2.3 oil pump in 2.5

tinman_72 · Jul 2, 2013

Hello fellow Ranger enthusiasts.
I have a '93 Ranger 2.3L that I am replacing the engine in. I lucked out and found a local '98 2.5L with 140K miles that I picked up for $300. I removed the head and had it rebuilt. The cylinders all look brand new with factory crosshatching and absolutely zero ridge at the top. (When I pulled the head off the 2.3L at 230K it also still had crosshatching and minimal ridge.)
I planned to put a new oil pump in as well since I am in there anyway. That is when I learned that it is $267 for a quality name branded 2.5L oil pump. That seems a bit insane to me. Can I put the auxiliary shaft from the 2.3L and use an old style pump (a new one of course) in this newer motor? $58 for a new pump seems much more reasonable to me and the one in my 2.3L has lasted 335K miles.

Insanejughead · Jul 2, 2013

Nope. Can't do it. Pull the oil pans off of both and you'll be able to see why they can't be interchanged between blocks.

Just rebuild the block for the 2.3. You could even check around for crankshaft sizes and you might be able to use the 2.5L crank and pistons in the 2.3L block.

4b316 · Jul 3, 2013

agree,a whole different motor,are you changing the wiring harness,fuel rail and stuff over from the 98 to the 94 or are you drilling and tapping the block for the early crank sensor?Are you going to run the 98 alternator/coil bracket or are you using the 94?

tinman_72 · Jul 3, 2013

Thanks for the input guys.
I am using the 2.5 engine (block and rotating assembly, head, timing gears/belt and now oil pump) with the 2.3 front accessories. From what I have read the accessories will all bolt on but I will have to drill/tap holes for the crank sensor and maybe enlarge the holes for the thermostat housing.
I originally thought I could use the whole 2.5 with newer intake and front accessories but after comparing the two it looks like too much trouble.
To use the 2.3 with 2.5 rotating assembly I would undoubtedly have to bore the block (due to mileage) and get new pistons and rings to match. That's not in my budget.

4b316 · Jul 4, 2013

You will have a little issue with the water pump,doesn;t the rad hose go up thur the altenator bracket on the newer motor?I think you have to use that bracket to hold the hose in the water pump.That bracket doesn't bolt to the earlier head as the top holes are different.maybe it will hold with just the bottom ones.The later intake will work,just have a cover welded in the middle where it needs to cover up the water port in the earlier head.The bore is the same on the 2.3 and the 2.5 so you would not have to bore it to have it fit.And if it needs boring for the 2.3,what does it matter?If the 2.5 has good rings,hone the 2.3 block and drop them in.Rings are cheap.I,d drop the 2.5 stuff in the 2.3 block,save you a lot of headaches.

tinman_72 · Aug 1, 2013

The plan is complete:

2.5 long block
2.5 timing belt/gears/tensioner
2.5 timing cover - will be modified to allow crank sensor wires to come in from the back
2.3 crank sensor - two holes will have to be drilled and tapped. I will also have to use spacers to bring the sensor out to match the crankshaft sensor actuator
2.3 crankshaft pulley/balancer. I am having a spacer made by a friend to align the pulley to...
2.5 alternator/coil packs and bracket
2.5 p/s pump, a/c compressor and bracket
2.5 water pump
2.3 motor mounts bolt right in place
2.3 intake manifold
2.3 exhaust manifold
2.5 oil pan

With the exception of the spacer for the crankshaft pulley, everything is done at home with regular tools. Much easier and cheaper than having four cylinders bored, new pistons, rings, and bearings.
I hope to have the motor together and painted up this weekend. I will be sure to post some pictures.

Insanejughead · Aug 2, 2013

I still don't know why you think that your cylinders on the 2.3 needed boring. The 2.5 and 2.3 have the same bore. The stroke (which is all about the crank and wrist pin height) is the only thing that's different.

Otherwise, this sounds like it's coming together. Take pics and let us know how it goes!

tinman_72 · Aug 2, 2013

Insanejughead said:
I still don't know why you think that your cylinders on the 2.3 needed boring. The 2.5 and 2.3 have the same bore. The stroke (which is all about the crank and wrist pin height) is the only thing that's different.

Otherwise, this sounds like it's coming together. Take pics and let us know how it goes!

I just find it hard to believe that after 335K hard miles it would not need boring.

Mikel89us · Aug 3, 2013

tinman_72 said:
I just find it hard to believe that after 335K hard miles it would not need boring.

If it was well taken care of and the oil was changed regularly these motors can do more mileage than you would ever imagine.

adsm08 · Aug 3, 2013

He said the 2.3L block had ridges at the top of the cylinder. That means that there is wear, and probably taper, since the rings don't actually get the whole way to the bottom. At the very least he would want to have the ridge removed. Anything more than the most minimal ridge stands the chance of breaking rings on the way in.

Insanejughead · Aug 13, 2013

Of course it would need the ridges cut out of each cylinder, that's always a necessary step to check and take care of.

Ridge reaming and honing: yes, but boring... I still doubt it would have needed boring.

The second 2.3T I built had severe scoring in the #1 cylinder wall. The shop had to bore it out to .040" over to get a clean bore. Finding +.040", forged, 2.3 pistons was a pain in the ass back when I was getting all of that done...

tinman_72 · Sep 25, 2013

I ended up using everything from the 2.5L except:

crank sensor
motor mounts and brackets
wiring harness
throttle body / intake tube
throttle cable
exhaust manifold/header
crankshaft pulley
upper and lower intake manifold
EGR valve / tube

Mounting the Crank Sensor
I used a cap from a herb shaker. I drilled a hole in the very center and made an access hole so that when it is mounted on the end of the crankshaft you can see the key way. With the 2.3 positioned at TDC I marked the cap to find the exact position for the crank sensor, both the radial position and distance from the crank. I then put the cap on the crank of the 2.5 (also at TDC) and calculated where the sensor needed to be.
I also had to cut off the piece of the lower timing cover that holds the 2.5 crank sensor to clear the 2.3 crank pulley.

This picture was taken before the access hole was drilled and before it was marked.

The upper hole of the bracket fell right smack dab in the center of an oil galley so I drilled a new hole in the center of the bracket. The lower hole is very close to an oil galley but is okay. I then cut an access hole in the back timing cover for the wires to run through and tie strapped them in.

Mounting the TFI Ignore this step. Using the '93 intake resolved this issue.
Since the 2.5 intake does not have a place to mount the TFI, I acquired a TFI heatsink from a Thunderbird and mounted my TFI to the back. Mounting it to the back gave more surface area as opposed to cutting off fins. I polished the back side with 400 grit sandpaper, then 800 then 1000 to make the surface as perfect as I could. I had some Arctic Silver 5 heatsink paste leftover from my last PC build so I used it.
I made a bracket out of angle iron and bolted it to the newer intake with a ground strap not in the picture. Mounting it here allowed me to plug it in without extending the wires. I completely unwrapped the engine wire harness and re-wrapped it with new wire loom so I was able to manipulate the length of many wires without cutting and splicing.

Modifiying the Motor Mount Bracket
I had to cut a corner from the passenger side motor mount bracket to clear one of the alternator bracket bolts. When I was at Pull-A-Part for other parts I looked at a '95 2.3 to see how it was done and my cut bracket looked just like the factory '95 bracket.

Throttle Cable Ignore this step. Using the '93 intake resolved this issue.
I just took a piece of square sheet metal and folded two of the edges at a 90° angle to make it stiff and drilled four holes into it.

I also cut the 2.5 throttle linkage cover down and fit it inside the 2.3 cover and bolted them together. It may not be perfect but it think it looks better than leaving it off.

EGR Ignore this step. Using the '93 intake resolved this issue.
This was the only thing I had no answer for. I decided to run without the EGR system. I left the 2.5 EGR valve and tube but I disconnected the vacuum hose and made a solid gasket to go between the valve and intake.
If I had used the 2.3 intake I could have kept the EGR and I wouldn't have had to make brackets for the throttle cable and TFI module but I wanted the newer intake.

Starting it up
After turning the motor over with the coil packs disconnected to make sure oil was throughout the engine I connected the coil packs and it started on the first turn over.

tinman_72 · Nov 15, 2013

I just realized that I never updated this but I swapped the '93 intake back onto this motor. I was having idling issues until I got the EGR hooked back up.

Road Angels · Nov 16, 2013

Congrats on a thought out job, I just hope with out the egr you dont have a lot of pinging on hills

tinman_72 · Nov 16, 2013

Actually the engine ran great without the EGR, no pinging. Only idling problems. But like I said in my last post the EGR is hooked up now.

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2.3 oil pump in 2.5

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