How stout are 2.3s?

Mightyfordranger · Apr 22, 2016

From my research on building 2.3 turbos I haven't built one yet but I'm hunting for facts.

Here are my questions:

What can these little guys actually take I have read 450hp before they have problems holding together after that with nothing more than forged pistons.

Also can I use a block that uses the DIS system and put my 88 distributor etc in it I know they have a plug in the block for the hole.

Mark_88 · Apr 22, 2016

Not firsthand knowledge of the HP...but I had a friend of a friend of a friend say he knows a guy who builds race engines and he put one together that pushed 700+ hp with no problems...expensive as all git out but potential...

I'm not sure what the limiting factors are...

And apparently up to 94 2.3's had the distributor mechanism or were capable of taking a distributor...when they changed that out for the oil pump it ceased to be distributor friendly...

If you won a lottery jackpot and have some spare cash to blow up...I am working on a retirement GOfundME and could use an influx of cash...

Mightyfordranger · Apr 22, 2016

Thanks for the info but as far as the retirement. man if I had that kinda money I'd help ya out for damn sure but I'm a severe budget builder lol

Mark_88 · Apr 22, 2016

No problem...I'm working on the one in a million theory...if you ask a million people to give you money at least one of them will...lol

You are only about number 3 so I've got a long way to go before this happens...

BTW, this is a version of my friend's way of getting laid...he's probably asked up to about 800,000 girls by now to sleep with him and since he's almost as old as I am...probably not going to make it under the million girls...unless he moves into a seniors home and I just had to say that to make someone violently ill thinking of two seniors...

Ugh, I can't say it...

Hagan · Apr 22, 2016

They are very stout engines. I used to have a 2.3t in my Ranger and although it was great for the street I felt it lacked low end torque.

I blew the head gasket in my Ranger with the 2.3t because I left it running with no fan on it and it over heated. I drove the 60 miles home and it was shaking severely but still ran. I had to keep my foot on the gas to keep it running. I drove it home and it sat for a week. I pulled the head, put a new gasket on, new head bolts and it still runs to this day. I sold it for stupid cheap and I see the guy who swapped it into his b2 all the time.

I love them...but v8's are for me.

85_Ranger4x4 · Apr 22, 2016

Mark_88 said:
No problem...I'm working on the one in a million theory...if you ask a million people to give you money at least one of them will...lol

Just ask a million people for a dollar :secret:

Turbo engines... I don't know, it just seems like they don't stay together like a N/A. You hear some have great luck with turbo 4's and others don't, hard to tell if it is actually the engine or the guy that put it together (everyone on the internet is an expert) But then as a general rule you start doubling (or more) the hp of any engine and you are going to open yourself up to issues too. :dntknw:

Really depends on what you want though. I had a turbo 2.0 in a Plymouth Laser/Mitsubishi Eclipse. For a 2wd car (that isn't much lighter than a 2wd Ranger) its 200hp was a hoot, I could drive it HOWEVER I wanted and never got below 20mpg. From personal experience a V8 need not apply. Then it would turn around and push 30mpg on the highway. It didn't have the low end my 302 does... but for what it was it didn't really need it either. A lifted 4x4 that occasionally tows has different power requirements than a car or a truck used like a car. The car had 170k on it when I sold it and would still do a nice second gear scratch (fwd) A stock 2.3T has similar hp to my old 4G63T, I have never been around one though.

Mark_88 · Apr 22, 2016

85_Ranger4x4 said:
Just ask a million people for a dollar

That's another way to do it... :icon_rofl:

scotts90ranger · Apr 23, 2016

They're pretty stout. I'm pushing near 200hp on stock turbo engine components and the only issue was me not torqueing the rod nuts properly last time I put it together, broke a rod cap loose at about 5k rpm which ended that engine... this time I put on ARP bolts on the rods and installed properly

All stock components can handle around 250hp before you need bigger injectors.

I agree with Hagan on the low end component, I have 35" tires and 5.13:1 gears and I wish the gears were lower... Cruising at 60mph the manifold pressure is atmospheric and I get 15-16mpg mixed city/highway on my commute.

If you want to have a sleeper pushing v8 horsepower on a 4 cylinder and assemble things right you can do that on the cheap really.

Yes you can use a DIS block with a distributor as long as you use the 4 plug head (the 8 plug head intake manifold doesn't clear a distributor), but around '94 they stopped having that plug for the oil pump drive and the oil pump moved to behind the aux pulley...

Mightyfordranger · Apr 23, 2016

Thanks for all the Info guys I just can't seem to find " the right way" to turbo something obviously forged pistons are a must and I am not currently building one right now this is the research stage still but in my reading it seems like I need boost controllers and all this crazy stuff a different computer and diff injectors I'm looking for a 190-200 HP dependably running 2.3 in my truck and it seems as if trying to learn about turbos is like drinking g from a fire hose.

And every swap or build page does it differently so where can I find a tride and true way to build me one

scotts90ranger · Apr 24, 2016

Find a stock turbo engine, it'll have forged pistons in it (or get a set of used forged pistons, or there's some reasonably priced ones in a link on my most recent thread in the forced induction area) along with the right fuel injectors, and if you can find the ECM to go with it it will drive the injectors... If you already have a fuel injected 2.3L Ranger, wiring is simple as it's just a matter of moving about 10 wires, adding a couple for the vane airflow meter and that's about it. The stock turbo 2.3L is somewhere around 170hp at I believe 9psi, mine with the stock turbo and a ported head was making 12psi I think (was 16psi before the ported head) so that's probably around 200hp and is turn key and pretty stock... If you find the right deal on a used engine you can probably be in it under $500 and be at what you want

85_Ranger4x4 · Apr 24, 2016

scotts90ranger said:
The stock turbo 2.3L is somewhere around 170hp at I believe 9psi

I thought they were hotter than that so I checked, wikipedia has them at 155hp in a Turbocoupe until they got a intercooler in '87, then they hit 190hp.

I thought they could be pretty close to my 4G63T...

turbo91xlt · Apr 24, 2016

85_Ranger4x4 said:
I thought they were hotter than that so I checked, wikipedia has them at 155hp in a Turbocoupe until they got a intercooler in '87, then they hit 190hp.

I thought they could be pretty close to my 4G63T...

The 85.5-'86 SVO mustang with its more aggressive timing ecu is rated 200-205hp. Of course the 4g63 will make more power stock for stock (and probably mod for mod too lol). Our little limas after all are just old school 8v iron head engines that were design to move a pinto around hahaha.

85_Ranger4x4 · Apr 24, 2016

turbo91xlt said:
The 85.5-'86 SVO mustang with its more aggressive timing ecu is rated 200-205hp. Of course the 4g63 will make more power stock for stock (and probably mod for mod too lol). Our little limas after all are just old school 8v iron head engines that were design to move a pinto around hahaha.

Mine was 190hp stock, it was a 1990.

Mightyfordranger · Apr 25, 2016

Ok I'll do some more digging I found an entire setup with the block and everything for sale 400$ but I was a day late on it....):

How stout are 2.3s?

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