2.3L ('02-'11) Best years for the 2.3l Durtec Engine?

[Tikker]

Hello all,

My '03 Mazda B2300 is puffing out a little white smoke, so I'm thinking about finding another engine to swap in. I've looked into other Durtec options like what was installed in other car's like the Miata or Mazda 3, and thought I could probably use the head/intake to help with performance but have the block rebuilt to keep the torque in the truck 2.3 version.

I'm also wondered if all the 2.3l Durtec's in the Rangers were the same or if they changed much in the later years to make it worth the effort to look for one of those.

Not looking to go crazy with anything like a turbo, but something to add some extra horsepower and throttle response. With gas prices looking to hit $4 a gallon or more depending if a war breaks out involving China/Russia/Iran/North Korea.

I found an '04 2.3l in a truck with 59k on an auction site that has yet to complete, but holding out in case there are better options for me. If anything the seats would be a nice bonus on the purchase.

 

[RonD]

2004 to 2011 2.3l DOHC didn't have heated thermostat or IMRC so have higher HP rating but.................

Your 2003 computer will set codes if it doesn't see the heater thermostat and IMRC system
But there are work arounds for both

 

[Tikker]

2004 to 2011 2.3l DOHC didn't have heated thermostat or IMRC so have higher HP rating but.................

Your 2003 computer will set codes if it doesn't see the heater thermostat and IMRC system
But there are work arounds for both

I had looked through the years, but couldn't find a change in horsepower listed from '03 to '10, 02 seems to have a lower hp/tq rating than '03 though.

But I do recall that I read somewhere that the intakes did change sometime after '03, but wasn't sure when. I figured that if a 2.3 or 2.0 Mazda intake from a car would fix that issue and possibly have better airflow than the truck version, probably change compression too depending on chamber size.

So if I swapped the computer from the doner truck, that would resolve that issue if I only used a Duratec from the Ford trucks?

 

[RonD]

If you swap computers you will have to deal with PATS(passive anti-theft system)
And in 2004 Rangers all got digital clusters which would also need to be dealt with, so overall not a good idea

Not sure why the 2003 2.3l DOHC Ranger was included in the higher HP rating, I am pretty sure 2001.5 to 2003 all used the same parts
2004 was when Ford changed the intakes

Better to swap in a 2004+ 2.3l and then tackle the codes on the 2003 computer