87 2.3 help (4 pics)

87 2.3 help (more than 4 pics)

first thing i noticed is when i run the vin, it claims to carry a 2.0l
second thing i noticed is it obviously carries a 2.3 sticker on the valve cover
third thing i noticed was the carburetor. isn't 85+ fuel injected?
fourth thing i noticed was the lack of parts unde the hood. this picture is exactly how i got the truck. big bolt plug..missing air ducts, terrible battery cables..unplugged wires and vaccuume hoses... new plugs wires rotor cap and air filter though!



another pic of chaos




more mahem



document1



document 2



what i've done with the thing. taken out everything that looks "wrong". slowly going to start putting in things that are "right".

Thanks for the memories!

That looks similar to my truck when I first got it (my first 88 Ranger had the 2.0 carb). I also took out all the excess wires, vac hoses, air pump (that you don't seem to have) and swapped in the shorty header, added a motorcraft 5200 carb and intake from a 78 mustang II, and eventually upgraded to a 2.3


I've posted a few pics of my current setup...look under the tiny header pic post for a shot of the passenger side exhaust...and compare it to yours if you want an alternative to the mess...it works out great...

And I also see that the red hose from the water pump on yours goes into the left side of the heater core...I have been looking for a picture of that for a while and this cleared up my question as to the proper way...but if you look at the pic I posted yesterday you can also see a cleaner way to set that up...I removed the hose that runs along the valve cover side and just ran them arching out to the heater core...

Thanks for the pics...if you need some help or suggestions I can honestly say that I've been there and done that...

i honestly dont know if the heater core is set up with the right hoses. i didn't think it mattered. if you want more pictures of stuff then i can get or already have them. i'll be taking pics as i go with my progress. hopefully it is not raining toight because i have no garage space.

I copied a junked Mustang setup for my hoses and thought it was right...but one never knows...maybe I will try the library repair resource again because they have just about every diagram for older vehicles...

Good to document what you've done though...I had dozens of pics of my frame-off rebuild but managed to lose most of them through a computer crash...so I've only got the after and none of the before pics...

so i did some more stuff last weekend.






i dont know what any of this stuff is though...




but i started to clean out the inside and im almost done what i have planned.
does anyone have a simple wireing diagram for this specific engine? vaccum hose diagram?

and should there be an airpump right here?

Yes, there should be an air pump in the last pic...

The first pic is your test plug for the emission system IIRC...

The second pic is a vac connector, but it seems to be missing quite a few connectors...mine didn't have one of those, but it was so incomplete when I got it that trying to figure out what went where was a exercise in futility...there has been some mismatch between your engine and your emission system...the only good news is that it is older than 20 years so it would be exempt from most emission testing standards...you just gotta get it to run clean and not too rich to pass.

Third pic is more emission stuff that connects to some of those open pipes you have in the background...or connects to other connectors...

Fourth pic is easy...somewhat...it is your purge canister that runs from somewhere on the carb back to the gas tank...that one you may need even for a cleaner setup...

Essentially, you have about the same mess that I started with four or five years ago...if you want to figure it out you may be able to find the original schematic under the hood of an 87 or 88 with the 2.0...but, to be honest, I even went to a Ford dealership and had them print out diagrams for various parts and connections and still couldn't get it back to original...

So I scrapped the whole shebang and put on the carb and intake I mentioned above...I had the air pump installed for the first emission test and it almost passed...just a tad high on the hydrocarbons...meaning that it was running a bit rich and I probably should have changed the cat to clean it up...but I got the conditional pass and was more than happy with that...

There are other carb/intake options that you may want to consider...such as a Holley 350 carb sitting on a 86 Fuel Injected intake with an appropriate adapter...or something like my 5200 motorcraft carb on an effy intake from the 87 Mustang II...these require only two or three vacuum lines and maybe a few connectors for automatic choke (I went to a manual choke just to eliminate that beast)...

Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to highly recommend dumping the whole whack and cleaning it right up...but if you do decide to try to figure it all out...I will personally sign the documentation to have you awarded something similar to a Purple Heart for being wounded in action...or whatever they give it for...because it was more confusing to me than trying to figure out what women really want...

i don't care about the emissions stuff.. i just want it to behave. it ran before so I'm pretty sure that once my carb is adjusted then it will run well. but all those wires and vacuum hoses are nerve racking. so is it possible that this engine did not come with this vehicle? or was it just in bad hands before me?

i guess i'll scope the junk yards for an air pump but does that mean that i need to get a new fan clutch? what else will the air pump run off?

in the first pic there's two things that are disconnected. which one do you say is the emissions test plug?


in the second pic there's the one bigger vacuum group. it looks like it connects to one big thing but there's only 2 hoses going into it i think.


in the third pic there's a lot going on. first there's the black hoses with the red connector. the other end of the black one that isn't visible actually just connects to the end of a screw poking up through my fender holding on a small black box (looks electrical). then there's a green vacuum hose that connects to the spigot that its resting on top of. then there's the two in my hand, blue and tan, which i don't know the homes of those two... but they both connect to the blue rod in the bottom that has multiple spigots.

in the fourth there is that box that has a cap on one side and a cap on the other side. can i just put a cap on the other side too? is this the device that condenses fuel so that it does not evaporate and is sent back to the fuel tank?

in the fifth picture you can see the emissions contraption with some hoses going off and they seem secure but there's a giant bolt in one hole which i think goes to the air pump or the air filter. there's also two places for vacuum hoses on that unit that i don't know where to they hook up to.

i don't want to bolt on a new carb because I'm trying to spend as little money as possible and i already bought a rebuild kit for the current one.

It looks like you've also got the one bbl carb...if you want to stick with that setup due to a cash crunch that's understandable...but you won't need an air pump because all they do is force air into the cat to help burn off excess gas...and your truck is beyond the emission testing years so it doesn't matter at all...the expense and frustration of getting the air pump is not worth it...I spent a good two weeks just looking for a bracket because they were all broken and when I finally got it hooked up it made very little difference in the test.

But, if you really want one...I've got the pump and bracket sitting in the back of my Ranger (inside to protect them)...not sure if they will require that installed but I still have to do the E test on my vehicle because it is an 88...

If I don't need it you're welcome to it...but you would need to pay shipping...I'd gladly send it to you free of charge because it isn't going back on unless it is mandatory for the last test...

There is a pulley with a second smaller groove for the air pump...the belt is very thin...it should be just behind the fan...and, no, you can probably use the same fan if there are 4 bolts holding it on...that assembly comes off and you just plop the other pulley over the mount and bolt the fan back on...check first or post a pic of the fan pulley and I can tell you if you need to swap that out or not...I'd even send you the pulley if you're so inclined...

You can save yourself plenty of time and money and add a few HP to your engine if you swap on a two bbl carb though...and you could get rid of almost all of that excess wires, hoses, and nonsense...but...I'm only suggesting it because that's what I did and the truck ran like a top for two years or so before I had to replace the engine completely with a 2.3 (from the original 2.0).

if thats all the air pump does then i'll have nothing to do with it. i've never done an emissions test nor do i ever plan on one. i don't know anyone personally who has had to do one either.

well i dont care too much about junk yard part costs because usually i get stuff for free. what would i also need to rip out of the donor if i wanted to swap carbs?

ps i lived with a group of kids from barrie. one is a skinny white kid about 6'6" if you've seen him around!

here's some pics of my 83 2.3.they might help you.


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hope these help.i'm looking to get rid of that computer crap as well.

thanks. those are gunna help bigtime. just gotta start matching things up now

This is what I ended up with after I removed much of the old emission crap, stock exhaust, and stock carb/intake...you can still see some of the vac lines that I later removed, but it is much cleaner in the engine bay and the engine runs great...

Oh, and I swapped out the 2.0 litre valve cover and put on the 2.3 valve cover with the oil filler cap at the front of the engine instead of at the back...

i have the 2.3 valve cover and my filler cap is in the back. its pretty difficult to get oil in there. i think your setup is pretty clean without the emissions stuff. what kind of electrical did you have to deal with when you swapped in the new carb? i need to get one of those plastic guides for the spark wires. mine are just flopping all over the place. like that guy's hair.

my carb looks good all cleaned up and with the kit it should run like new but i have no clue. i've never even seen a carburator before buying this truck.

i'm going to do the same thing,when i can hit pick your part soon.