't too hard, the hardest part is getting the aluminum oil pan to fit and drilling and tapping the three holes for the crank sensor.

I'm using the DIS and moving the coil packs being that I'm using a flipped manifold. It's too damn hot in AZ not to have AC. The engine I have was built by DaveR. It is a dual plug motor with a added in oil drain hole, it has Weisco pistons, the Ranger Roller and the head has been ported and polished. It also has a 60mm throtle body and a worked over intake (1 of 2 by Dave). I'm going non-intercooled being that I'm keeping the boost at 7psi (for now). I'm using a modded MAF with 19lbs injectors. That about covers the basics.

[scotts90ranger]

yeah, you're putting the turbo where I mounted my coil pack, I modified one of the stock brackets they used in '89 to push it out a bit over an inch to avoid the coolant lines, still took some tweaking of them...

I really need to get a new set of plug wires, a few of mine are pretty worn... probably not helping with my miss...

if you're wondering Bill, the copper 45* fitting works fine so far in the upper radiator hose, that adapts the hose pretty good for a whole $5

I didn't mention before, but I did switch to the ranger roller cam, new lash adjusters and valve seals. on the oil pan swap I had to swap to the oil pump from my '90 engine (body was too big on the '86 pump), had to drill out the rearmost oil pan holes to 3/8" and get a couple new bolts, and fill the trough in the rear main cap with JB weld...

[Bill G]

if you're wondering Bill, the copper 45* fitting works fine so far in the upper radiator hose, that adapts the hose pretty good for a whole $5


I don't really follow what you mean by using a 45 in the upper hose.

[scotts90ranger]

I used a 45* adapter instead of a straight, seemed to fit better in my application, when I removed a few inches of the upper hose, for the conversion to the v6 radiator swap...

[Davis]

oh, for the upper w/ the v6 rad conversion, i just used a 2.9 l upper hose.

[hoss429]

with using the dis on a dizzy 88 tc motor what all will have to be changed im curious as to this?

[scotts90ranger]

the front seal housing thing is different between the two engines, and three holes need to be drilled, make a template from the DIS engine (I'd offer to mail mine to someone, but I used lexan and it's pretty trashed at this point...). the hard point is finding a 6mm roll pin to use for the alignment pin, I gave up easy and got a 6mm bolt with a shoulder and cut the head off and loctited it in (I think that hole goes through into the block). the bolt pattern for the front seal housing is different, what I did was slot the one hole that's different.

as for the wiring, I have a link somewhere, I'll dig it up later... what you do is tie the two output wires from the DIS module that go for the drivers side coil to ground so it thinks that coil is working.

it's all pretty mch straightforward...

[1up]

I'd like that info also.
I have an 89 Ranger with the DIS, and am dropping in the 86 Merkur 2.3t, I read here a while back where a guy (might have been you) that said it was easier to keep the DIS then swapping to a distributor.

I can go either way,I just need info on how to do it.

also I used my cast pan a did not have to mod anything (other that using the 89 oil pump) is there anything I need to watch for pertaining to leaks????

Curt

[scotts90ranger]

at some point in '86 they changed the oil pan seal type, I had to deal with filling in the hole because of the trough in the rear crank bearing cap, that's the only thing I had to do leak wise.

start HERE (http://www.turborangerforums.com/showthread.php?t=486), that's the thread I made over on those forums, and is where I got my info...

put the ranger engine harness on the turbo engine one piece at a time, the things you will have to repin are those dealing with the TPS sensor and IAC, pull the IAC valve from the '89 engine or you will have to wire in the diode from the '86 engine harness, the newer IAC's have the diode in the components so the one in the wiring isn't necessary (unless someone says I'm wrong, which would explain some things). you will have to add in the vain air flow meter, and the boost control solenoid, along with a couple temperature sensors. although it's tempting, you need the barometric sensor from the donor car, the map sensor from the '89 isn't the same piece... (it's recessed into the top of the firewall above the blower housing on the passenger side). I isolated the wires I had to add to the harness, pulled the harness grommet through the firewall then slit it and put the wires in that to get them to the computer. using the ranger wires makes for a cleaner install as nearly all of the harness from donor engine would have had to been spliced, they changed connectors between those years...

oh, your fuel lines most likely aren't going to match between the donor engine and the ranger, what I did was get about 8 feet of both 3/8" and 5/16" high pressure fuel line and 4 hose clamps to fit over them, I put the respective fuel lines on the rail over the bumps that the quick releases would normally clip onto and placed the clamp there, routed the fuel lines over the brake booster (straightest line) and down to the fuel filter where I did the same thing on the fuel filter and the return line.

[scotts90ranger]

forgot to add that wasn't on the other link that I did to swap over to DIS, on the drivers side coil connector, cut the two wires with green on them and run them to ground, that'll tell the computer that the coil is working fine... even though it doesn't exist.

I'm sure I have the same mount for the passenger coil pack as you have, I cut mine up and extended it outward about 1.25", which got it out of the way of the cooling lines, I still had to tweak them though.

in order to use the '89 power steering pump, you are going to have to drill and tap a hole in the block, directly above the fuel pump block off plate, make a template off of the ranger engine for the 3 holes, drill and tap for 10mm threads, I know there isn't the same facing and as nice of a place for the third bolt to mount to, but it works, trust me... I'm only using those three bolts to hold the pump on, and I don't have the support bar that was supposed to go to the top of the pump to the intake manifold.

[1up]

Once you have the DIS bracket in place on the passenger side, How did you all reroute the water line coming off the turbo? the Z shaped one that runs directly into the DIS.

I'd really like to see some photo's of how every one runs their coolant lines, I guess it could get a bit creative.

Also I have a question about the turbo oil feed line.
being the miser that I am, has anyone used the steel braided lines made for sink type plumbing??????
Just curious, my concerns are the inside material/rubber of the hose, if it will break down in oil, and second is the seal, a rubber "O" ring.

I got's to know..............
Curt

[Bill G]

Also I have a question about the turbo oil feed line.
being the miser that I am, has anyone used the steel braided lines made for sink type plumbing??????
Just curious, my concerns are the inside material/rubber of the hose, if it will break down in oil, and second is the seal, a rubber "O" ring.

I got's to know..............
Curt

Curt just buy a complete feed kit from Ebay or any such place. DO NOT waste your time using any type of hose that is made for household plumbing. They will fail.

[scotts90ranger]

I just tweaked the stock lines to fit, I modified the passenger side coil mount to mount about 1 1/4" further outward.

one of these days I'll get the camera out, and one of these days I'll address my serious PCV issue... I'm going through oil pretty quick through the dipstick tube...

[Bill G]

one of these days I'll get the camera out, and one of these days I'll address my serious PCV issue... I'm going through oil pretty quick through the dipstick tube...

Are you using the OEM Ford turbo coupe PCV valve? I bought an new one the other day from the local Ford dealer. It's a huge difference between one you would buy at the local CSK or autozone. I'm also running a breather that routes back to the intake.

[feellnfroggy]

Delete the egr, What year is the car and truck? It should be legal to delete if its over 20 yrs old.

[Sevensecondsuv]

For oil feed just use 1/4 brake line and bend it however you want.

[scotts90ranger]

I didn't connect vacuum to the EGR valve, so it's disabled... or is it?

Bill, it had the original (or at least an old grey plastic motorcraft, looked like the the original from my '90 2.3) PCV in it when I got it, I took a discarded PCV from a 350 from work and shoved it in place as it's pretty much what you get from autozone or wherever... I know, I know, a GM part in on a ford engine... I'll have to look into the OEM valve from the local dealer... I'm running the stock breather thingy, I think it goes back to the intake.

[Bill G]

I didn't connect vacuum to the EGR valve, so it's disabled... or is it?
It won't work without vacuum

Bill, it had the original (or at least an old grey plastic motorcraft, looked like the the original from my '90 2.3) PCV in it when I got it, I took a discarded PCV from a 350 from work and shoved it in place as it's pretty much what you get from autozone or wherever... I know, I know, a GM part in on a ford engine... I'll have to look into the OEM valve from the local dealer... I'm running the stock breather thingy, I think it goes back to the intake.

Scott, if you blow into the small end of the PCV valve it should seal and not leak any air out of the big end. The cheaper ones you would get from say autozone or CSK will leak and let air out. If the valve leaks you get air pressure in the oil pan and have problems like you have. The breather cap is supposed to vent air back into the intake if the PCV valve is leaking. Of course if the boost pressure is too much it will push oil into the intake also. I would strongly advise on getting a new OEM turbocoupe PCV valve. I have the part number and can let you have if needed.

If you also run high boost numbers (over 20 psi) you run the risk of overpowering even a OEM valve. It doesn't happen with all of them, just some.

[dieselboy740]

we used an alumn rad from a acura? off ebay and stainless braided lines from a local company.
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/dieselboy740/1232850570.jpg

[scotts90ranger]

for some odd reason it stopped spewing oil out... I accidently forgot to put the oil cap on for a few days, put it back on and it stopped... I don't get it, seemed to coinside with an episode it had on a drive to the coast where it stopped running while driving (left it in gear and coasted), about a quarter mile later it ran again, but every time I let off the gas I got a CEL, which stopped the next morning, I'm wondering if I blew out the catalyst or something... I might pull the codes tomorrow.

[scotts90ranger]

still no oil spewing like it had...

I put my boost gage on finally, and apparently I'm running 12psi warm and 13-14 cold

couple questions though. one is the check engine light, I don't believe I repinned that, but it's always on VERY dimly, and increases in intensity with rpm, but flashes like it's supposed to when I key up, and does seem to work when something goes funky (still haven't pulled the codes from a couple weeks ago).

my second question is on startup, on a cold startup it starts right up, but is pretty rich, to the point where I have to clear it out before it runs smooth, on a hot restart most of the time it takes a couple tries (some times half a dozen tries or so), and when it finally starts up a big ol smoke plume comes out the exhaust and is flooded, after it clears it's lungs it idles high for a few minutes until the IAC relearns... it's been getting better lately, but is still annoying, and sooner or later my starter is going to crap out...