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Getting extra power


Poorwhiteboy1976

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I have a 1991 ranger 2.3 non dual plug engine 5 speed o/d As I understand it boring & stroking a 2.3 doesnt show any power gains if any if this is the case could i get the power by upgrading the coil packs the plugs and wires cold air intake and running premium fuel also exhaust upgrade
 


tinman_72

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Upgrading coil packs, plugs, and wires will help if your old ones are worn. You already have a cold air intake if it is factory. Premium fuel is for when your engine is pinging, it is not a power adder unless you have the ability to advance your timing. (Or is it reetard, I forget which way it goes.)
There are some aftermarket parts out there for these engines but they can get pretty expensive. The best bang for your buck is a turbo and/or V8 swap.

(Stupid filter wouldn't let me spell reetard correctly.)
 

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Fuel grading is possibly one of the most misunderstood concepts in auto tech.

Higher octane fuel does not contain more power. Higher octane fuel is more resistant to igniting, and unless you have the compression to support it, it will cost you power.
 

ericbphoto

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Fuel grading is possibly one of the most misunderstood concepts in auto tech.

Higher octane fuel does not contain more power. Higher octane fuel is more resistant to igniting, and unless you have the compression to support it, it will cost you power.
Thanks. 7:14am and I’ve already learned something today. Now I need to read my owners manual and find out what octane I should use in my 3.0l. From what you just said, I may be wasting money on the 92 octane fuel. Thought I was being nice to my truck.
 

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Higher octane fuels are indeed harder to lite... but they resist the effects of higher compression. They also burn slower and require a little timing advance to get it going sooner for a complete burn.
 

rusty ol ranger

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Check your axle code.

Generally regearing is the most productive way to get things moving quicker.
 

Poorwhiteboy1976

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Upgrading coil packs, plugs, and wires will help if your old ones are worn. You already have a cold air intake if it is factory. Premium fuel is for when your engine is pinging, it is not a power adder unless you have the ability to advance your timing. (Or is it reetard, I forget which way it goes.)
There are some aftermarket parts out there for these engines but they can get pretty expensive. The best bang for your buck is a turbo and/or V8 swap.

(Stupid filter wouldn't let me spell reetard correctly.)
Thanks for the info
 

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Thanks. 7:14am and I’ve already learned something today. Now I need to read my owners manual and find out what octane I should use in my 3.0l. From what you just said, I may be wasting money on the 92 octane fuel. Thought I was being nice to my truck.
You are not only wasting money, you are being harder on the cats.

Most factory engines are good to go on 87 or 89.
 

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I’m not really into cats. So that doesn’t bother me. ?
 

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How much power do you want ? Any real power will at least require a cam swap. Crane grinds a .420 lift cam that is FI compatible. If you have a year that does not have a factory header some years have a stainless header. You are not going to do a lot with the stock fuel injection. A small cam and maybe a port clean up, a header and cat back exhaust. Swap in a set of 4.10's stock it is limited to 5700 rpm otherwise the lifters fail. Converting to solids is a whole separate discussion but can be done.
 

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so, you can spend tons of money if you want.
esslingerengineering.com
raceengineering.com

these little 2.3 motors have been used in usac midgets a full esslinger engine (esslinger aluminum block and head) makes 390hp and can turn 11,000rpm, something like 25,000$
they have the stuff to build something from stock all the way to 800+hp turbo stuff. and everything between, they also have iron blocks cast now too that can go to 3L.
there use to be a short course truck class that was dominated by iron esslinger motors, 2900cc deals with aluminum esslinger ARCA heads 300+hp with loads of torque for a 4 cylinder, expensive. that class sort of transitioned to sealed LS engines, which ended up cheaper, and roughly the same performance as the screamin 4 cylinders.
I have/use to race one between there ministock, 2.5L 260hp @ 7800rpm, would regularly see 8500 and as high as 9200rpm on occasion.

on the reasonable side of things, go get a 2.5L from the junk yard, the longer stroke heavier crank really moves the truck off idle MUCH better.
First thing you want to do is fix the valve float issue. The springs on the dual plug 2.3 and 2.5 engines are comically light. They float at like 4500rpm and the lifters pump up, so it looses all top end, and then is soft after you shift. these engines are stout, 8000rpm on the stock crankshaft in stock car use is childs play (the same cant be said for the rods the stock rods like to escape somewhere around 7800) the blocks are incredibly strong, There was a 2.3 with a volvo head making 830hp, with a stock block and 2.5 crank. These things want to be revved dont be afraid to
but first you gotta change the valve springs,
comp 26915 springs and chevy cavalier retainers can be used, but require grinding the rocker arms which sux....
boport.com has a really nice spring kit.
after this is done, youll feel like you have gained 20hp near the rev limiter because, you did, or rather, your no longer loosing 20 or likely way more hp up top, you can keep it pinned and it will rev on out....!

what else?
I had Delta cams in washington regrind one of the stock cams for me once, it added like 0.050" lift and a few degrees duration, the problem with cams for these is for roller cams you need good quality steel (slider or "FT" cams are cast iron) so you have a billet cam that ends up costing 400$, Ford cheaped out (well was ingenious really) and swaged hardened lobes onto a soft cam core which really brings the price of the roller cam down but for us this leaves little room for a regrind.
anyway delta can regrind something like a .390" lift 190* duration on the stock 118ish LSA, and it helps, DOES NOT SOUND LIKE ITS CAMMED or have any downsides to driveability, but you do have to shim the lifters to compensate for the reduced base circle.
going more extreme, Comp has some SHIT,
Schnider has cams with much more lift than comp, but the are 400$$$...... ok for this application youd want to ask them for their 0.525"/212, on something like a 114. Wont rump or anything, will make valve train noise though. this is not enough cam that any bottom end is eroded, only improved. will run much better on top.

I would highly reccomend never going solid lifter on your transportation vehicle ever
and on these, the rev limiter is 6250 anywhow.... with good springs the hydraulic would go to 7500, anyhow.

basically anything else is just way in excess.........
you know?

well i guess i can add if your going to take the head off to change springs, might as well get a nice 5 angle valve job done.
also the injector bungs block like 20% of the intake manifold which is the smallest part of the intake system, you can grind them mostly out and call it good.

the other option is turbocharging,
iv always thought a twin screw ihi1200 supercharger from a Mazda millinea would work well
 

OldMan2

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What difference will I notice if I go from 14" tires to 15" on a manual 2.3L?
 

ericbphoto

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I’m pretty sure your tires are bigger than 14 or 15”. That is the outer diameter of the wheel or rim and, the INSIDE diameter of your tires. So it has no effect on your speed or the torque/power applied through the tires to the road.

There is a chart in the tech articles that will give you a comparison of different combinations of tire diameter and differential gears in relation to engine rpm.

 

scotts90ranger

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OldMan2, as ericbphoto said that is too broad of a question, but in my experience if the 15" wheel tires you go to are ~3" taller you will mostly lose the use of 5th gear and starting from a stop is harder as well as the speedometer reading probably 15% low.

As mentioned above, rpm is your friend power wise. The 2.3L isn't really a slouch in torque but does lack horsepower and they do go hand in hand to some extent. The equation for horsepower is HP=ftlb*rpm/5252. So at 5252rpm torque and horsepower are always the same, if you are trying to drive at 2000rpm there really isn't that much horsepower to spare on a 2.3L, most of the magic is above 3000rpm and the torque peak is at around 4600rpm and horsepower peak around 6000rpm if memory serves.

Expecting horsepower where it doesn't exist is tough, my turbo 2.3L isn't a slouch but it's gutless below 2000rpm and even highway cruising is done around 3000rpm, the turbo I'm running isn't matched well to the engine though, I miss the stock turbo... I think what I'm running now was meant for a 5.7L engine running 1800rpm and maybe 3psi so it takes a bit for my 2.3L to run it.

The info Eric posted above is very interesting, and makes me want to build my dream daily driver even more... I want a tricked out '93-97 2.3L Ranger extended cab 4x2 manual with a small turbo and some tinkering, with some strategic mods I imagine it would be pretty fun and probably 25 or so mpg which would be a vast improvement over the 17ish my 5.0L explorer gets...
 

OldMan2

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If I understand this right, I would be best to stay with the 14's. I don't want to struggle from a stop. I am satisfied with the "performance" I get from the 14's realizing it's a 2.3L. I was interested in 15's because I thought they might give the truck a better looking stance and there is a greater selection of rims.
 

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