lots of questions about ranger 2.3

[1990 danger ranger]

ok so i have a 1990 ranger with a 2.3, my dad used to have a 94 (the 90 was his to, but now a stripped pos its mine) and for some reason the rebuilt motor in the 94 had way less power than the motor in the 90, so my dad swapped them out then later on traded the 94 in on a 95 b3000, so i have a 90 ranger with a 94 motor, but my question is why is my motor so under powered even thought its freshly rebuilt, also i need a radiator and was wanting to know what year radiators will fit my truck, and what kinds of lubricants, anifreeze, and such should i use. i want to get it going good for a long time

 

[Mark_88]

Hmmm...under powered is relative...if you're comparing it to the other motor then we'd need to know a bit more about how the two were different...you may have had different gears in the rear...which can make the engine appear to be more powerful...

Or you may have issues with the engine now even after the rebuild...like improper compression, timing off, air filter plugged, different tire sizes (larger for example)...all kinds of things can affect apparent power...

But let's not forget that it's a 4 banger...even with 8 plugs you're still missing four pistons to give you the performance of a bigger engine...

 

[1990 danger ranger]

see thats what my dad said, the gearing in the rear end may have been different, but i dont get it becaue all we changed was the motor and trany, if it was gearing wouldent both motors feel the same (for example the rebuilt motor was in the 94 and was underpowered then we put the motor from the 90 in and it was more powerfull so if it had been gearing then wouldent the motor from the 90 be the same, underpowered in the 94)

and the only difference in the motors was that the one in the 94 was freshly rebuilt, the one originaly from the 90 i think had over 100,000 miles on it, the one originaly in the 94 had well no more than 50 miles on it but the 90 could blow the 94 away without even breaking a sweat, and they were both 2.3 4cyl 5 speeds

all the stuff (air filter, exct.) out of the 90 stayed in the 90 and the same thing with the 94, the only thing changed was the motor and trany

 

[scotts90ranger]

on the radiator, any 4 cylinder '86 through say '97 should work and mount right up, with a little modification you can use the big explorer radiator but the fan and shroud are not sufficient with this setup... believe me.