diesel or SHOC ranger swap? any help?

[mornin151]

ok so i have a 84 ford ranger that i've been trying to sell for a long time and it wont sell so im not gonna give it away... but over all the trucks in nice shape.. the motor is a 2.8 it burns oil and was a swap.... had a 2.2 or a 2.4 in it from the factory... the 2.8 has seen better days and uses alot of oil... needs about a half a qt ever 2 weeks when i drove it as a DD and thats was about 60 miles a day round trip so i did about 300 miles a week just going to school then running around and all that... its got 4 wheel drive and is in fairly good shape... i would like to put a diesel in it... i found afew diesel motors on ebay but i dont want to buy some ones junk... is there something else that would be about to bolt up fairly easy on this truck? i know some people use a kubota diesel motor and stuff like that... there are 2 newer trucks that i know of with a cummins in them... i think they are a 5.9... i dont plan on making this truck spot less its gonna stay the way it is... rusty... but i just want to have a good strong motor in it... i have a SOHC 4.0 that i could put in to it but i need a harness and all that stuff so i can get it to work along with a ECU...

i got a good deal on the 4.0 i have but i didnt really want to piss with the 4.0 any more... its out of a 98 with a F in the vin... the main reason i didnt want to do it is because i didnt thin my trans would hold up and i dont know how to get a higher pressure fuel system with out getting a new tank and all that...

any help would be great... thanks

 

[dangerranger83]

One reason it burns oil is because the valve seals are probably shot.

As for another type of engine, go diesel, thats what I would do.

 

[bustedknuckle]

Check around on craigslist. The 4.0SOHC is a great motor in my opinion, but the parts are typically more expensive, and since it is newer, they're less of the around to part on. If it were me I'd be looking for a low mileage 4.0 OHV and the harness. You could reasonably find everything you need for under 300 bucks.

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

The only diesel that will be "about a bolt in" is the ranger diesels, which won't mate to your current tranny, and both will be as slow (2.3 turbo diesel) or much slower (perkin's 2.2L non turbo). Any other diesel will be as much work as taking an engine out of...say... a brand new Honda civic for example... and putting it in your truck -> nothing will bolt up and everything will be custom.

The 4.0 SOHC might technically bolt to your transmission, but you will have to install all the wires for EEC-V (which will be a pain to splice into your dash harness) and still have to install a entirely different fuel system.

A 2.9L or 4.0 OHV (1990-1994 EEC-IV version) would be slightly easier on the wiring side but you're still looking at re-doing the fuel system.

Depending on how much power you want, a high-compression carb'd 2.3 4 banger with some goodies on it might be the ticket. If you really want power, a carb'd 302 or 351 V8 would be a relatively simple swap. But all three of the above options would require a different transmission.

The easiest thing to do would be rebuild the 2.8. If you want more power, raise the compression, get a bigger cam, better exhaust, bigger/better carb, and ignition system upgrades.

 

[mornin151]

well i got a SOHC 4.0 out of a 98 explored... i brough that in the shop and put it on my stand and started to work on it(got it in oct. of 08?) and i went to trurn the crank and i couldnt get it to go... so im tryin to get all the loose shit off it... i took the AC compressor off and thats about as far as i got... i need a harness and a ECU for it also along with a few other goodies like a oil pan... the guy said "yeah i got rear ended and it started right up and it pulled me off the road" he also claims theres about 100K on it... but i cant get it to turn over... i dont think that it could have seized already from sitting a year... im gonna start to take most the extra shit off it and get it to the block and the heads and then work on it... i was thinkin of putting headders and acold air intake in it...

I have a 93 with the OVH 4.0... i like the truck but it just seems like a dog to me... doesnt have the power to me... its also an auto... i think my 2.8 is alot faster for some reason....

i found afew perkins but they also put them in tractors and stuff like that so what ones would all work? also what trans did they use? could i keep it a 4x4?

 

[Davis]

not to piss on your birthday cake, but just from reading, i don't think you have the right motivation to do a diesel swap, and maybe not even to do a 4.0 swap.

the reason why i say this is because you have to really want it to actually get it done. even "easy" swaps are hard and take a lot of dedication. swapping anything from gas to diesel is NOT going to be cheap or easy. i just don't want you to get a thousand bucks into it and then decide it's too expensive and too much work for a truck you really don't give a damn about.

 

[mornin151]

well looks like i got ****ed over on this 4.0... timing chain cliders are toasked and i got shit all over in this motor... that ****er is gonna get it... i'll get you a pic of it all... im geussing the whole thing is only good for a boat anchor... im geussing the heads and all that are junk...

 

[exbass94]

Those engines are known for bad timing chain tensioners. They were fixed in later years, but 98 was only the second year of that engine, so that was definitely a problem year. I would have thought that by now, all those engines would either be dead or fixed. Guess not. If the guy was driving it fine up until the crash, then there's a pretty good chance you can just replace the tensioners and have a good engine.

 

[mornin151]

what about the heads? wouldnt it jump a tooth and make it go out of timing?

 

[exbass94]

You'll probably need to re-time it. I've heard it's a real PITA that requires special tools. If you have the engine out of the truck, I would do the rear tensioners too. But, before you do any of that, I would make sure none of the valves are bent. Good luck.

 

[exbass94]

HERE is a useful thread about SOHC timing chains. Very long, but full of really good info.

 

[mornin151]

hey thanks for the tip! it means alot!

 

[mornin151]

oh and the motor is out of the truck on a stand... kinda.. how its sittin on the ground up side down... but i just see 2 timing chains in the front one goes to the cam and then the other goes to a gear that runs a shaft some place...

 

[exbass94]

It's a jackshaft that runs to the back of the engine. There's another timing chain on the back.

 

[mornin151]

why do the use 2?!? this is turning in to become a pain it the ass... and how can i mount it on the stand? i took off the oil pan and then the next pan too so i could take the crank and all that off... or out...