88 to 94 2.3 swap

[Twisted4x4]

My dad just gave me his 88 2wd Ranger, he bought himself an 03 model 2wd Ranger. However the orginal 2.3 has just rolled 300,000 but seems to be on its last leg. Luckily dad found another 2.3 out of a 94 Ranger. Bought it for $250 and has ALL the wiring from under the hood. I know that bolting the new motor in wont be any problem, but I have the feeling that wiring it all up could be an issue. Luckily I also have an 89 with the same motor to use as a reference guide. Any suggestions as to what wires I do and dont need? I have the feeling this is gonna be a fun filled adventure


Jon

 

[Bryan22]

i'd just use everything off the 88. if you don't want to swap the heads you could probably just leave the plugs in the drivers side of the 94 head. your 88 is a single plug setup right? other than that just take all the sensors and wiring from your 88 and bolt em on. shouldn't be too bad.

 

[Twisted4x4]

yes the 88 is the orginal 4 plug setup. Ide like if possible to use the full 8 plug setup. My 89 is that setup and after driving the two different setups I actually feel that there is a difference. I think im gonna get the motor bolted in and then just start hooking up the wires to the motor and go from there with the rest.

Jon

 

[scotts90ranger]

if I were you, I'd keep the DIS and 8 plug head and intake manifold (I'm with you on the DIS, it's simple and works good, I'll work on some links for you on how to add it to your '88 harness unless you want to do a quick search, I'm pretty sure I've posted them before), but stick the rest of the '88 wiring on it, that is unless you have virtually EVERYTHING from under the hood and the dash of the '94, it'd be a pain in the rear to swap to the newer setup

 

[Bryan22]

ya that's what i was thinking about was the guage cluster and stuff being different. but that's a good idea. just use everything except the ignition system from the 88 and repin the computer to use the DIS setup. you'd probably have good luck talking with some of the guys from the turbo ranger forums about this.

 

[Twisted4x4]

Ok im not too fimiliar with how the computers work and exactly what they control. Im guessin they mainly just control the ignition system. If after I get the motor bolted in could I just hook up all the DIS system ignition stuff and scrap out the remaining wiring?? How would I go about getting the computer re-pinned??


Jon

 

[scotts90ranger]

THIS should get you going with the swap, that should be all the wiring you should have to change to get the ignition system working.

I've done the swap although a little different since I was making an '89 harness work on a '86 engine, but that image is meant for going the direction you are going instead of what I did, that and I actually had to get into the ECM connector where you can just cut some stuff out of the '94 harness

one thing you might want to make sure on this before you get too far with this direction is make sure there is an ignition module mounted to the front of the intake manifold, should say DIS on it. I think they changed to the EDIS in like '96, but it's a whole different ballgame...

 

[Twisted4x4]

Thanks, thatll make life alot easier with this swap.


Jon

 

[Twisted4x4]

Ok one last thing to consider before I get too into this swap. My dad suggested just changing out the lower end of the motor since its the obviously bad area and the head isnt really all that old. This would save the mess of wiring and everything. As far as I can tell by reading on here the head off the 88 should bolt right onto the 94 block, then all ill have to change over is my distributor. Am I correct or have I overlooked something somewhere? Plus with going this route I will have extra parts laying around for my 89 if anything goes wrong on it. Oponions???

Jon

 

[scotts90ranger]

the only other thing you would have to change would be the cam pulley if you went that direction, the '94 has a round tooth pulley and the '88 has a square tooth pulley, you want them to match...