Tdi in 90s ranger

[Blazekeith76]

Has anyone swapped a tdi into an older ranger? Early 90s? Been trying to find something but seems I can only find swaps into newer rangers

 

[dvdswan]

Welcome to the site. I'm sure someone has... At least thought about it.

1989 XLT 4X4 Diesel Swap | The Ranger Station

 

[Blazekeith76]

Thanks man. I just picked up a rust free 91 and want to do the swap, only thing I’m too worried about is the crossmember for the front housing

 

[86MUDRCJ]

I have been also wondering about this... I have seen them done multiple times with Toyotas. But the crossmembers might be one of those "one off jobs"

 

[Omen]

I swapped an ALH into an 87 XLT Super cab. The engine fit between the stock x member & hood with sagging original body mounts with @ 1/2’’ clearance to the x member. The only 2 clearance issues i ran into were at the firewall and steering box. I pounded the firewall for clearance and cut the stock a/c bracket off & ground down the flashing for Steering box clearance. In 70k miles is has not rubbed once.
The crappy part here is that the power steering box has to come out to replace the alt. I would recommend a new alternator while the engine is out.

Greengeekers build was informative. I did find most of the later swap info to be very relevant to my truck.

 

[ghost762]

Would love to put a 3.0L TDI from a Toureg in my 98 Ranger.

 

[Vindictus]

This guy did it https://www.therangerstation.com/forums/index.php?threads/introduction-new-member.199686/

 

[Omen]

I like the VW Alh power delivery and driveabilty enough that I would do it again. Mine is tuned to 110HP and was intended as a people mover though more than a tow vehicle. Towing ability should improve with 4.10 gears though

 

[Andrew.V]

I like the VW Alh power delivery and driveabilty enough that I would do it again. Mine is tuned to 110HP and was intended as a people mover though more than a tow vehicle. Towing ability should improve with 4.10 gears though

I'm looking at doing this in my 1992 5 speed truck what rear gear ratio are you running and what kind of mpg? i'm mainly going to do highway cruising so about 75 mph ( 120 km) just trying to figure some details out before its to late. Thanks

 

[Omen]

On mine truck the cruise is good @ 68-72mph @2300 rpm. This is with 31” tall tires and 3.73 gears. It goes down the highway nicely but falls short in several areas: 1) starting from a stop on a hill or loaded. 1st gear is not low enough 2) reverse is useless because it is not even close to low enough. Worse than 1st gear even & i use low range in reverse frequently 3) useable torque in overdrive. It cruises nice but requires a downshift into 4th to overcome hills. It handles freeway overpasses well but not long grades. An upgraded tune will also help with this as I am only running a Malone stage 1 tune. One other thing to keep in mind when going from a v6 to an inline 4, is that the 4 will idle about 900 rpm instead of the 6’s 650. In my experience it is a significant change that needs compensated for in terms of gearing. In short, my opinion is that gearing is key.