I want more power!!!

[footee]

I'm in the process of yanking my 4.0 out of my 92 Ranger to drop into a 92 Exploder. Off roading is all my truck sees and since the Ranger got set on its lid last fall, I need a new toy. That's where the Sploder comes in. I'm getting the Sploder for a couple hundred bucks but with no motor or tranny or case, just transferring my driveline. Now, my question is, how can I get some more power out of this tired motor? I have no idea how many miles are on it. I'm having a slight idling issue that got partially cured with some new parts: IAC, TPS, MAF, coil, plugs/wires. The TPS dropped the idle from about 2500 to 1500 but won't go below that. No apparent vacuum leaks but I'm pulling the motor anyway and changing those leaking gaskets: oil pan, valve covers. Found some Pacesetter and Hedman headers on ebay for about 240 and 266, respectively. What beyond that? Thanks alot!!!

 

[MAKG]

You want more power for an offroad toy?

I really doubt it. Power means high RPM, and any "breathing" improvements work by raising the redline. Many of them come at the expense of low RPM behavior.

By far the best way to get performance out of an old engine is to keep it in good repair. Modifying a broken engine is AT BEST polishing a turd.

 

[footee]

Thanks for that!! I'm not afraid of tearing into it or another engine and rebuilding. Just looking for some power adders to get the low end torque up. I guess I should have specified what I meant by "power". Poor choice of words on my part.

 

[ttfiveohranger]

If you want a lot of power in my honest opinion go turbo or supercharged 3.8 or just get a 5.0v8 in there or both! Warning boost is addicting tho Keeping the 4.0 non turbo.. low cost wise.. I would consider first checking oil pressure and cylinder compression to see if it being "tired" is from either out of tune or the motor being worn out.. Like stated earlier you don't want to polish a turd! If motor is good or decent I would going with a cam well set to your power band. High flow exhaust. maybe some intake work.. maybe an ignition upgrade.. those 3 can give you better gasmileage as well as some healthy power...

As far as the high idle, you have a leak in the intake side somewhere I would think.. maybe intake gasket.. something is not sealed in my opinion and that would make 4.0 seem really tired.. is the motor out already? can you start? well anyway spraying carb cleaner in areas and if the idle changes you found a leak.. that is way to high of an idle.. specially with the new parts you listed.. If the motor sounds solid I would check it over.. if its bad I'ld look at the motor swap tech forum to see what you could easily bolt up with more power? I'm biased I love turbo whirl and v8 engine noise

 

[woodyedmiston]

I'm not an offroader - but this string caused me to think of a question. The question is really directed to MAKG and some of you serious offroaders. How well would increasing the size and weight of the flywheel work to put power to the ground without stalling. Seems like in rock crawling it would be a help.

My reference is the huge flywheel that was on my first race car (the stock version) it was a 1100cc Austin Healy Sprite - the flywheel was around 40#. It made street driving tolerable but with a lightened flywheel you really had to rev it to get it rolling.

 

[Evan]

I'm not an offroader - but this string caused me to think of a question. The question is really directed to MAKG and some of you serious offroaders. How well would increasing the size and weight of the flywheel work to put power to the ground without stalling. Seems like in rock crawling it would be a help.

My reference is the huge flywheel that was on my first race car (the stock version) it was a 1100cc Austin Healy Sprite - the flywheel was around 40#. It made street driving tolerable but with a lightened flywheel you really had to rev it to get it rolling.

For offroading it wouldn't work well at all. In a high-load situation, you would get some extra torque for a few seconds maybe, but then the momentum of the flywheel would be exhausted, and the engine would have to work to bring it back up to speed.

The best way to increase torque to the wheels is with low gearing. A V6 with a set of 5.13s will easily put as much torque to the wheels as a V8 with stock gearing. A V6 with a doubler and low gears in the axles will kill a tricked out V8 with stock gearing.

If you want good low-end power, all you need is a well-maintained stock engine and good gearing.

 

[MAKG]

If you can, increasing diameter is much more effective than increasing mass or thickness. But I think you'll need a ridiculous flywheel to get the effect you're looking for. But yeah, a high moment of inertia can help keep the engine from changing RPM as rapidly.

Note however that it may "detune" the harmonic balancer.

And as Evan says, the effect is only momentary.