87 Ranger with a factory roller cam?

[stx4.0]

I just picked up an 87 ranger I have been after for awhile for parts and pulled the head off and noticed it had a roller cam.I got this from the 1st owner who used it to deliver papers and the engine had never been apart before.It was always my understanding that the ranger got the roller cam starting in 89 and I have had 2 88s and both of those were non roller so sort of stumped how the 87 ended up with it.I know alot of these have been swapped in over the years but this one for sure came this way.Its sort of funny in the fact the day before I pulled this head I went to my local salvage yard and pulled a roller cam from a 93 to put in the 87s head when I had it rebuilt.

 

[tomw]

Well, it's there. Someone put it there. I suspect that there was a replacement head installed prior to the previous owner acquisition. What did the salvage yard ask for the cam and followers? I have an 85 that has the original and figure the change in oil will doom the followers & cam as there's little to no ZDDP any more, and the shear will eat the follower or lobes.
tom

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

As far as oil, I believe the diesel oils still have additives like zddp. I use rotella synthetic just because that's what the mechanics at where I used to work use.

 

[adsm08]

Yes, diesel oil still has the ZDDP. I have heard of people claiming that diesel oil will harm a gas engine. This is not true.

I had over 20K miles on both of my 2.9s with diesel oil in them and neither had any issues, except for the one was a bit worn out, but that was present before I changed over from gas oil.

 

[enjr44]

I got this from the 1st owner who used it to deliver papers and the engine had never been apart before..

As the owner remembers. There are a few things I have forgotten in the last 30 years. One thing I will never forget again is my wife's birthday!!!!

 

[RonD]

Didn't roller cam engines/heads also have the dual spark plugs?

I assume the stock '87 engine would have distributor and only 4 spark plugs, and no roller cam.

I did read an article on the Limas that said roller cams were seen as early as '88 but thats still not an '87

 

[stx4.0]

I agree..an 87 should not have it period but this engine was never apart which is another reason why I wanted it.It still had its original plug wires,serpentine belt,cam belt,water pump and alternator which are usually replaced by now but the miles were low for the year at 142k and it still had its factory ford gaskets on everything.The head was dated 87 as well.Its easy to tell it had never been opened up before so don't know how it got it being an 87.I did find a site(http://www.turborangerforums.com/archive/index.php/t-4357.html) with 2.3 head numbers that mentioned certain part numbers were for 87/88 rangers with roller cams but this head did not have the part number they had listed.It is at # 10 on the list.

 

[turbo91xlt]

Get the part # off the cam, that'll tell you the date it was first introduced. My guess it'll start with E8 (1988 for the '89 model year).

 

[tomw]

I was poking around on the web, and found a post indicating that flat followers can be replaced with roller followers without replacing the cam. In short, the followers could have been swapped without touching anything else.
I bookmarked the information, but on another machine, so if you can't find it, make a note, and I'll try to post the link. It was to a mustang site (or Pinto.??) that dealt with 2.3 Limas.
So, from that, if you want a roller cam, just replace the followers. I might just do that. The article noted that it was difficult to rotate the camshaft by hand with flat followers, and much more possible with rollers. Either way, the springs must be depressed, but the friction of the followers is significantly reduces. Get more mpg, and remove any worry about ZDDP disappearing from lubes.
tom

 

[turbo91xlt]

I was poking around on the web, and found a post indicating that flat followers can be replaced with roller followers without replacing the cam. In short, the followers could have been swapped without touching anything else.
I bookmarked the information, but on another machine, so if you can't find it, make a note, and I'll try to post the link. It was to a mustang site (or Pinto.??) that dealt with 2.3 Limas.
So, from that, if you want a roller cam, just replace the followers. I might just do that. The article noted that it was difficult to rotate the camshaft by hand with flat followers, and much more possible with rollers. Either way, the springs must be depressed, but the friction of the followers is significantly reduces. Get more mpg, and remove any worry about ZDDP disappearing from lubes.
tom

Its doable but not recommend. There is a difference in the hardness of the cam lobs between slider & roller.

 

[tomw]

It would make sense not to run a roller cam with slider followers but the opposite combination should work fine. The sliders need to handle friction in shear, while the rollers just need lube to the roller bearings, and minimal to the lobe-roller interface as it is rolling friction.
The 2.3 was noted as a cam eater when it first came out. The followers just did not like certain oils because the oil viscosity improvers were chopped up quickly in shear dropping the high temp viscosity. At least that is how I remember it.
If the lobe profiles are the same and the geometry works, I'd have no fear of using roller followers on a slider cam unless someone can explain why that is a bad idea.
tom