Ranger LS-Swap Build

[LSX_Marshall]

Found a set of injectors in a junk Lincoln mkviii my buddy had with 90k on them. Stuck them in and got the fuel rails to quit leaking until my new ones come in, still no change. Miss on #5, #7 and #8. Rechecked everything else, grounds wiring, spark, compression, everything. Didn't find anything out of place. So I turned to Google again. Googled "LS1 miss on 5,7,8" and bam! Guy had the same problem which turned out to be a broke valve spring on #8. How that affected the other cylinders I have no idea but it worked for him. Gonna pull the valve covers tomorrow and check them out and hopefully that will get it going finally. Then some tire smoke!

 

[lsxRanger94]

you can usually find a set of blue ls6 springs good for .570 lift for about 40 bucks or pac 1218 good for .600 lift for 125.00 on ebay. I bought the blues for my L33. I found you over here since you haven't updated the ls1tech thread in a while. I think I'm going to try to run my ls3/e-rod type manifolds even though the kick out to the side more than the hookers. If they won't fit, I'll do the fenderwell headers like you.

 

[LSX_Marshall]

Whoops! Forgot I had one over there, oh well. I looked at the ls6 springs for around $50 but I checked the springs this weekend and they seem fine, none broken. Had a spurt of about 2 minutes where it ran 100% perfect, laid down a short burnout and as soon as I let off it started missing again. But just on 5 and 7 now. Rechecked all the pcm grounds and everything seems fine. I'm gonna try a mass air flow next. It doesn't seem to affect the running plugged or unplugged so maybe idk. It is starting to aggrevate me though...

 

[lsxRanger94]

I read somewhere on the ls1tech forum that a guy had similar problem and it was 02 sensor wire swapped to wrong side when building harness. He swapped them to correct side and problem went away. Don't know if that helps

since it is starting to come out of it( down to just two cylinders) I'd check the compression on those 2. you may have a ring sticking. You may try a engine flush and an oil change to see if that helps. Just a thought since it didn't say if you had the engine apart or how long it had been sitting before you installed it.

 

[LSX_Marshall]

Believe I have the issue figured out, a combination of water in the gas, fouled spark plugs and a couple bad injectors all causing intermittent misses. Got it straightened out and driving, now just have to work on the gauges.

 

[lsxRanger94]

Glad you got it figured out. Are you using factory gauges and sending units? Is there enough room to put the sender for the temp in rh head between engine and heater box?

 

[markopolo]

This is so cool!! I'm glad I'm not the only one with this idea. It's hard to find any info on this swap. I'd like to do it but use a newer model with electronic throttle.

The more details the better.


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[LSX_Marshall]

I dislike anything with an electronic throttle, just don't like the feel especially for aggressive driving but glad you like the truck. Using the factory gauges, or trying to anyways. Speedometer already works because it is on the rear end. Still haven't had time to strip down the factory harness to the essentials. Going to have to try hooking the temp gauge to the LS sensor or rethread the Ranger sensor down to the right size. Plenty of room considering I cut most of the heater box out with plans to box it in after I get everything else in there. Been delayed making progress due to work and rain....and fishing when it's not raining and I'm not working.

 

[markopolo]

Yeah. The electronic throttle takes some getting used to. My ranger is the only vehicle I have that's not e throttle.

Is the ls temp sensor the same resistance as the factory gauge??




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[LSX_Marshall]

The newer GM temp gauge gets its signal from the PCM instead of the sensor, so actually I would need to hook it to the PCM pin (brain fart). From looking at some resistance/temp charts they are probably similar enough that the gauge will hopefully work, though it may be 10-20 degrees off. Hopefully can get started straightening that out soon.

 

[markopolo]

That would be cool if it worked out that way.


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[LSX_Marshall]

I will let everyone know how it turns out, same deal for the oil pressure gauge.

 

[lsxRanger94]

From my understanding you can't use the temp sensor at the front of the head on drivers side unless its a three wire sender or it will disrupt the signal to the pcm and cause drivability issues. earlier fbody had the three wire connector/sender ( 1 to gauge and 1 to pcm and a return wire to pcm) . Temp signal from pcm is carried across the serial wire to the bcm( body control module) and then to gauges on newer gm vehicles.

 

[LSX_Marshall]

That's what I am looking at now, I had the Ford sensor mounted at the water pump outlet in a tube with a bung this past weekend but the temperature was too inconsistent for my liking (slow climbing vs actual temp). Gonna try the '98 LS1 sensor (3 wire) this weekend got it ordered just need to find a connector for it. Then I'll try for the oil sender and a longer test drive if everything works out.

 

[lsxRanger94]

I think the oil pressure connector, tps, and a/c switch are the same connector but different color wires. If you don't have a/c in the truck that's computer controlled then you can use that connector if you removed it from the harness and didn't throw it away.