Note to future turbo engine swappers:

[scotts90ranger]

yep, I asked the guy at the counter for one for a manual tranny '86 turbo coupe... that was with my discount though... rockauto.com was about $105 plus shipping

back to my parts score... The guy found some more stuff and wanted a little more cash, so for $240 I got:
-2 turbo engines, one missing exhaust manifold and fuel rail and a few other things
-2 VAM's, a small and big, the small one is toast, the bearings are sticky and there's corrosion in the sensor...
-3 lower intake manifolds, two upper (total)
-4 ECM's, 1 PC1 (eliminated that as my problem already this evening), 1 LA3, 1 LA and an 8SE (I'm guessing auto tranny)
-One of the engines has a T3/T4, there's zero end play but the exhaust housing is cracked...
-also the volvo turbo in the picture and the two intercoolers...
-two COMPLETE turbocoupe wiring harnesses, and I mean complete, one has tail light connectors and the stereo amplifier...

I'm going to go through all the parts after I get back from my trip next weekend, I know I'm going to build up a spare engine

on my problem,
-when it's happy it runs pretty good, weird things only happen under boost, usually will run better if I hit it then let off quick and get back on it. It sounds like a misfire, kinda fluttery and rich sounding. The other day when I said it was getting bad mileage that was mostly freeway driving at 65ish, first freeway trip on the new gears and 35's, at a high load is where this is running funny so that's why for whatever reason.
-when it's unhappy it is only when it wants to and only on hot restarts it will fire right up, but if I don't catch it before the vacuum goes below like 10" HG and put it at about half throttle or above it will not run at all, I shut it down for half an hour or so to try to get that VAM working to try something else and it ran fine again...

ran a KOER test and it kept dieing when it went to check the EGR, realized I hadn't reset the idle since I fixed the wiring, now I only get code 34 on that test, and 67 on the KOEO test.

I put on the replacement PC1 ECM after I got the second engine unloaded from the back of my truck, started it up and it did exactly the same thing it had done to me last weekend, so it wasn't that. Would the idle not being set properly affect that any? I haven't driven it since I reset it.

Does the throttle position sensor have anything to do with fueling? the type of sensor on these engines doesn't look the most hearty with wires just sticking out of it and not a connector on the sensor itself, I want to replace it but don't know how to reset it, probably find that on a quick google search...

I now have all of the parts to upgrade to the sought after LA3, but that requires a fair amount of changes that I'm not prepared to do in the next 4 days... in a couple months I'll rip into the thing and fix it's numerous leaks and clean it up and upgrade then.

I know I just wrote a book, but if anyone has any ideas it would be appreciated.

 

[scotts90ranger]

TPS was close, after adjustment it was .95v so I dropped it to .9v

tomorrow I'll replace the ignition module (I have a spare), just realized that my setup doesn't have the diagnostics for the DIS... I thought of the module earlier, it wasn't hot when it was acting up, neither was the coil pack but it'll be next to swap to one of my spares...

the misfire when it's running good is mostly above 5psi boost, part of it might be the knock sensor although I don't hear any pinging, doesn't sound like reduced timing but more like not firing...

 

[scotts90ranger]

Success! changed to my spare ignition module and all is well... I need to get another one now though since this one has physical damage to the connector (not water tight as is)

I guess I didn't need to get all those parts now, but I don't regret it!

It still has issues above 5psi but I can live with that for now.

 

[anti-chrysler]

dont forget basics, have you checked plugs, and also the always forgotten leak in fuel press reg(pull vac line and ck for fuel)

 

[Insanejughead]

Scott, have you ever looked at your distributor gear?


I've had two of those strip out on me, and the symptoms my engine gave me for almost two or three months beforehand was similar to what you experienced.

The first time it happened to me I thought was because of the high volume oil pump (I was paranoid about not giving my turbo sufficient oil feed), but the second time wasn't to blame on the pump. I only had a regular pump in it then, and yet it still became stripped off and chipped.

After two times of this, I've become tired of pulling auxiliary shafts and distributors from junkyard engines...

 

[scotts90ranger]

I'm not running a distributor, it's just the dummy drive for the oil pump and I have good oil pressure.

I just started driving it again but it's running bad after I "fixed" my halfass ignition module mount (see thread in 4 banger section), I just picked up a "new" crank sensor from the junk yard today, hopefully that fixes the current misfire issue, I'll find out tomorrow.

Right now it starts right up but either won't idle or will spit and sputter randomly which is definitely timing related as sometimes it'll be an intake backfire and the next it'll be exhaust... come to think of it maybe I should check my timing belt to see if it's jumped, although it puts out decent power when it's running ok.

I'll put my other ignition module (I have 3 now) on after I change the crank sensor, but I'm also questioning the gas that's been in the tank since april... it ran better when I parked it than it does now, but now it has a complete windshield

as for the basics mentioned in the previous post, yep all 4 plugs are in good shape and look the same, no arcing from the wires at night, and no fuel out of the vacuum line to the regulator.

This fall I'm going to rip into my engine, take all the accessories off, pull the front cover and every seal and hose and change ANYTHING I see that's questionable, as well as upgrade to the LA3 computer I have laying around... I'm REALLY FRIGGING TIRED of the under hood area of my truck being COVERED in oil form something or other (some of it's oil, some of it's power steering fluid). Time to do things the right way...

 

[BoostCreep89]

Check and make sure your injectors are working properly, make sure your gastank vacum line is hooked up and that your fuel pressure is in the adequate range.. also i had a similar problem with ping under med-high boost and found my tps' was broke where it connects to the 'butterfly' shaft on the throttle body...... i used the one from my ranger which is not adjustable and have had no problems since..... and another thing you should always replace when swaping this motor in your ranger is the PCV VALVE!!!!

 

[marauderx]

+1 on the PCV, I was blowing the dipstick out of the tube and it was hitting the hood on my SVO, and bathing my engine with oil, I still have giblets of PCV down in my case side breather. I replaced the motorcraft fuel pressure regulator with a kirban 5.0 model, and also properly gapped (0.030ish, I was blowing out the spark) some good copper core plugs, good wires, and good hoses. Also check for dead spots on the TPS.

 

[BoostCreep89]

oh and...

before starting change the fuel filter in ur truck and make sure to pull ur coil wire and turn over your truck to prime your oil system. and the mount that holds your computer is also a case ground so dont just plug it up and leave it lay there.