96 2.3L 5-speed.... maintance

[rangermanmark]

Since i bought my truck in July with around 215,000 and now have about 217,000+
I have changed....

Water pump
theromstat
upper and lower hoses
Timing belt
Timing tensioner
cam seal
crank seal
oil pump seal
drive belt
cam sensor
flushed...radiator, heater core, block
Changed all 8 spark plugs with Autolite XP iridium
Changed all 8 plug wires with Autolite Professional Series 8MM
changed my PCV valve and hose
changed my valve cover gasket with the Felpro rubber one
changed my upper intake manifold gasket (Felpro)
changed EGR gasket
changed out the DPFE sensor
changed the oil to Mobil1 synthetic 10W30 with oil filter
*soon to get 2 Accel coils*
Ditched the cat and put 2.5" piping with flowmaster muffler...kicked it out the side

Can anybody think of anything else???? lol

 

[Plum Ranger XLT]

Transmission fluid and differential fluid.

 

[scotts90ranger]

the accel coils won't get you anything... stock is more than enough

If you haven't changed the EGR gasket yet, while you are there take a drill bit to the passage in the intake, I think it's 1/2"

 

[rangermanmark]

i changed my EGR gasket when i removed my upper intake manifold.

Id really like to remove my EGR.....is there a way to trick the wiring?

 

[Thed]

Transmission fluid and differential fluid.

The transmission fluid is filled for life in the 5-speed.

 

[rangermanmark]

you saying you cant change the transmission fluid on a 5-speed????

 

[Thed]

Well you can, but it would be a waste of money. Ford filled it for the life of the transmission, it says so in the owner's manual.

 

[rangermanmark]

ehhhhhhh i dont ever trust that kind of thinking! If i thought like that....when i saw that somebody before me installed some Autolite XP's i would have just takin the ones i bought back.....but theres no harm in making sure you have nice new fresh parts! And same goes for my timing belt.....looked fairly new....but i have no record of when it was done last....so i went ahead and changed it!

and as far as the Accel coils go....they say improvemnts are.....

8% peak increase in voltage over OE
9% peak increase in current over OE
11% peak increase in energy over OE
21% peak increase in arc duration over OE

and they are spost to be putting out 42,000 Volts!

 

[RangerSVT]

Well you can, but it would be a waste of money. Ford filled it for the life of the transmission, it says so in the owner's manual.

And you really believe oil's viscosity does not break down??
SVT

 

[rangermanmark]

And you really believe oil's viscosity does not break down??
SVT

true that!

 

[rangermanmark]

Read under the heading "Dual Plug Heads and Coil Packs" and tell me what you think

http://www.hotrodhigh.ca/2300Shockin.html

 

[RangerSVT]

It's definitely food for thought and something to think about and/or try. I agree that 2 plugs firing at the same time are better than one, but Ford's ignition design is not exactly on the weak side. It fires at a hot rate. If anything, the addition of an MSD (Multiple Spard Discharge) box, of any brand, would be more beneficial than the dual plug configuration...
SVT

 

[scotts90ranger]

Do not believe everything (actually most anything) you read on that page!

That person is making things up, sure they are trying some things that work, and some of them did work but not always for the reason they thought. The stock coil packs give more than enough power for the engine, I'm using ONE coil pack to run my turbo engine and it's doing just fine, the stock coil pack puts out a better spark than a normal distributor/single coil setup. The reason that their engine didn't run with the drivers side coil only plugged in is it's not powered during cranking, it's the secondary coil, the timing of it might be offset from the passenger side coil but it's not a big deal. This system uses waste spark, the plugs fire on both up strokes at whatever timing the system tells it to, all it knows is crank timing, it doesn't know what stroke the engine is on, there's no way for it to and no downside to firing like that, that's why the guy's test of swapping 1 and 4 and 2 and 3 was inconclusive, there's only really 2 coils in the coil packs, 1 and 4 and 2 and 3, they are tied together. The coil has 3 wires, two signal and one power or ground (haven't looked close enough at the diagram to see which). Just because that accel coil pack puts out better numbers doesn't mean you will actually notice anything, the ignition timing is what actually makes the difference and it should be fairly close from the factory, if you read the octane page on that site it goes a little into the system which is accurate enough, although the knock sensor (if so equipped) should be ignoring things for the most part at the engine speeds they're talking about...

Their reasoning on why they got more power letting off throttle wasn't correct, it's partially there but is most likely just the engine calibration not being accurate anymore after they have screwed with so many things on that engine. It's true that with more airflow you need more fuel, but everything has to be working together properly. With a mass air flow system that's closed loop (oxygen sensor) there's a fair amount of room for modifications but there will always be holes in the calibration since it wasn't meant to run with modifications, especially when the engine is back in open loop (this usually happens above 3000rpm, when the engine is adding extra fuel to cool the exhaust valves).

I sure wish DaveR and/or George were still around these forums so I could pick their brains now that I'm more experienced in the inner workings of EFI.

 

[Thed]

And you really believe oil's viscosity does not break down??
SVT

It does break down, but if Ford says it doesn't need to be done, then I won't be doing it.

If his clutch goes out (like mine right now ) then that is the time to change it since the transmission is out and easier to service.

 

[RangerSVT]

If you believe everything Ford says, I just sold Ford a set of lifetime tires and they guarantee them for the life of the truck, they never have to be changed, you might want to look into that
SVT