Adding power to my '11 2.3 in CA

[White11]

As the title states, I'd like to add some power to my 2.3 automatic 2011 but I live in CA. It's bone stock right now with 179k miles on it. Since I live in CA I can't just throw a turbo on it because I have to get a smog check every two years. What can I do to add some power and still pass the inspection? How much power can I get out of this thing without turbocharging it? I was looking for just a flash programmer but couldn't even find a canned tune for it.

Thanks for your help!


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[stmitch]

Honestly, there's not much that can be done that will add noticeable power and still retain full emissions compliance. The Duratec has tons of performance potential, but it's not cheap or easy to get, and the Cali emissions requirement only makes it tougher.

If your truck has AC, you can remove the stock clutch fan to reduce parasitic drag a bit. MSDS makes a shorty header, but it looks almost identical to the stock manifold. A custom tune from SCT might be an option, but you'd have to discuss emissions compliance with the person writing the tune.

The Duratec with an auto trans is the enemy of fun. The trans is super inefficient, and robs the engine of precious hp, while simultaniously hurting fuel economy. They came with 4.10 rear gears from Ford, so it's got a pretty short rear axle gear already. Swapping to a manual trans (or just buying a truck with a manual) will make the biggest difference. It improves fuel economy, returns some hp, and allows you to keep the engine in it's powerband more easily.

 

[adsm08]

I have heard that leaving California adds 50 HP to everything, including furniture and camping equipment. Also all the toxins and carcinogens fall out of your stuff when you cross the state line.

 

[White11]

Honestly, there's not much that can be done that will add noticeable power and still retain full emissions compliance. The Duratec has tons of performance potential, but it's not cheap or easy to get, and the Cali emissions requirement only makes it tougher.



If your truck has AC, you can remove the stock clutch fan to reduce parasitic drag a bit. MSDS makes a shorty header, but it looks almost identical to the stock manifold. A custom tune from SCT might be an option, but you'd have to discuss emissions compliance with the person writing the tune.



The Duratec with an auto trans is the enemy of fun. The trans is super inefficient, and robs the engine of precious hp, while simultaniously hurting fuel economy. They came with 4.10 rear gears from Ford, so it's got a pretty short rear axle gear already. Swapping to a manual trans (or just buying a truck with a manual) will make the biggest difference. It improves fuel economy, returns some hp, and allows you to keep the engine in it's powerband more easily.

Thanks for the bad news. Lol! Seriously tho, thanks for the info. I wanted to avoid dropping buckets of cash chasing minimal gains.

I don't want to remove the ac because I use it year-round. I was thinking about a custom tune since I couldn't find any canned tunes. Is there a good tuner that can email me a tune?

It's looking like my best bet is a motor swap once this one dies. I'd have to get the smog referee to allow me to put in something with more power. Does the 2.3L ecoboost drop in or is it a ton of work? I was looking at auctions and I can get a complete wrecked 2.3eb mustang for around $5k and just swap everything over.

Thanks again


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[pjtoledo]

I have heard that leaving California adds 50 HP to everything, including furniture and camping equipment. Also all the toxins and carcinogens fall out of your stuff when you cross the state line.

OH how true!!!!
I just bought a set of Weaver mount bases for my Savage .22, had that stupid California cancer warning on it. Yeeesh, who would have thought people in California were eating scope mounts!!!






the 2.3 Duratec with a manual is great engine, my 2005 is now at 314,000 and revving.

 

[White11]

the 2.3 Duratec with a manual is great engine, my 2005 is now at 314,000 and revving.

That's a lot of miles! Mine with 178k still runs good too.

Anyone know about the 2.3 eco post swap? Is anyone doing it? That would be 300hp instantly



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[stmitch]

I don't want to remove the ac because I use it year-round.

It's looking like my best bet is a motor swap once this one dies. I'd have to get the smog referee to allow me to put in something with more power. Does the 2.3L ecoboost drop in or is it a ton of work? I was looking at auctions and I can get a complete wrecked 2.3eb mustang for around $5k and just swap everything over.

I wasn't suggesting removing the AC. Trucks that had AC came with both a clutch fan and an e-fan. You can remove just the clutch fan to free up some power. The e-fan is only triggered when the AC is on though, unless you get a custom tune that changes it, so don't forget to trigger it with the AC and overheat your engine.

As for the Ecoboost, it's been discussed a few times, but nobody has attempted it, so you'd be the guinea pig. The 2.0 and 2.3 are the same basic engine family as the Duratec 2.3, so mounts will probably work, and the trans should bolt up, but from there you're on your own. The Mustang variant looks like it has a better chance of fitting with fewer issues than any of the FWD based 2.0 Ecoboosts, but I'm sure they'll cost more to get too.

Some hurdles that I see would be:
1. The Ecoboost has a cam driven high pressure fuel pump that extends off the back of the cylinder head a few inches, and there's really no room for that in a Ranger engine bay without cutting the firewall.
2. The FWD ecoboost intake manifold is designed to run down, along the side of the engine. In a Ranger, the factory steering shaft is right in that area, so it might interfere. It also seems like it would point the ecoboost throttle body directly at the Ranger framerail. Maybe it would work. Maybe you'd need a custom intake manifold. The Mustang ecoboost intake manifold looks like a closer match to me, but no guarantees that it would work of course. Remember when I said you'd be the guinea pig?
3. The ecoboost is direct injected, with variable valve timing. Your Ranger PCM won't handle that complexity with any amount of tuning, and there really aren't any aftermarket tuners that can deal with direct injection without spending big bucks. That means you're stuck using the PCM from an ecoboost vehicle (which will probably expect all kinds of other modules to be in place that your Ranger doesn't have), or you spend over a grand for the Ford Racing control pack and figure it out as you go. More guinea pig.
4. Can't tell without measuring, but the ecoboost turbo probably isn't located where you'd want it to be in a Ranger. The passenger side of a Ranger engine bay gets pretty crowded with HVAC stuff. I'm not sure if there's room between the framerail/upper control arm mounts and the HVAC plenum for a really hot turbo to hang out without hitting stuff or melting things. You'd probably have to see it in person to know if it would work or not. Again with the guinea pig stuff.
5. Based on nothing but internet pictuers, the FWD Ecoboosts seem to have a different oilpan that is mostly flat across the bottom. The Mustang version has a more traditional looking rear-sump design that might fit the Ranger's engine crossmember better.

This thread has some good pictures of the Ecoboost to give you an idea of what I'm talking about:
[url]http://www.focusst.org/forum/focus-st-performance/1944-ecoboost-2-0-l-engine-any-more-engine-design-details.html
[/URL]

An ecoboost swapped Ranger would be awesome, but the time and effort required to make one fly in California seems like a waste to me when you can buy other vehicles that will make equal or better power and pass emissions right out of the gate any day of the week.

 

[White11]

Thank you for the excellent info, Stmitch! I'm sure I'm not the only one that wishes the 2.3eb was a simple swap. Oh well.

As far as the clutch fan goes, does it restore enough power to make it worth it? I probably won't be able to feel anything less than 10 horsepower, right?


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[stmitch]

It's not going to be a massive gain, but you've got to take the small, easy steps as they all add up. We're talking about an engine that was rated at 143hp at the crank when it was new, and it has to rev pretty far up the power band to make most of that. 10hp would be a 7% gain in crank HP, which isn't small potatoes.

It's not just the HP though. With the auto trans, and AC always on, you're loading the engine down quite a bit and seeing far less than that 143hp actually make it to the ground where it can be used. The Duratec is basically an NC Miata engine, and it wants to rev. Reducing mass, and parasitic drag will help it get to its happy spot more easily. Should improve fuel economy a bit as well.

If you go through with the clutch fan removal, I'd recommend getting a nice custom tuner at the same time. It would allow you to control the fan trigger temp, instead of forcing you to remember to turn the HVAC stuff to the right setting. It would have an added benefit of adjusting shift parameters of your auto trans, which many people seem to like better than stock.

You can go here:
http://https://sctflash.com/where-to-buy

And enter your info to find tuners in your area. Start contacting them to see if any would be willing to write custom tunes for your setup.

 

[White11]

It's not going to be a massive gain, but you've got to take the small, easy steps as they all add up. We're talking about an engine that was rated at 143hp at the crank when it was new, and it has to rev pretty far up the power band to make most of that. 10hp would be a 7% gain in crank HP, which isn't small potatoes.



It's not just the HP though. With the auto trans, and AC always on, you're loading the engine down quite a bit and seeing far less than that 143hp actually make it to the ground where it can be used. The Duratec is basically an NC Miata engine, and it wants to rev. Reducing mass, and parasitic drag will help it get to its happy spot more easily. Should improve fuel economy a bit as well.



If you go through with the clutch fan removal, I'd recommend getting a nice custom tuner at the same time. It would allow you to control the fan trigger temp, instead of forcing you to remember to turn the HVAC stuff to the right setting. It would have an added benefit of adjusting shift parameters of your auto trans, which many people seem to like better than stock.



You can go here:

http://https://sctflash.com/where-to-buy



And enter your info to find tuners in your area. Start contacting them to see if any would be willing to write custom tunes for your setup.

Awesome, man, thanks! I'll start searching for an article or video on how to remove the clutch fan and see if I can do it myself. I'll also see if there are any tuners in my area.

What about a built motor? Does anyone build up these motors and sell them? That would be ideal as it would still pass ca emissions but have all the internal goodies that would give it some power. Perfect for replacing this one when it goes.


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[Soledad]

I could be wrong but I believe most of the big NA builds are over in Europe since the Duratec over there has a very long following. Cosworth makes some nice, but expensive parts for these engines.

You could look into a newer 2.5L Duratec swap. It's one that I've been considering.

http://turborangerforums.com/showthread.php?t=7724
http://turborangerforums.com/showthread.php?t=7651

Here's a list of easy to replace parts off the top of my head for the 2.3 Duratec:

- MSDS headers
- MAC intake (just need to seal up that end to make it truly cold air).
- Custom SCT tune
- 2.25" to 2.5" custom cat back exhaust.
- CFM 67mm throttle body (would have to port stock intake manifold)
- Remove stock clutch fan and use electric fan
- Underdrive pulleys

Then you start dipping into the engine:

-Crane or Crower camshafts

And that's about all I got except for a remote mount turbo which is not easy to do.

And remember that when adding parts to increase HP, the added HP from each new performance part is not linear.

 

[stmitch]

There are ways to get more peak power from the Duratec, but they're typically pretty expensive and they sacrifice low-end torque for power higher up in the rev range. Ultimately, it's a naturally aspirated, small displacement 4 cylinder. It's not going to have low-end punch without boost. A 200hp, NA Duratec is great in lightweight sports cars like Caterhams, but it doesn't work so well in 3000lb trucks with crappy automatics that never get the engine into it's useable power band.

If you're considering deep engine work, or replacing the current engine, I'd advise you to spend that money and effort on swapping to a manual trans instead. It makes the Duratec worlds better in every way. Or put the cash towards a vehicle that makes the power you want right out of the box.

 

[danimal121]

You can move from California, the South has no such requirement


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[White11]

Thanks guys. I appreciate all the info. A manual trans would have definitely been a better choice and more fun. I wish someone made a supercharger for these trucks. That would be an easy way to get a bunch of more power and many of them are carb legal in cali.


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[White11]

You can move from California, the South has no such requirement


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That may become a reality some day lol


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