2.3 Ranger Turbo swap

2.3tdangerranger · Oct 21, 2014

Alright so I am posting this because I haven't seen a whole thread on this swap yet, so Im going to try to keep you guys updated on my swap and let you know whats going on.

Hopefully these pictures work, so here is the ranger that i believed to be a good running truck. It is a pretty much all stock except for the wheels and tires. It had a 2.9 and a 5 speed, the kid i bought it from must have changed the oil right before we met because it was not milky. But by the time i got home it was apparent that we had major problems. So I checked the oil and it was starting to get milky. So i did some research and i was 98% sure the heads were cracked. So the tear down process began.

I got the valve cover off and thats when i knew it was bad. So I started thinking of routes i could go. I could spend 500$ on a 2.9 which will probably overheat and do the same thing in 6 months or.. I happened to know where to get a whole 2.3 turbo coupe swap was that i could get a killer deal on. To me the choice was obvious.

As of this weekend I have the motor out and the transmission half way out, Also got the Turbo coupe swap coming into town hopefully wednesday.
The main goal is too have a unique extended cab ranger, along with a front mount intercooler right away, I want to drop the truck 3-4 inches for a better stance and probably do an 8.8 rear end that is geared better for a 4 cylinder.

Captain Ledd · Oct 21, 2014

Welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately I'm seeing no pictures.

Also, we should have a number of 2.3 Turbo swaps around the site. We lost a bunch years back with the forum move, but there's still a ton of information here.

links:
Forced Induction Forum (your thread is probably going to get moved here by the way, so if it disappears that's where it will be)

Tech Library turbo swap 1

Tech Library turbo swap 2

Turbo swap related wiring diagrams

Be sure to keep us posted on your project!

2.3tdangerranger · Oct 21, 2014

Alright so now i figured out how to use the website i found articles!! Hoping to get the motor and tranny set up tomorrow!
Has anyone done this and flipped the shifter around to obtain the same position for the shifter? Read it once on a forum but there wasnt much detail?

2.3tdangerranger · Oct 21, 2014

2.3tdangerranger · Oct 21, 2014

Captain Ledd · Oct 22, 2014

Shifter pics aren't showing up, but the last 2 posts are. That should make a nice little sleeper!

Unfortunately I cannot offer anything on the shifter info.

But that valve cover.... eeewwww....

Mark_88 · Oct 22, 2014

The valve cover looks like someone used Lucas oil...the thick stuff...it is known to create foam like that...

Only suggestion I can make is to give the frame a really good once over...or twice over...for rust...check all spring hangars and cab mount brackets and replace them as needed...

Sometimes you cannot see the surface of the mount and how badly it is rusted...but if the sides are good then the top should be ok for a few years...

No point in sinking hundreds or even thousands into a project only to find the frame is rotting out...eh!

2.3tdangerranger · Oct 22, 2014

The valve cover is just water-oil GUNK after a couple days of sitting there is a puddle in the valve cover from the water and oil un-mixing. And as far as the frame goes i have given it a short once over but you have a point, I will check it out today!

2.3tdangerranger · Oct 22, 2014

I will throw some pictures of the interior up today as well, it has all power options. Seats,windows the whole nine yards. And its probably the cleanest red interior I have seen!

2.3tdangerranger · Oct 27, 2014

Little update,

Got the turbo motor, sadly the wrecking yard was misinformed and the motor is not an 87-88 because the turbo is only oil cooled and it has the older intake style and no intercooler. But still going to throw it together and get a 88 head and port and polish it and get a tubular header and 88 intake that is ported and rotated.

Also did some sandblasting this weekend on valve cover and accessory brackets.

And finally, did a little pounding on the fender to straighten it out!
More post coming soon hopefully!

2.3tdangerranger · Oct 27, 2014

Ok here is the pictures for the last post lol

scotts90ranger · Oct 28, 2014

The only difference between the '84-6 intake and the '87-8 intake is the hole drilled and tapped in the #3 runner for the intake air temp sensor in the lower intake manifold, the complete engine is the same, the only difference is the ECM (and like 5 wire locations, including the ones for previously mentioned temp sensor), the VAM is bigger, and they have a smaller IHI turbo than the Garrett on the previous version. Look for a part number on the exhaust manifold, hopefully you have an E6 and not a E3, if you do it's just fine for most purposes, the E3's crack in the middle, headers are weak usually and break and will be made up of welds in no time, I'm sure there's some good ones out there but turbo's are heavy and not nice to them. The head is the same on all of the later turbo engines, but ALL of them could use some porting, myself when I rebuilt mine I lost around 4psi of boost after the rebuild because I ported the head and now it actually digests the air instead of making pressure from the resistance. If you are going to get into the head, I suggest finding an '88-94 Ranger roller cam and followers to swap in place of that stock flat tappet cam, it's supposedly the one to get, it's been working good for me.

2.3tdangerranger · Oct 28, 2014

scotts90ranger said:
The only difference between the '84-6 intake and the '87-8 intake is the hole drilled and tapped in the #3 runner for the intake air temp sensor in the lower intake manifold, the complete engine is the same, the only difference is the ECM (and like 5 wire locations, including the ones for previously mentioned temp sensor), the VAM is bigger, and they have a smaller IHI turbo than the Garrett on the previous version. Look for a part number on the exhaust manifold, hopefully you have an E6 and not a E3, if you do it's just fine for most purposes, the E3's crack in the middle, headers are weak usually and break and will be made up of welds in no time, I'm sure there's some good ones out there but turbo's are heavy and not nice to them. The head is the same on all of the later turbo engines, but ALL of them could use some porting, myself when I rebuilt mine I lost around 4psi of boost after the rebuild because I ported the head and now it actually digests the air instead of making pressure from the resistance. If you are going to get into the head, I suggest finding an '88-94 Ranger roller cam and followers to swap in place of that stock flat tappet cam, it's supposedly the one to get, it's been working good for me.

Thanks for the info, I have some pretty crazy stuff planned for the ecu and wiring harness when i get around to it ill make a post. But for right now the plan is to get the truck on the road as soon as possible. I will also check which manifold I have tonight.

scotts90ranger · Oct 28, 2014

The older Mustangs with the turbo engine had 4 runners in a row instead of the squarish pattern that you have, what you have is easier to work with... one of these days I'm going to put an intercooler on mine, just gotta figure out what I wanna do

ancient · Oct 30, 2014

Check the turbo head closely. They have a rep for cracking. I bought the complete running '88 Bird that seemed to run well but on tear down found a serious crack in a valve seat.

2.3 Ranger Turbo swap

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