1988 4x4 ranger first pick-up project

[sgtsandman]

weird they all seem to be identical too, I guess I'll have to find the bell housing or another tranny that'll fit it

It would have to be the whole transmission. The bell housing is all one piece with the transmission body on the Mazda manual transmissions.

 

[JoeLeFou]

Finally moving forward on my ranger, had to rearrange the way it was but now it's sat in the backyard and improvised a garage with a small 10x10 canopy instead of the big 10x20 carport I bought a couple months back but due to the van being wayyy too close decided not to. Been wrenching at it for the past few days removed the intake manifold, fuel rail and injectors, air filter box/hose, radiator, power steering pump, alternator and front grille/headlights.

The wiring harness is a mess most plugs are done broken clips or just missing altogether( soldered ) but other than that no broken bolts, just missing a couple bolts on the valve covers or miss matched bolts.

trying to stay as organized as possible with the smaller stuff and putting bolts back where they go for now, also already want to start cleaning up all that grease, oil and dirt but want to try the hot tank method to clean it ( what the green barrel is for)

 

[pentode]

If those are Scores onion rings I want one.

 

[JoeLeFou]

If those are Scores onion rings I want one.

They are lol super good but scores have gotten rather expensive For my liking so pretty rare I have some haha

 

[pentode]

Tell me about it. Prices have gone nuts in Canada. Last winter I went to the US thinking it wouldn't be as bad, but nope, just as bad. Oh well, enjoy the treat and continued good luck on your project, love the ambition of the abris tempo workshop!

 

[JoeLeFou]

It’s bad pretty much everywhere tbh but still gotta move forward. The treat was yesterday haha just decided to post it here too.
Gotta do what you gotta do when you don’t have a garage, I’ll most likely also get a space heater before it starts to get freezing but first removing the engine and tranny then back it up and possibly remove the axle. To be determined if winter comes early or not haha

 

[JoeLeFou]

got the good ol’2.9 out on monday and filled the bed with parts and tires, no more room in there after stuffing the transfer case and tranny.
Now I’m just sitting wondering what to do keep the 2.9 or swap in the 2.3 and turbo it or **** it and put a 4.0 and call it a day.

i should add that pulling it out was pretty easy even for doing it alone and on dirt the wheels on the hoist are infact not offroad ready lol

 

[JoeLeFou]

Engine is 90% torn down like a dumbass forgot to remove the clutch fan so that's pretty much the part that's holding me down, everything seems fine other than piston bearings that appeared to have walked, crankshaft looks good will have to measure it for roundness, heads( ovalstand) don't seem to be cracked but will need to clean and crack test, cylinders are good other than small scoring on 2 cyl (barely feel it with finger nail)

definitely hard to work on it when it's dark after 4:30 pm and freezing cold haha

torn apart trying to figure out if I should send it to a shop to "properly" resurface or yolo it but in a good way

wondering if I should keep the heads if they're not cracked since I plan on using a 2 row cooler, hopefully overheating shouldn't be a problem

always fun times working on it

 

[JoeLeFou]

long time no see! got back working on Princess finishing up what I couldn't last year due to winter, the 2.9 is 95% torn down but the camshaft is holding me down for some reason, there's a freeze plug right behind it on the transmission side. Having a hard time taking it out and same for one of the allen plugs stripped it out like a dumbass (blocks the oil passage I think?)

Made a fairly stupid mistake, left the truck on jack stands on the dirt without wheels on but laying on the ground under the truck low and behold uneven wet ground and very high winds ( got up to 70km/h recently) it fell over on the axles and slightly on the wheels so thats that, don't do the same mistake as me, at least nobody is injured or dead and nothing is broken which is good.

can't wait for good/better weather

 

[Terrys87]

Hope warmer weather gets here soon. It makes working on trucks so much nicer. Glad to see you making progress.

 

[JoeLeFou]

the cold I don't mind it too much it's more the elements that's bothering me especially the winds making the sides of the canopy slap my ass while working on the engine

 

[Terrys87]

I am on page 5 of your build. On page 2 you asked what that box was for. If I am understanding the question correctly, it is the Charcoal Canister. You have a vacuum line coming from the fuel tank to the canister. From the canister you have another line running up to your Plenum. It is just emission stuff. All it does is keep fumes from getting to the atmosphere and eventually draws them into the engine.

I also seen you have a bad leak and you mentioned it as well. When you do your valve cover gaskets, go with the blue Felpro gaskets. It will save you so much problems and cuts way down on oil leaks. I have fixed some major leaks just replacing the valve cover gaskets.

 

[Terrys87]

I am not the brightest with computers. I have to post with my phone and then get on the computer to spell check and correct. Bad eyesight as well, yea!!! These gasket are not cheap but work really well for me and I think most recommend the same. I also see you are into your flywheel. I eventually have to pull my tramsmission as I have a rear main leak on mine. It is gradually getting worse. Go ahead with a new rear main seal while in there.

I see you have some engine codes. Luckily I have not had to dealwith codes yet. It has been so long since I have had to pull codes on one of these, it is something I have to relearn. Eventually I will. I have seen code readers for these and they are really cheap.

Some of your electrical issues can be grounds like you mentioned. There are more then what you may think. If you want to go thru my build thread, I try and show all the grounds that you may not be aware of. Battery cable has 3 points of contact alone on it. There are lots more grounds then just battery cable. You have one even going to your washer motor.

If your injectors connectors are shot, I found a place that sells new connectors. I cant remember it but will eventually get it.

Seeing you are new to mechanics, a 4 cyclinder motor is not just plug and play and doing a motor swap with a different motor is something I would not recommend for a beginner. Easiest thing for you would be to get a 2.9 motor from a boneyard or similar. Even years of 2.9 have differences. 87 has an EGR tubew where as 88 does not.

Also on my build thread I show the Ignition Switch under the column. It can cause a lot of electrical problems. I think I show quite a bit on it. It is an easyfix and pretty cheap. The head light switch that controls your dash lights and cab lights is not an expensive fix. I still have problems getting the tab to release to get the knob out. I seen people just reach up there and have it out quick. Not me, I get to fool around with it for a while before getting it out.