Kunz Korner 2.9 Tips

zukirider21 · Mar 11, 2011

I was looking through all of these tips in the tech section, theyre great, and I think I could get alot more hp (reliable hp) out of one of these engines using these tips, but theres one problem. We all know the 2.9 is speed density, and we all know how sd deals with modifications. So what can I do as far as tuning one of these things? Does TwEECer work with these computers? Is there a way to convert a 2.9 to mass air flow?

Surrey · Mar 11, 2011

Seeing as how you saw that in the tech section, Im surprised you missed the MAF swap.
http://therangerstation.com/tech_library/MAF_Conversion.html

But I question how much you can really get out of your 2.9l before you crack your heads and wish you were doing a 4.0 swap.

adsm08 · Mar 11, 2011

Surrey said:
But I question how much you can really get out of your 2.9l before you crack your heads and wish you were doing a 4.0 swap.

Check his model year dude. He has the 89MT heads. They don't crack like the earlier ones. They aren't the performance aftermarket ones that I'm getting, but they are a lot better than the early castings.

As for the MAF conversion, yeah, what Surrey said.

lethal-threat-b288 · Mar 11, 2011

i have a jy engine, how can i tell what yr it is?

zukirider21 · Mar 11, 2011

Surrey said:
Seeing as how you saw that in the tech section, Im surprised you missed the MAF swap.
http://therangerstation.com/tech_library/MAF_Conversion.html

But I question how much you can really get out of your 2.9l before you crack your heads and wish you were doing a 4.0 swap.

wow I cant believe I missed that! and not only do I have the later castings, but if I noticed a substantial amount more hp from whatever mods I do, and ended up cracking the heads, I'd have no problem dumping the money into aftermarket castings. honestly, I'm only looking to get about 175 reliable hp out of this thing in the end, nothing crazy.

oh and I'm gonna be running a 4.0 explorer rad for a little more cooling capacity.

adsm08 · Mar 11, 2011

lethal-threat-b288 said:
i have a jy engine, how can i tell what yr it is?

Hard to tell the exact year, but there are some clues. If the intake has no EGR port, it's an 88 to 92.

This article will help you ID the head casting:

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/2_9_Page.html

89MT heads can be anything from very late production 88 up to 92. The older ones will be 86 or 87.

adsm08 · Mar 11, 2011

zukirider21 said:
oh and I'm gonna be running a 4.0 explorer rad for a little more cooling capacity.

Unless you drive a mail route, or do some heavy off-roading where it runs a lot and doesn't go very far very fast, I highly advise against that. The larger rad will, more often than not, just end up flooding the engine will cold coolant and never let the thermostat fully open. That keeps the engine in warm up all the time and kills your mileage because the computer just keeps dumping fuel trying to get up to temp.

If you lived in the deep south like Hept and 95, that would be a great mod. You live in NJ. You will get 10 MPG at the high end in the winter.

zukirider21 · Mar 11, 2011

shouldnt the thermostat just open however much it needs to to maintain 195 or whatever is considered ideal?

Surrey · Mar 11, 2011

zukirider21 said:
wow I cant believe I missed that! and not only do I have the later castings, but if I noticed a substantial amount more hp from whatever mods I do, and ended up cracking the heads, I'd have no problem dumping the money into aftermarket castings. honestly, I'm only looking to get about 175 reliable hp out of this thing in the end, nothing crazy.

oh and I'm gonna be running a 4.0 explorer rad for a little more cooling capacity.

The one thing that really bugs me about Kunz is hes hardcore into changing the thermostat, and when I mentioned doing that to my truck, people told me its not a good idea, as it creates additional wear on the engine.

Stock the engine puts out what, like 130hp? That would mean to get to 175, you are looking to squeeze an extra 35% out of the engine. Im not sure how attainable that is - Kunz talks a lot about getting more power but never gives us numbers to back it up.

I would love to see someone modify a 2.9l and actually dyno test it at various stages, or at least before and after. I am really curious as to whether 175hp is obtainable or not, and if not, what is... and perhaps how much wear and tear over normal one might expect. I have a 2.9l in my truck, and the top half of another 2.9l in a box, would love for them to be economical and powerful.

theggyster · Mar 11, 2011

just advance the valve timing and make sure the engine is running properly. my engine is stock and still moves 31"s 120kms/h on the highway and i get 500 kms easy per tank, if its pure highway i can get over 600 kms. what more do you need. its never going to be super fast better off putting new gears in the diffs instead.

zukirider21 · Mar 12, 2011

yeah i gotta do alot more research before i try to do anything fancy. at the stage im at right now, i just want to get the motor in my truck and have it reliable. for now, i wasnt gonna do any mods other than maybe a little more timing if i can get away with it and i was definitely set on the 4.0 rad because we all know how important it is to keep the 2.9 cool, but now it looks like i gotta reconsider this. anyone else have more input on this?

Surrey · Mar 12, 2011

As long as your cooling system is in good shape, your normal rad will be fine. Adding the 4.0 rad will likely only help if you have some other problem. I have had two Bronco IIs that I take 4x4ing at a slow crawl for hours on end, and neither got close to overheating. I even lived in Kelowna for a year (100-110+ degrees every single day in the summer) and still had no problems at all.

holyford86 · Mar 12, 2011

adsm08 said:
Unless you drive a mail route, or do some heavy off-roading where it runs a lot and doesn't go very far very fast, I highly advise against that. The larger rad will, more often than not, just end up flooding the engine will cold coolant and never let the thermostat fully open. That keeps the engine in warm up all the time and kills your mileage because the computer just keeps dumping fuel trying to get up to temp.

If you lived in the deep south like Hept and 95, that would be a great mod. You live in NJ. You will get 10 MPG at the high end in the winter.

The explorer rad was worth every penny when I did it. If your thermostat is working correctly you will see no difference whatsoever in the time it takes your engine to heat up. In -20 weather it took less than 5 minutes to start throwing heat and approximately 10 for the engine to be at 195*. 10 MPG? the truck in my sig gets 16-17MPG in combined driving in cold (under 32*) and 17-18 MPG otherwise, and I don't baby it, the engine is pretty tired as well.

zukirider21 · Mar 12, 2011

yeah i was kinda thinking that the tstat would maintain the right temp regardless, and i figure since a new 4.0 rad costs hardly anything and drops right in, it would be a nice piece of insurance against overheating and cracked heads.

i race dirtbikes so basically every weekend im driving 3+ hours each way to races, and most are in pa with long, rolling hills getting there. and i DONT have a light foot at all.

zukirider21 · Mar 12, 2011

hey holyford,

did you notice any increase in mileage with the MAF system? how much work was it?

Kunz Korner 2.9 Tips

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