sluggish and little power

[jjwinese1]

Hello Ranger dudes, I have a 1984 ranger 4x4 with 2.8. I can not figure out why it runs so sluggish, a 2.8 should make more power than what it is. All of the trucks emission control have been removed, cut out all of the wiring under the hood and changed the original carb to a holly 2 barrel with a fresh rebuild on the carb, the engine is high millage. Do I need to change the intake manifold also, could I be loosing HP there? All cylinders are holding 170 psi when I did a comp. check. The oil pressure also seems to get too high, I am loosing oil everywhere.

 

[strvger]

brand new, your engine only put out 115 hp, according to the ford specs. not a lot to start with really. even loosing the emission stuff, your probably only gaining 3-5 hp... probably not enough for you to notice really. also, if you have the auto tranny, that sucks away a few ponies as well.
i had a similar problem and found that the intake manifold was nearly plugged completely with gunk. try taking it off and cleaning it really good and put new gaskets on it. that helped mine lots. also had a rear main seal leaking as well as the oil pan gasket. had the engine pulled and every gasket, seal, etc. i could find replaced with Felpro gaskets. also got a new high volume oil pump put in because it would be one less thing to go bad in the future.
also, have you changed out your valve seals? they get old, harden and let lots of oil get by.
now, did you check either the axle tag or your door code tag to see what axle ratio you have? if it's the 3.45 ratio gears, that will be a big part of your truck feeling wimpy. replaced my 3.45's with 4.56's and couldn't be happier. also had a detroit locker put in the rear while it was apart for the gears. excellent combination even with only 31in tires.
those are some of the things you can check out for your truck. use the tech library here:
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/index.php and you'll find a wealth of info for your ranger.
good luck, and...

Welcome to TRS !!!!

.

 

[Fargo Wolf]

Try running it on Premium grade fuel, and adding a thing of Restore with the oil. Both of those should perk the engine up a little bit, given the truck's age.

 

[martin]

What distributor is in it?

 

[jjwinese1]

sluggish and no power

it has the stock distrib., but I wonder how it works because all the other wires under the hood are cut out.?

 

[jjwinese1]

thanks for the info. I have not changed the valve seals, and I will.

brand new, your engine only put out 115 hp, according to the ford specs. not a lot to start with really. even loosing the emission stuff, your probably only gaining 3-5 hp... probably not enough for you to notice really. also, if you have the auto tranny, that sucks away a few ponies as well.
i had a similar problem and found that the intake manifold was nearly plugged completely with gunk. try taking it off and cleaning it really good and put new gaskets on it. that helped mine lots. also had a rear main seal leaking as well as the oil pan gasket. had the engine pulled and every gasket, seal, etc. i could find replaced with Felpro gaskets. also got a new high volume oil pump put in because it would be one less thing to go bad in the future.
also, have you changed out your valve seals? they get old, harden and let lots of oil get by.
now, did you check either the axle tag or your door code tag to see what axle ratio you have? if it's the 3.45 ratio gears, that will be a big part of your truck feeling wimpy. replaced my 3.45's with 4.56's and couldn't be happier. also had a detroit locker put in the rear while it was apart for the gears. excellent combination even with only 31in tires.
those are some of the things you can check out for your truck. use the tech library here:
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/index.php and you'll find a wealth of info for your ranger.
good luck, and...

Welcome to TRS !!!!

.

 

[straycat]

Time for a tune up, I bet. My 83 4x4 with the 2.8 was a fast little peppy motor. I had 33x12.5's on it and 4:10 gears. It was very fast and I was happy with the performance as well. I towed with it and hauled my bikes in the bed all over the place. I drove it back and forth from California to Florida a few times a year and it always performed flawlessly. I had no trouble driving up those steep California mountain roads with all my gear in the bed!!!
I never had a single problem with it and keep that truck for almost 12 years. My dad loved to go to fishing with my mom up to their fishing cabin in Lake Panasoffkee, Fl a lot when I was deployed around the world. He drove the heel out of my truck when I was gone. He loved that Ranger. The Ranger did not have a/c in it. It did not come with an a/c unit and it does get super hot in Florida so one day I just sold it to a cute girl who kept leaving me notes on the truck about twice a month!!! She wanted top buy it real bad.


You need to buy plugs and plug wires and just spend the money for a decent tuneup. Clean up the gunk in the fuel system as well.

Here it is right after I bought it in California before the lift kit and tires were put on it. I bought it when it was two years old.