need a little more umphf!!

[Mr.Stoke_Me]

Hey guys,

Im new to TRS and i've recently picked up a 91 2.3 ranger with a 5spd and its 2wd. She only has about 83k miles on her but she is a little low on power(im used to drivin my 96 powerstroke). ive already opened the exhaust up a bit(removed cat and welded a straight pipe...i dont want it to be real loud so i left the stock muffler on. I found a set of hooker performance long tubes 1 5/8 primary and 2.5 collector which i will purchase in a month or so. i dont have to run a cat where i live but id prefer to put on back on, so a magnaflow highflow should do the job, along with a dual in dual out magna 18"muffler. so that takes care of the exhaust. i also plan on installin a mild cam in the near future. the only problem i have is the intake..that itty bitty mas is killing my "performance"!!so if you guys have any tips or tricks..or know where i can find a better one to install it would be great! all comments and post are accepted with much gratitude!!thanx

 

[Earl43P]

4.10 gears will wake it right up.

 

[Bryan22]

if you really want some more power turbo it . If you want to keep it N/a you're probably going to want to have some head work done, and a cam isn't a bad idea either. I doubt you'll notice very much difference with the exhaust alone.

 

[Mr.Stoke_Me]

true..the cat didnt do much..and i think i may have lost too much backpresure aswell..ive noticed a drop in fuel mileage..tho it could just be that i need to take my foot out of the firewallanother guy suggested 4:10 gears??im not sure i wanna go that route as with p205/70r14's im already running mid 3k on the tach..i just made a 1200 mile trip and averaged about 20 mpg doing about 80 average with p185/70r14's..i know the bigger the tire the less power your going to feel, but it really didnt drop much torqe so im quite impressed!im not to sure about the 4:10's though??what do you think?gas vs performance??also..in a few months id like to install an e-fan..to take a little more strain off the motor?but i have some heating/coolin problems that need to be fixed b4 i can do any more..i turn my heat on and smoke or sumthing off the sort pours out of my vents....NOT GOOD!the previous owner did some jerryriggin on it so its a ****in mess now.but i think the heater core went out so they just bypassed it..not too much work..i just dont feel like removing my dash to replace it!!thanx man

 

[BlackBII]

Only way to increase power without internal engine mods is with forced induction, or lower gearing.

3K at 80mph isnt bad..you could regear and settle for 70 mph. More power and better fuel economy.

Backpressure...there's that term again..it's called exhaust velocity, and thats what you lose by opening the exhaust up too much. ie. removing the cat. (it's also illegal)

 

[Mr.Stoke_Me]

yes i know the term back pressure(i.e. exhaust velocity, most commonly refered to as back pressure) and yes it is illegal...pending which state you live in. now as far as regearing..i dont do much highway driving..the trip was,,well i suppose you could call it a test run. and at 80 i was running atleast 3500-3700 rpm..now..with the larger tires..i havent had it up to 80 yet just drivin around town.my guess is id still prolly be running atleast 3200-3400 rpm. Aswell i intend to purchase a locker or posi unit for the rear end(i havent decide. the weather doesnt get too bad that a few houndred pounds of sand bags wont fix. i just hate driving around with all that weight) so if i decide to regear, thats when ill do it.for now(i.e. next few months im goin to leave it as is)im just looking for a few upgrades to wake it up a bit and get a few more mpgs. thanx dude

 

[BlackBII]

yes it is illegal...pending which state you live in. now as far as regearing..

It's a federal law. Doesn't matter what state you're in.

Your best bet at more MPG's is a lighter foot.

Good luck.

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

The long tube headers will only shift the power band up, which is only going to make it more unimpressive at normal driving RPMs. What you want is a factory shorty header from a 93-97 2.3 ranger. Leave the cat on unless it's leaking, then replace it. Any old "performance" muffler will help a very little bit, but please don't get a glasspack as the sound of a glasspacked 2.3 will make you want to puke every time you drive it. The intake can be replaced. When mine was naturally aspirated I just made an intake tube out of 2" PVC pipe and 45 degree elbow, then used 2" nominal pipe size rubber pipe connectors to clamp it to the MAF on one end and the throttle body on the other. You can buy adapters to put a conical air filter on the other side of the MAF. All in all, I had less than 50 bucks in the entire intake, filter included.

The other thing is rear gears. I think 3.73's are ideal for a two wheel drive with ~26" tires, and 4.10's ideal for 4x4 with 28" tires. Also, your rpms seem off. According to my calculations, with 3.73 gears, 215/70R15 tires, at 80 mph, your RPMs should be 2839 in 5th and 3736 in 4th. Also keep in mind that your speedometer does not auto adjust for tire size changes, which can make you think your spinning more or less RPMs at a given speed than you really are.

If you really want to wake the 2.3 up, tear the engine apart, port the head, raise the compression, and get a better cam. Or turbo it like I did, and eat 5.0 rangers for lunch.

When my ranger was naturally aspirated with the above-described exhaust and intake mods and 3.73 gears with 215/70R15 tires it had plenty of power for me. It went 80+ mph, hauled whatever I could fit in the bed (including 2000 lbs of gravel) and was generally a pleasant drive and yielded mid-20s fuel economy. If you want more than this, get a V6, V8, or turbo it.

 

[Mr.Stoke_Me]

thanx for the tips dude..i may try that intake,and you seem to know alot about the 2.3. so thanx. i do plan on replacing the cat with a high flow magna 1 in 2 out and adding about an 18" magna 2 in 2 out muffler..and i hate glasspacks period..so no worries!do you know where i could possibly find a set of those shorty headers you spoke of..prolly online im sure..but could they be ordered at...say the ford dealership?but other than exhaust and intake work plus a mild cam the only other future mods will include more spark and MAYBE some headwork and pistons(possibly bore it out a bit)...oh.....and a new heater core!!thanx again dude

oh and my speeds were dead on in the first post..i have a gps unit in my truck..so speeds are right..and i dont beleive the tach is off either..at idle it shows around 800 rpm and that little 2.3 scream right when the tach hits the redline..so im pretty sure its pretty close...but thanx

 

[Mr.Stoke_Me]

i got lucky on this truck..she kinda has a mind of her own though..i cant break this darn thing!! i can run the dog piss out of 'er and its like she just wants more!!!ohwell guess thats just a ford for ya! my powerstroke is the same way!!

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

Yeah the lima 4-bangers are dang tough little engines. They're kinda like the 300 straight-sixes in terms of indestructability. Everyone seems to think that it's a 4-banger, it HAS to be a weak little engine. But once you own one, you realized that the 2.3 is one tough piece of cast iron.

As for obtaining a factory shorty header, your best bet is the junk yard. They are such a tough piece that the aftermarket never made them because there was no demand, which means you can't just go to autozone and pick one up. I suppose you could get one from a dealer, but they will want a LOT more than a junk yard. You'll also need the EGR pipe to match the header, as the one on your truck now won't fit.

 

[Mr.Stoke_Me]

speakin of a 300cu..i have gotten this crazy idea to attempt to drop a 300 into my little ranger..you know everyone does a v8 swap and stuff...but...i dont wanna be like the rest of the crowd you know..just a crazy thought...if this motor croaks out then ill look more into doing the swap...my ultimate crazy idea is to STUFF a 7.3 powerstroke into it and convert it to a 4wd..and use it as a toy on the weekends!!but thanx...im gunna have to make a trip to a junkyard soon to get some interior parts..so ill see if i can find the manifold you were talkin about

 

[rurouni20xx]

what gears are in the trk at the moment? my factory 7.5 rear end on my 92 2wd 2.3 has 3.73s in it and im running 215/70r14s on the rear i pull close to 100mph using oil and got 25mpg the other day coming home from baton rouge. my speedo stops at 85 i dont hav a tach and the speedo reads 20 over sometimes but the needle was buried and the guy next to me said we were around 100mph the whole way when i finally stopped for gas close to the house. all i did was move the maf to the first bend in front of the throttle body, remove the air horn thing and install the maf round filter adapter out of an escort zx2 w/ a spectre air filter on the intake side. the exhaust on the other hand i come off the factory manifold to a 40 inch glasspack then on the end i hav a vx 40 series copy to keep the noise down. i plan on porting my intake manifold pretty soon my only problem is i give it gas and it seems like its leaning out, makes a hella sucking noise and seems like im not getting enuff gas for the amount of air im feeding it. i kno im going full dump i did the throttle cable mod just wish i knew an easy way to bump the fuel on my obd1 motor to experiment...but neway id look at the id tag on the rear end and see wat gears u hav my old 93 4wd 3.0 v6 ranger had 3.45s in the rear and doesnt pull near as good as this is u may just need a simple regear, and 4.10s is a lil on the extreme side but fun as hell...lol

 

[Mr.Stoke_Me]

ii must have some taller gears..mine cant put a finger on 100mph..she is sreamin at 90 in fourth which is right in the powerband..5th is just an overdrive so its got no power in 5th..even in fourth ive got to be doin over 60 to get any quick response out of it.it seems like it has no power..then all of a sudden its like a little snail size turbo spoolin up around 3k on the tach and she starts takin off all the way up to about 4500rpm..no power b4 or after that range rpm..it does good to pull about 80 on a good stretch or on the highway..but i can cruise at 85 in 5th all day long..she dont use any oil...1200 miles and not a drop missing so thats good. not sure what gear set it has..but ill find out..i dont think ill go with 4:10's..but maybe high 3's..id honestly say it prolly has the 3:45 like your other truck.on the trip though i was running p185/70r14's so i only averaged about 20 mpg..with about 600 lbs off shit in the back..so..its not too bad..havent done a mileage test since i been in town..i cant keep my foot out of it.im a little confused on the way you set up your intake tho..a little more thourough explanation would be much apreciated..and did you use the same mas or did you swap it?thats really the only thing that holds this truck back..its got the fuel...but it cant suck the air in cuz that mas is smaller than my d i c k!!!thanx bro

 

[exbass94]

To find out what gears you have....http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Axles.html