97 Ranger 2.3l Turbo Build

[Trentonious]

So I bought this '97 Ranger from a friend that had been building the internals of the engine & adding all the exciting turbo setup but he had to stop before it was complete. Right now I'm piecing together the remaining factors to its build.

2.3l turbo engine with the 60 trim turbo..
What's missing is the MAF & intake piping from the manifold but the inter cooler & most everything else is there. My battles are against finding the right intake with MAF & either the turbo ECU out of whatever vehicle is compatible or an aftermarket one..

I've done quite a bit of research but Most of my findings for parts are from the older models which seem to be more common in this build. Any tips or suggestions at which websites to search are appreciated!!
Luckily we do have a tuner shop here that can do the programming once I get to that point

 

[evanesce69]

Get a megasquirt like the PimpX from:

https://www.stinger-performance.com/universalparts.html


It's housed in a factory ecm case and plugs into the factory wiring harness in the stock ecm location. It will control everything, has nice software, USB interface for a laptop and best if all allows you to delete the restrictive MAF sensor. You would have total control over every function too.

 

[RonD]

Welcome to TRS

Have a look here at Turbo articles: http://www.therangerstation.com/how-to/engines-fuel-systems/

Down about half way
That's for Ranger specific info

The 2.3l turbos were more popular with mustang II guys
Google: mustang ii 2.3l turbo swaps

There will be much more info on the ins and outs of 2.3l Lima turbo conversions

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

Your truck is an eec-v (104 pin computer and associated electronics), whereas the factory turbo stuff is eec-iv (60 pin computer). Using an original turbo computer and VAM (early predecesdor to a MAF that the turbo cars used) is going to be way more trouble than it's worth. The simplest way to do it is retain the stock computer and tune it with sct or similar tuner through the obd port. As for a MAF, I'd recommend a later Ford slot MAF in a blow through tube after the intercooler. That MAF setup is easy to tune and you scale power range with tube size. Then get whatever injectors you want. Ford lighting green tops or even first gen coyote injectors are plenty for a stockish (<250 hp) 2.3 turbo. This is the setup I'm running on my 2001 with excellent results. Look up lowranger96 on turboford; he helped me tune mine and may be willing to help you.

The PIMP megasquirt is another option but isnt usually used to interface with eec-v electronics. It's usually used to replace the eec-iv systems due to tuning limitations. You'd have to contact Shannon at Stinger Performance to see what he thinks about using it on an eec-v vehicle.

 

[Mr_Lee]

Get a 2.5L ECU, they are plug and play with the 1997 harness and have more tuning options. While you at the junkyard get a slotmaf from a 2005+ Focus. Use 42lb green top FoMoCo injectors. Get a tune from SCT Flash and call it a day.