diesel ranger, good for wheeling??

[sweetsride]

hey, i getting a diesel ranger, 4banger 5 speed and was wondering if it works good for wheeling, our area has a lot of muddy trails,and a lot of step dirt hills, how well would it work for me??

also, where can i get parts for this, what motor.trany is it?? I Know nothing about diesels!!

thanks
Kris

 

[Original_Ranger84]

Probably not too good for that much seeing as I think they only came in 2wd. the Engine is a 2.2L I believe and the trans would be a tk4 or 5 if its a manual. And they are the hardest RBV engine to find parts for.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

They were made by Mitsubishi I believe, I know we can't get any parts for them through Ford.

Might not be worth the hassle Kris, I don't think you'd get the wheel speed need for the trails around us out of that engine.

 

[Hahnsb2]

The cool thing about diesels is the governors in the pumps always maintain the engine at at least idle speed, so it would be good for putting around at idle without having to give it any go pedal, other than that though...

 

[holyford86]

Probably not too good for that much seeing as I think they only came in 2wd. the Engine is a 2.2L I believe and the trans would be a tk4 or 5 if its a manual. And they are the hardest RBV engine to find parts for.

There is a 2.2 liter mitsubishi non turbo version and a Mazda 2.3 liter turbo version I believe.

 

[alaskan155]

just put a 4bt in it and be done with it, lol

 

[alaskan155]

the ranger is the 4d55, but this might give you some ideas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Astron_engine#4G54

 

[Hahnsb2]

There is a 2.2 liter mitsubishi non turbo version and a Mazda 2.3 liter turbo version I believe.

I think you've got it backwards, I'm pretty sure the mitsu was the 2.3 turbo.

 

[2manyfords]

Yes the Mitsu is turbo and the Mazda is not.

I have a buddy that had an '86 Ranger turbo diesel 2wd.
It got decent fuel mileage but the power wasn't much different than a 4cyl gas engine.

 

[Will]

The lack of power will make wheeling a chore in the relatively heavy Ranger. 134ft# isn't much torque. It's not going to turn large tires. 86hp isn't going to throw much mud. I doubt there is much capacity built into the injection pump. And I doubt the engine can stand much anyway. A 4.0 is wice the motor in every way. Just because that thing is a diesel doesn't mean it's a chest thumper. I've driven several of that era and I had learned to despise diesels from the experience.

Look down toward the bottom of this Jim Allen article where he talks about wheeling his diesel.