"Oh no, you bought some guy's used truck!"

[Li'l Work Truck]

View attachment 136900

That's a cool truck! I'm contemplating a turbo for my 2.3 down the line. I plan on getting a small pop-up camper for my wife and myself, like a Coleman Duck, and I heard the Mazdaspeed 6 was a good donor for the turbo. It would help me out on hills. What did you do with yours? How did you build it? I imagine you have a thread here?

 

[pjtoledo]

for a Duratec Turbo I would consider the 2.0 ECOBoost that comes from the factory.
that engine in my 4000+ Lb 2019 Edge is plenty of power.

integrating it into a Ranger may be somewhat of a challenge.

or for low end power to tow try the Duratec 2.5 from Fusions.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

for a Duratec Turbo I would consider the 2.0 ECOBoost that comes from the factory.
that engine in my 4000+ Lb 2019 Edge is plenty of power.

integrating it into a Ranger may be somewhat of a challenge.

or for low end power to tow try the Duratec 2.5 from Fusions.

I saw how much power those 2.0 swaps can make! Some guy put one in a fox body Mustang! It's awesome! Personally, I'd like to bolt a turbo to my 2.3 to keep things simplistic, and just add a few ft. lbs. of torque. Something like 7 PSI. I figured it might be easier than a complete engine swap to put a mechanical wastegate on a turbo, bolt it to a log manifold, run it through an FMIC, and call it a day. If I made 200 HP I'd be happy.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I saw how much power those 2.0 swaps can make! Some guy put one in a fox body Mustang! It's awesome! Personally, I'd like to bolt a turbo to my 2.3 to keep things simplistic, and just add a few ft. lbs. of torque. Something like 7 PSI. I figured it might be easier than a complete engine swap to put a mechanical wastegate on a turbo, bolt it to a log manifold, run it through an FMIC, and call it a day. If I made 200 HP I'd be happy.

The older 2.3 was easy to turbo back in the day, just find a t-bird or the like that came factory with a 2.3 turbo and swap what you needed to make the Ranger 2.3 a turbo. Used to be a big thing.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yeah, my 2.3's are all the Limas not duratec so completely different animal... although your plan sounds reasonable, you could probably handle 5psi in stock form just adding a turbo though... but I haven't looked too much into those...

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

The older 2.3 was easy to turbo back in the day, just find a t-bird or the like that came factory with a 2.3 turbo and swap what you needed to make the Ranger 2.3 a turbo. Used to be a big thing.

Yeah, my 2.3's are all the Limas not duratec so completely different animal... although your plan sounds reasonable, you could probably handle 5psi in stock form just adding a turbo though... but I haven't looked too much into those...

The Limas sound like rock solid engines. I did see that the turbo swap for the Duratec engine is more complicated than swapping in the 2.5L from the Fusion, with about the same power, and direct bolt in. I have a new goal.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I think the '09-12 Escape's have a 2.5L as well, rated at like 175hp if I remember right... spent some time on my brothers '11 escape engine lately that has a recessed valve (at a mere 250k...), good engine, would be better if the valvetrain was adjustable or hydraulic...

Lima's are great, just not known for power but they have reliability covered... I'm more familiar with them than the duratec's so I got my '97 for a daily driver... if they had a duratec in twin I beam suspension I would have gone that way . Really it doesn't matter but I have zero regrets with what I found...

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

I think the '09-12 Escape's have a 2.5L as well, rated at like 175hp if I remember right... spent some time on my brothers '11 escape engine lately that has a recessed valve (at a mere 250k...), good engine, would be better if the valvetrain was adjustable or hydraulic...

Lima's are great, just not known for power but they have reliability covered... I'm more familiar with them than the duratec's so I got my '97 for a daily driver... if they had a duratec in twin I beam suspension I would have gone that way . Really it doesn't matter but I have zero regrets with what I found...

175 is a good bump from 143, and I understand that you can tune the stock 2.3 ECU to get it closer to 190. Add a 2.5" exhaust and cat, and throttle response is improved above 3200 RPM. I looked into what you said, and I found out my 2.3L also has a non-adjustable valvetrain. What caused the recessed valve issue with your brother's engine? Failed lash adjuster?

 

[scotts90ranger]

Not sure what caused it, probably a worn valve, one of the exhaust valves was leaking causing a misfire, we just put on a shorter "bucket" for now but will likely pull the head at some point and change all the exhaust valves...