2.9L Rebuild - performance improvement advice

[franklin2]

I am definitely with the others, keep the PCV valve in place. That is the one emissions device that is a good thing for the engine and prolongs engine life. One of the by products of combustion is water, among some other nasty stuff. All engines have some blow-by past the rings, so water, fuel and the other nasty stuff gets into the crankcase. This stuff needs to be pulled out of the engine to keep the oil clean as possible. Fuel thins the oil, water gets in the oil and creates a acid which eats at the soft bearing material in the engine. Keep the PCV valve, there are no performance advantages to getting rid of it, lot of advantages to keeping it.

And do not run a thermostat temp lower than 180F. Keeping the engine warmer helps engine wear and also helps the PCV system by keeping the nasty stuff in suspension in the crankcase so the PCV system can pull it out of the engine.

 

[franklin2]

On a electric fan, I have one on my Bronco and had one on my Ranger. Really the only reason I installed it was because my stock plastic mechanical fan was all cracked up and I was afraid it would fly apart. And I had this electric fan laying around from another project, so it was sort of free.

Not sure there are any power gains over the mechanical clutch fan, if the clutch is working. But I do like the increased room to work around the front of the engine, and being able to see a little better up there without the large shroud in the way.

I will warn you, do not go by the engine size recommendations on the side of the box on the electric fans in the store. The fans you can buy in the store are not that strong, which is good for your electrical system, but are not correct for proper cooling. I had two 16 inch fans (the largest ones they sell) on a 7.3 diesel f250 I have, and it would not keep it cool pulling a load. I put one of these large 16 inch fans on the ranger with the 2.9, and it works very well, it will drop the temp right down when it comes on. But the box says this fan is good for a big block. I really doubt that.

 

[Nez'sRanger]

The oil catch can goes in between the pcv valve and the intake, and condensates the oil vapor out of the air before it goes into the intake. It allows the performance upgrade of deleting the pcv, without jeopardizing the bearings and seals inside the engine. If your into the whole "green" thing, it keeps the vapor out of the atmosphere... Granted, I think the 2.9 drips more oil out the bottom than it would ever lose through the pcv, so who cares! Let's just focus on performance! Haha!

 

[MarkusMcBride]

Has anyone got any pictures or info on porting the heads on these 2.9L's?? or picture of the World Heads? any advice here greatly appreciated


Were the world heads ported better? if so I'll try harder to track down pictures of them. they are elusive
Tom Morana has a pic on his site though it does not show ports. Should help some with cleaning up the chambers though
Morana heads bottom view only

Anyone had any luck porting, let me know. Should have them off later today to inspect

 

[sheep herder]

Has anyone got any pictures or info on porting the heads on these 2.9L's?? or picture of the World Heads? any advice here greatly appreciated


Were the world heads ported better? if so I'll try harder to track down pictures of them. they are elusive
Tom Morana has a pic on his site though it does not show ports. Should help some with cleaning up the chambers though
Morana heads bottom view only

Anyone had any luck porting, let me know. Should have them off later today to inspect

@PetroleumJunkie412 posted some pix on head porting. Should be able to find them if you search his posts. Wasn't very long ago, probably in the last 2 weeks.

 

[franklin2]

The oil catch can goes in between the pcv valve and the intake, and condensates the oil vapor out of the air before it goes into the intake. It allows the performance upgrade of deleting the pcv, without jeopardizing the bearings and seals inside the engine. If your into the whole "green" thing, it keeps the vapor out of the atmosphere... Granted, I think the 2.9 drips more oil out the bottom than it would ever lose through the pcv, so who cares! Let's just focus on performance! Haha!

So you re still using a PCV valve? The above makes no sense to me, but oh well.

 

[MarkusMcBride]

Let's not make this thread a PCV debate. Please.

Thank you sheep herder!

 

[8thTon]

A 2.9 just needs 0.1L either way!

 

[MarkusMcBride]

Does anyone have any thoughts on turning the flywheel down a few pounds?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Many years ago I saw an aluminum flywheel. I was quite young and didn't really know why. It makes sense now that the less rotating mass the quicker the engine will rev. I can't say if there is enough meat on a stock one to cut out and not have reliability issues.
Good question tho...

 

[fastpakr]

It makes sense for racing where the engine is constantly turning a high RPM but not at all for a truck.

 

[MarkusMcBride]

It makes sense for racing where the engine is constantly turning a high RPM but not at all for a truck.

I called a machine shop, they said it would be roughly $250 so I'm going to forget it for now. I am straight broke.
I can understand that it makes less sense for a truck. The engine would be able to increase rpm's faster, and slow down faster, but for now, it is a daily drive truck. Less momentum up hills is the downfall I researched

 

[MarkusMcBride]

Can I delete the Vacuum reservoir under the air box? The red EGR line goes to it before the EGR solenoid, and I am deleting the EGR. It would make more room under the hood without the Res so I am wondering if it does much for vacuum components other than the EGR. Please advise

 

[fastpakr]

1) Why?
2) Look on your core support or under hood - there should be a sticker showing the basic vacuum diagram. Among other things, it's used for cruise control if you have that.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

A light flywheel on an short stroked engine like the 2.9 is a bad idea, espicially in a truck.

The 2.9 has a very broad torque curve. As a matter of fact there is a video on youtube of a guy running a bone stock 2.9 with like 170k on it on a chassis dyno. From like 2000rpm to 5300rpm or so it kept right around 150ftlbs (to the wheels).

A lighter flywheel wouldnt really help anything on a 2.9.

IIRC @PetroleumJunkie412 said the 2.9s heads already breathed pretty decent but were strangled by valve size and exhaust porting.

The "truck" 2.9 we got in the states was tuned differently then the euro "car" 2.9s. The truck 2.9s were tuned more for torque, giving up a 20hp advantage (140 vs 160hp) to the euro 2.9.