85 Ranger - where to start under the hood

[KimB]

Hi Folks,
first time poster here with some questions about a 1985 ranger I recently bought. Under the hood is a real mess, vacuum lines missing or broken, various plugs / broken wires that arent connected into anything, stuff like that.

The truck is currently running (although not well).
-idle is very high.
-Ive got to pump the gas half a dozen times on a cold start, and even then sometimes it will stall out right away (even with manual choke on), and will stall moving into reverse or drive until it warms up. Sometimes upon touching the gas, it will stumble and almost stall before recovering and accelerating.
-truck seems gutless, even for a 35 year old 2.8l engine.

i want to switch to the duraspark ignition and non feedback carb as described in the tech section, but its such a mess under the hood, Im not even sure whats been done to it before and what would need to be done to work properly...

This was a farm truck for a long time and it seems like theres been a few farmer fixes over the years.
Here are some pictures to show you whats going on.

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated!

Kim

 

[ericbphoto]

Nice. In some ways, old is good. Things were much simpler then. I would recommend getting the EVTM (electrical&vacuum troubleshooting manual) for that truck. Then you will have all the diagrams you need to sort it out. EVTMs are often on eBay, either in paperback or on disc. There are some drawings in our tech library. But they may not be exactly what you need.

I would start by making sure you don't have any vacuum leaks. That will affect how the engine runs. Check all belts and hoses and replace whatever is bad. Check all fluids and change any that look or smell bad, along with associated filters.

 

[dvdswan]

Welcome to the site.

 

[RobbieD]

The Duraspark conversion would be easier (and better, in my opinion) than trying to to get all of the original engine management system working correctly and reliably again.

The 2.8L is actually a good engine, especially when "retro'd" into it's basic, old-school form.

Best advice I have for you is to spend some time here on TRS reading through past posts on this conversion, getting familiar with what's involved, and then planning things through in advance. As mentioned, an EVTM will be a great help.

Good idea to make sure that the basic engine is sound before doing anything. Read the plugs, do a compression test if warranted. Include addressing any leaks during the conversion; new valve stem seals are a good idea, too. Go through and make sure that the engine cooling system is in good shape.

On an '85, I'm assuming that the truck has the A4LD auto trans; if so I see your biggest issue will be dealing with addressing the trans solenoid.

Welcome to TRS, and good luck.

 

[franklin2]

1st order of business; Find a rebuilt or good used distributor from a late 70's mustang or pinto with the 2.8. This will be the most difficult part to obtain.

Then decide what ignition system you want to use. You have two choices; 1. The original durspark II box or 2. A GM HEI module.

I went with the GM HEI module in combo with the late 70's duraspark distributor.

I recommend doing this is steps. Replace the distributor and ignition, and get it running. You will probably have to still pump the gas to get it running, that sounds like a carb problem. But I would at least get it running with the new dist system and get the timing set.

Then you can replace the carb. My old original computer carb ran excellent, so I kept running it for over a year. But I noticed my fuel mileage wasn't that great, only about 15mpg. I then took a chance and bought a china carb off ebay. I had a few problems with it at first, but once I got those ironed out it runs better than ever and I get 20 mpg with it now.

Once you get everything converted over and running good, you can start over at the pass side kick panel in the interior, and pull that off and pull the computer out. Pull the big wiring plug out, and start disconnecting things. Push the large grommet out of the firewall and push the large plug through the firewall, and start disconnecting what you need to get all that plug and it's wiring out of there. That whole mess on the pass side inner fender can leave.

 

[KimB]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, it's the 4 speed automatic.

I'm headed to a pretty big junkyard next week, hopefully they will have the correct distributor and ignition.

Can the feedback carburetor still be used properly once all the electrical, vacuum, and old ignition is removed?

I'm in the process of changing fluids right now. I haven't done it yet, but the brake fluid looks like dark roast coffee. So that's nice.

Good idea with the compression test, and electrical diagrams. Ive got a Haynes manual, but I'm not sure it's specific enough for that purpose.

Thanks everyone.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

You will want to get rid of the feedback carb.

 

[KimB]

You will want to get rid of the feedback carb.

Would the carburetor from the ignition system donor vehicle work?

 

[ford4wd08]

I suggest you read some of my threads as my I went through a lot of the same things with my '85 and A4LD in my Bronco 2.

I suggest the Duraspark distributor, which you won't likely find in a junkyard. I ordered mine from O'riellys.

I also went with the GM HEI module, very easy to do and only really requires two wire splices in the original harness.

I found a 2150 carb from a pinto on here and bought it off a member. It runs pretty well for the most part, but still has a few quirks. I might end up replacing it one day, not sure.

Get it running well, then we can deal with the A4LD.

The 2.8 isn't big on power, but it is reliable once you get it in duraspark mode and converted. I have put over 6,000 miles on mine since Oct commuting.

 

[franklin2]

Like I mentioned, you can use the computer carb, and it will start and run as good as the carb is. I ran it for a year. But if you can get another carb, it does run better.

I would have it running, do the ignition swap first, and then get it running again with the old carb. Once you pass the ignition hurdle and get it running again, then you can swap the carb.

I am now running a cheap chinese knock-off 2100 carb from ebay. It was about $100. The original carb has a 1.08 venturi, which makes the carb about 287 cfm. With these knock-off carbs, the smallest I could find was a 1.14 venturi, which is 300cfm. I was worried about that, but it works fine.

The knock-off carb is new and shiny. It bolted right in place. But the throttle arm is slightly different, so I had to add a throttle spring to the throttle. I also had to adjust the fast idle adjustment, and I swapped the electric choke off the old carb onto the knock-off carb. It ran great the first time out, I was really happy with it. But the next time I went out it would buck and jerk under load. I tore it apart and found the power valve had not been tightened, or the gasket under it shrunk from the fuel, I don't know. I swapped in the power valve from the old carb and it has been running great, better than I ever could have hoped for.

Any used carb you get you should tear down and put a rebuild kit in it. If you buy a brand new knock-off carb, I would recommend you know something about carbs before you do, you might be tearing into it to make tweaks.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have had great luck running the regular Duraspark system, run a regular duraspark can coil and not your stock one.

Eliminate vacuum leaks. Looks like you have dealer installed cruise (the big can on the DS inner fender) which may be another vacuum leak. Eliminate it for now but if it was me once you get it figured out I would try to get it to work. If you can't and do want cruise the regular Ford system is fairly simple to install.

 

[Shran]

I Duraspark swapped several 2.8s years ago...easy process on 83/84, 85 is slightly different. One little quirk I ran into with the Duraspark coil was that I had to add a ballast resistor, that coil only need like 8v and a full 12v from your battery will overheat it. That's the nice thing about using a GM HEI module and your TFI coil, you don't need to buy all that crap...just the HEI module and some wire.

If you can find a good junkyard carb, that would be ideal... preferable over a Chinese one... but either will work. The carb you have now can be used, if I remember right you have to build a metering block for it though, similar to this: http://www.cardomain.com/ridepost/3816516/1986-ford-ranger-regular-cab/

One other thing, if you look for distributors for say a '78 Mustang II, there are three options: single vacuum, double vacuum, or Bosch. You don't really want the Bosch one, it uses a funky cap and the wires to fit it are kinda hard to find as well.

 

[franklin2]

I Duraspark swapped several 2.8s years ago...easy process on 83/84, 85 is slightly different. One little quirk I ran into with the Duraspark coil was that I had to add a ballast resistor, that coil only need like 8v and a full 12v from your battery will overheat it. That's the nice thing about using a GM HEI module and your TFI coil, you don't need to buy all that crap...just the HEI module and some wire.

If you can find a good junkyard carb, that would be ideal... preferable over a Chinese one... but either will work. The carb you have now can be used, if I remember right you have to build a metering block for it though, similar to this: http://www.cardomain.com/ridepost/3816516/1986-ford-ranger-regular-cab/

One other thing, if you look for distributors for say a '78 Mustang II, there are three options: single vacuum, double vacuum, or Bosch. You don't really want the Bosch one, it uses a funky cap and the wires to fit it are kinda hard to find as well.

If you are careful and use the factory harness, the duraspark II system will plug right in, the harness already has the resistor made into it. The 4 cylinders used the duraspark II system, if you look at the factory diagrams it's in all the rangers and BII's. If they used the TFI, they used the same harness, on the vehicle side, and just made the wiring different on the engine side to get a full 12v for that system.

 

[RobbieD]

On my conversion I made the metering block, and rebuilt and reused my original 2150A carb. The carb, and the whole conversion, has worked fine for 13 years now.

 

[franklin2]

On my conversion I made the metering block, and rebuilt and reused my original 2150A carb. The carb, and the whole conversion, has worked fine for 13 years now.

I am curious if you have ever checked your fuel mileage?