Rebuild or Swap

[carlos031082]

I have a 1988 Ranger short bed, 4WD, 2.3L 5 Speed with 98,000 original miles. At 75,000 my timing belt slipped, bent a valve and blew the head gasket. I had a valve job done and put it back together. The power did not return and I'm not sure if I did more damage than is apparent.

Should I
A: Overhaul the motor and add some performance upgrades
or
B: Do a swap 3.0 or 3.8L

My goals are a good truck for daily driving, mainly Northern Indiana winters, and some minor towing (the other truck is a '79 F-350 so 8-10mpg at best). Gas mileage was great, 22-27, until I had the engine problems. Now the best I can do is around 18 mpg and not near as peppy as before.

Suggestions?

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/photoplog/images/12151/1_n59102255_30849225_6814.jpg

 

[mercman]

Really depends on what you want. Sound like you were happy with it before, so a rebuild may be the way to go. It doesn't seem like you need one to me though. It sound more like your mechanical timing is off a little. Think like adjustable cam gear or 3key way timing sets, these allow you to change these a little to move your power band up or down the rpm range a little. Or twisting your distributor in the "older" cars for more power. Your computer won't let you adjust yours anymore if you even have one. Your ignition timing could be right, but if you are off the marks on your pulleys, or your belt isn't tensioned right you could fire just a little out. It will still run, but not make the power it should.

Before I did a rebuild I would check my mechanical timing @ the pulleys first, then compression, and if compression was low and I was burning oil I would rebuild. Just judging by the odometer reading you gave you should have some more miles left in there. Your fuel mileage could suffer by firing out of time.

 

[exbass94]

+1. The engine is non-interference. You shouldn't have bent any valves.

 

[fastpakr]

Yep. I can't imagine how you bent a valve in the first place, because breaking a timing belt certainly won't cause it on these motors.

Sounds like you have something completely different wrong, and very possibly not even internal to the engine.

 

[Beanmachine7000]

Yep. I can't imagine how you bent a valve in the first place, because breaking a timing belt certainly won't cause it on these motors.

Sounds like you have something completely different wrong, and very possibly not even internal to the engine.

+1... Happened to me one time (timing belt snapped)... I replaced it and drove it home...