I am looking for some suggestions on some affordable power upgrades for my 3.0L ford ranger 4x4. any ideas would be great.

Thanks
Rich

 

i THINK THE CHEAPEST AND QUICKEST WAY TO GO FOR POWER MAN IS EXHAUST (CAT BACK) AND COLD AIR INTAKE MAN.

 

I have a 3.0 1992 Aerostar. This is the old bulletproof Vulcan pushrod engine. Had the timing set up (actually right on spec) and it would spark knock, so I ran mid grade fuel. Then I retarded the timing 4 degrees from spec and it runs on regular with out knocking. Well the difference is night and day in performance. It's a real dog now, but was somewhat peppy. So my suggestion is advance the timing a bit and run higher octane. See if that does anything. Otherwise the best way to increase power short of a blower, is go get a 4.0 V6 IMHO.

 

50 shot of nitrous!!! Quick cheap and you don't burn anymore gas if you don't use it!

 

Underdrive pulley is the best bang for the buck. You also get better mileage so in time it pays for itself. IMHO.

 

Get a performance muffler to free up a little bit of power. A chip would help, but will require premium fuel (not a problem really, unless you are tight on cash), and most of all I bet a change to the rear end gear would help a lot. Probably have a 3.73 rear end. Not sure what would be best, but at least 4.10, but somethin on the order of 4.50 would probably be better (not sure can get).

I suggest the gear because once the Aerostar 3.0 is rolling about 20 mph, matting the pedal usually gets a pretty decent response as she screams her way on up to the mid 5000s. It's out of the hole where these things are the real dogs and a higher number (lower ratio) rear gear would help that immensely.

You could "re-gear" by getting smaller diameter tires which has the advantage of lowering the Aero for better handling. Thing is, those 14 inch wheels are an anachronism. Hard to find tires for it.

 

TP - I have an older aero too with the 3.0L - do you advance the timing simply by loosing the Dist poles set screw, and slowly "guessing" on how much to turn the distributor?

I run 89 all the time now, and it's peepier than 87, and doesn't ping on hills, but if I ran 93, and tweeked the advance, will I shorten the life of my good engine?

Thanks,

 

mediaman67, On my Aerostar you loosen one screw and turn the distributor. I didn't do it because I couldn't get the screw loose. So I took it in to the shop and they did it. It was right on spec they said, but since it was pinging pretty bad (unless I used better than 89 octane), I had them retard it. They retarded 4 degrees and now it runs fine on 87 octane with no hint of a ping.

I don't know the effect on the life of your engine. I heard you can get ping that is not audible and it potentially can be damaging. But they do make computer chips for various engines that advance the timing for perormance. As I understand it, the computer chips also require higher octane.

I am thinking it might be worth it to put the timing back to spec and run high octane just to make the thing peppier.

Ideally I wish the rear end would go out so I can get a lower gear, like 4:10, instead of the 3.73 that's in it. That, I think, would make it GO!

 

I heard that changing the Rear end to something other than OEM makes the tranny work harder, but who knows - I do know that the A4LD in these are not as good as the Engines - at least the 3.0L

I also know that I will never own anything that I drive that has been as trouble free - wife hates it cause there are no cup holders, but even she knows it's die hard ness :-)

I know about those chips - they basically just run the engine richer, by tricking the ECM into thinking it's still "cold outside" - run rich = dirty engine... mostly valves and seats I would think...

I was thinking about it for use once in a while, like for hilly roads, etc which we have more of up north, but I go back and forth...

I'm still trying to figure out how to check the timing on the 3.0 - that way, I can mess with it, and if I get too far off, I can always go back...

 

What TallPaul said.


Love the 3.0L.

 

has anyone ever set the base timing on this engine? can I just use a light? where are the timing marks?

 

well i never changed the timing in my aero but i changed the cps in my ranger and checked the timing and it was right about 10 btdc and i just used a timing gun... theres a lil mark on the balancer thing for tdc so i just put chalk on the and with the light it was hitting about 2 teeth btdc which is 12 degrees... hope that helps oh on mine tdc was the 6th tooth, after the missing tooth when i was on compression stroke to get it close....

oh and id go with the underdrive crank pulley

 

I found a good amount of power just by opening up the intake and exhaust. Unlike others, I actually went to taller gears (from 3.75 to 3.27), and I gained about 3-5 mpg highway, and still have good takeoff. Actually feels rather sporty now, and will go 70 mph in 3rd gear. If you have an automatic though, I'm afraid it's hopeless.

 

cheapest power adder p&p all the way and tho not street legal but nice and loud take off your cats ( at 55mph and with a little gooseing you shoot flame :P (not good for motor but you can always bolt them back on)get a air intake good exhaust and your set and if you wanna take it a step further you can get rollerrockers 1.7.1 from tom i got stage 2 heads a set of headers full p&p ( converted my slushbox to a 5speed ( must if you add rollers or you will burn your trany in a week!)( and tho it dose almost nothing ( im pretty sure it just set me back 50 bucks i use zmax in mobil1


then down the road if you wanna go further got on CL and look around you can normaly find a ranger 91 to uhh 94? that has the 3.0 in it that the tranny went that you can pick up for 2-500 and rip the motor and scrap the truck ( or keep it and trow a 351W in it bwaahaha ) and get a stroker kit heads highlift cam and with alittle modification you can use a 96/98 upper intake and get a bigger tb with a spacer p&p then ya can get ( not ure where but i ave seen it) a turbo for it small my buddy got one for his 4 banger ripped it right off a svo mustang he found in a scrap yard but 5-15psi biger injectors ..... and this is getting costly............ but!!!! you do all that to the motor you go out of the doner truck with stage 2 heads from tom and the rollers 1.7.1's then when its all done ( will take a while) just slide it in bolt it up run a becool radiator use a oilfilter relocator oil cooler good gears in the rear ( i run 4.10s) and your set ( and you wife might kill you) but with maybe a 75 shot you can run ...11-13's in the 1/4 and you would be looking at ..... well close to 270-300? witch in a 91 ranger at 3,128 lbs and say 300hp like 200and somthing per ton.... not bad

 

You sure got that right. The tranny in these things has a mind of it's own when it comes to shifting, just wish I had a stick.