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kunar's turbo 1st gen


bobbywalter

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woodhaven mi
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sawzall?
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looks good at first glance.

i suggested it ASS U ME-ing you triple checked all of the small eec grounds to the battery once you verified full continuity to pin 22 from the relay.
 


kunar

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looks good at first glance.

i suggested it ASS U ME-ing you triple checked all of the small eec grounds to the battery once you verified full continuity to pin 22 from the relay.
2 eec grounds to the battery, one to the body and continuity from relay to pin 22 have all been checked
 

bobbywalter

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woodhaven mi
Vehicle Year
1988
Make / Model
FORD mostly
Engine Type
V8
Engine Size
BIGGER
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
sawzall?
Tire Size
33-44
My credo
it is easier to fix and understand than "her"
that assumption was assumed safe...lolz...


case grounds on board look good as well.
 

Uncle Gump

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Location
Ottawa IL
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Make / Model
Ranger/BroncoII
Engine Size
4.0L SOHC/2.9L
2WD / 4WD
4WD
My credo
Lead follow or get out of my way
@kunar

How is this little truck doing these days?

Make any plans?
 

kunar

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@kunar

How is this little truck doing these days?

Make any plans?
I drive it around town here and there. I took the exhaust all apart, got a wideband installed and spent some time trying to tune it a little better. Its still rich as hell and burns oil pretty bad. I've figured out how much of a basket case the current drivetrain is and how little sense it makes to do anything with it. Current plan is a 5.0, m5od combo, and probably holley standalone. I was this close (pinch your fingers together, you know what im talking about) to buying an engine but with the current economy as it is, ive decided i should probably wait. Hopefully it'll still get done this summer though! Should be a straight forward swap once i commit to it.
 

PetroleumJunkie412

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Ranger
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2.9l Trinity
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4WD
My credo
Give 'yer balls a tug. Fight me.
What uh.... What are you going to do with the current 2.3 and supporting stuff?
 

kunar

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2WD
What uh.... What are you going to do with the current 2.3 and supporting stuff?
probably throw it on the top of the pile of other 2.3t crap in my garage *shrugs shoulders*
 

Uncle Gump

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Location
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4WD
My credo
Lead follow or get out of my way
Yeah... the economy has put a pinch on a lot of plans for a lot of folks.

I still think it was worth the price of admission.
 

PetroleumJunkie412

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4WD
My credo
Give 'yer balls a tug. Fight me.
probably throw it on the top of the pile of other 2.3t crap in my garage *shrugs shoulders*
Let me know if you want it hauled away.... ;brownbag;
 

kunar

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2WD
Yeah, its a nice little truck for the price i paid. Even though it's got it's quirks, I'm really happy with it. I forgot how much fun these littls 1st gens are. I never owned a 2wd ranger, i always figured if i was gonna have a truck it might as well be 4x4. Well now I'm spoiled with my awd explorer, it can do winter duty. The ranger is just a fun little toy. It doesnt ever have to go out in the rain or snow, it doesnt have to be practical.

Gotta give the PO props for even making the thing run the way that it does, honestly its impressive how much of a hodge podge it is. The bottom end and block is all stock ranger, with a turbo coupe head swapped on. The computer is from like an 87-88 TC, but the VAM is from a 83-86 TC. The Vam is set up as blow through instead of draw through. The turbocharger (im almost certain) is from a mid 70's Mercedes I5 diesel. The engine harness im pretty sure is a modified ranger harness. I'm sure he had a lot of time in research and apparently even hunting down parts. He even had water/methanol injection set up using a small washer fluid pump and drawing from the stock washer fluid reservoir, triggered by a pressure switch. I wish i could meet the man, hopefully he'd be just as happy to see a v8 powering this little truck.
 

PetroleumJunkie412

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Engine Size
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Manual
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4WD
My credo
Give 'yer balls a tug. Fight me.
Man after my own heart.....
 

bobbywalter

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Location
woodhaven mi
Vehicle Year
1988
Make / Model
FORD mostly
Engine Type
V8
Engine Size
BIGGER
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
sawzall?
Tire Size
33-44
My credo
it is easier to fix and understand than "her"

PetroleumJunkie412

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1988
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Ranger
Engine Size
2.9l Trinity
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
4WD
My credo
Give 'yer balls a tug. Fight me.
Well. You have a point. **** VAM.

BTW, the Mercedes 300d Turbos are recogniziable by inducer if nothing else. I've stripped a few out of the boneyard to sell on eBay. If it's the 78-84 one, it's "OK" as an early attempt at a twin scroll.

Mb diesel forums will give you an ID on it from a photo. There's one "good" one from the era (I think the 55 or 60? Trim one). The rest are "ehhhhhhh."
 

kunar

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5.8l
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Parts are starting to come in, ive placed several orders over the past week or so and have gotten probably half of it. Fedex kinda screwed me, they have a rockauto shipment that was supposed to be delivered saturday but i think they lost it. I saw the truck pull up in front of the house while i was out back in the garden, after a few mins the truck drove away and i got a notification that it couldnt be delivered due to weather (70 and sunny) so the driver must not have a "idk wtf im doing" option on their little scanner thingy. Hopefully it shows up on tuesday like the tracking info says now.

I picked up my engine today, 5.8 efi from a 97 f350. I thought it was only fitting to bring it home in the back of the ranger. I got all the computer and wiring and everything with it, hopefully i can just plop it in and make it run. Not looking to spend much time or money at this point, maybe in the future. The goal right now is to get it mounted, bolted up to a trans, get exhaust figured out, that kind of stuff. Im hoping a couple weekends worth of work to make it drivable. I also picked up another roller engine that i may "build" for a winter project. I grabbed an explorer axle from the same guy, I'll probably abuse the 7.5 for a while before i swap in the 8.8 though.





 

Uncle Gump

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Location
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Vehicle Year
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Make / Model
Ranger/BroncoII
Engine Size
4.0L SOHC/2.9L
2WD / 4WD
4WD
My credo
Lead follow or get out of my way
Nice...

Damn engine looks huge in the bed.
 

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