83 2.3 Rebuild

[bmonee5]

Ok so this is a minor rebuild i'm sure when it comes to rebuilds. I read 60/65/0/65 on a compression check before a friend of my dad offered to rebuild my engine. He is a mechanic at my dads work btw not a weekend warrior. Anyways i'm just replacing the 1 bad piston, re-ringing the pistons, honing and cross hatching the cylinders, replacing main bearings, new gaskets, new valve seals, and i believe that is it. I'm just wondering if while the engine is out of my truck if there is anything i should replace or anything? maybe i could save some trouble now instead of a headache later? anything would help? thanks

 

[RangerFabWorks]

i would spend the extra money and replace all the pistons. its just not smart to just replace one with an engine that old.

but definantly do the essentials, oil pump, water pump, timing belt, gaskets, etc.

 

[88_ranger]

Piston

I recently replaced a single piston on my 88 Ranger with the 2.3 in it and it went fine. I replaced the one piston and put on new rings and a single new rod bearing. And obviously I put on all new gaskets too (oil pan, intake and exhaust manifold, head gasket, etc.). I am on a very tight budget so I couldn't afford to rebuild the engine like I would have liked but like I said it worked out fine for me just doing the one. Knock on wood the truck runs great!
FYI...I got my new piston, rings, and rod bearing from www.rockauto.com and that worked out great! Good luck to you!!!

 

[bmonee5]

Thats good to know....i could have bought the other new pistons but i was told " if it ain't broke, don't fix it! " so my dad and the mechanic who did the work told me that the other pistons were fine and like yourself i changed ALL gaskets and piston rings, all the main bearings and new valve seals. I did NOT replace the rod for the chipped piston cause i was told it was fine...so i will also knock on wood with me also doing no head work as i was also told the head was fine exept for changing the valve seals so i sure hope it makes a big difference in PSI in cylinders and more power as my PSI was at 65/65/0/60 in the cylinders. So thanks alot and i'll knock on wood also!

 

[88_ranger]

If it's not broke...don't fix it...

How's that rebuild coming along? I've been running my truck now for about a month and again *knock on wood* it's been doing great even just replacing the one single piston.

 

[bmonee5]

I had a little trouble with a bad vacuum leak right when we got the engine in but we fixed that (the kit came with the wrong intake gasket). But now i believe my carb needs to be tuned or my truck needs to be timed a little better so i'm just gonna take it to the mechanic today and get it all figured out. But engine wise its like night and day but i still didnt' gain much power so hopefully the mechanic can get it worked out but so far so good! (knock on wood for the other pistons!)

 

[88_ranger]

wrong gasket

I also got the wrong Intake Manifold gasket with my head gasket kit. I found out that I needed one for a 4 cyl. Mustang which means obviously that it's not the original cylinder head. I also was really really low on power when mine was put back together and it was indeed the timing that was really far off that caused that. I got the timing where I want it and now I have the power that it should (well a whole 90 HP at least).
What happened when you brought the truck to the mechanic? Did he set the timing for you?

 

[powerwagon]

I rebuilt my 88 2.3(but i machined and replaced every thing exept the roller cam, crank,oil pump and rods.
I have a 83 2.0 i think in the barn and it has the round intake ports.

 

[bmonee5]

Ya what happened was when me and my dad set the timing we set it thinking the marks were 1 degree...so we set it like 6 degrees after BTDC. Well...turns out those marks are 2 degree's each so i was actually at 12 BTDC. Anyways its running good now its still reallllllly cold blooded. Its a manual choke and i guess you just have to let it warm up good or else it will die at stop signs or if i slow down too much when down-shifting into 1st, i thought the choke would help with this but its a manual choke. Anyways yeah i'm up and running good!