5.0 Ranger Questions

GaugeB

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Apr 16, 2015
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Hey all, i have a 94 Ford Ranger I just got the other day. I have joined a couple ranger forums and have received some good knowledge. But my truck has the heart of a pony so I figured I could get some great engine advice here :) . I have gathered much so I will mainly be asking performance minded questions, and or delete questions. First off I will post a pic of my engine bay. Everything looks great, they used the right mounts and didn't take any short cuts as everything works right so far. What puzzles me is the intake is turned towards the drivers side and I think they may have done this to make the throttle and kick down cables reach. If it's not a problem I will leave it and just fab a cold air to the other side as I have an electric fan and room to do so. The second thing is: can anyone tell me what engine this is by looking at it? I was told it was an early fox body motor. One guy said it was out of an explorer but the outside of the intake doesn't have the GT40 fins and doesn't drop down into the G shape. Second what is the big canister that is attached close to the throttle body? And what is a good throttle body for the street. Lastly I have researched the 303 cams and come to the conclusion that I like the E cam as the power comes in earlier. What are your thoughts on this? Ok I have gabbed enough, time to shutap and listen. thanks in advance!
 

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That is not an explorer intake- it is a 302 that was on mustangs, crown vics, towncar, or marquuis and other ford v8's from 1986-1993. On non mustangs, the intake was on the drivers's side for the intake tube routing.

You can see if it is a non HO or HO motor by the way the cap is wired assuming the cam was never changed out.. HO (mustang) motors have a 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8 firing order vs the non HO 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8
 
If you do indeed have a non-HO engine, (firing order 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8 ) you will need to replace the computer if you use an E cam. The injector squirt order for an HO computer is different from the non-HO computer.
 
So I should have no problem turning the intake around so I will have a better angle to run a cold air?

You can run the intake either way. It's just matter of hooking up the various water and vacuum lines and throttle linkages.


Right behind the distributor should be a part number cast into the intake manifold. If you can get that part number, it could help in IDing the engine.

But i'm with everyone in assuming it's a Standard output 5.0 from a Lincoln or a crown vic. 180ish HP.

What colors are the injectors?

Are those stamped black valve covers
 
The intake is on in that direction in order to clear the EGR plumbing. Flipping it around is going to cause interference. Either leave it the way it is, or remove the EGR altogether and install an intake elbow from an Explorer. There's no performance advantage either way.

A "B-cam" is an HO grind. None of the HO cams will work. You'll need a non HO camshaft. Comp, Crane, etc has a wide selection of them.

The way it sits, that engine is probably making about 170hp. With the proper parts, converting it to the HO specs should bring you up into the 225hp range. That said, you may find it not worth your while to attempt to convert the engine, as passenger vehicle non HO engines had different heads and intake as well as camshaft and ECU firing orders. It would require an entire top end change.....and it doesn't sound to me like you're up for that.

If it were me, I'd look for an entire second engine (start with a true HO to save yourself some grief) as a drop in and/or build one u[ on the stand and swap it over all at once. If you don't think stock HO power levels are going to cut it, the just make sure whatever engine you pick up utilizes a roller block.....then break out the wallet, because it's gonna start to cost ya.
 
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The intake is on in that direction in order to clear the EGR plumbing. Flipping it around is going to cause interference. Either leave it the way it is, or remove the EGR altogether and install an intake elbow from an Explorer. There's no performance advantage either way.

A "B-cam" is an HO grind. None of the HO cams will work. You'll need a non HO camshaft. Comp, Crane, etc has a wide selection of them.

The way it sits, that engine is probably making about 170hp. With the proper parts, converting it to the HO specs should bring you up into the 225hp range. That said, you may find it not worth your while to attempt to convert the engine, as passenger vehicle non HO engines had different heads and intake as well as camshaft and ECU firing orders. It would require an entire top end change.....and it doesn't sound to me like you're up for that.

If it were me, I'd look for an entire second engine (start with a true HO to save yourself some grief) as a drop in and/or build one u[ on the stand and swap it over all at once. If you don't think stock HO power levels are going to cut it, the just make sure whatever engine you pick up utilizes a roller block.....then break out the wallet, because it's gonna start to cost ya.


I have a buddy with a 92 f150 which doesn't use sequential port injection but batch fire injection. He ran an e cam for a while and it seemed ok... maybe it's the other way around where you can't run a non h.o. cam in an h.o.?

Also, I was under the impression besides intake manifolds and camshafts all 302s in that era got the same e7te heads? I even have some of the same ol e7s off a 96 model 351. Not trying to be contrary, just hoping to learn something..
 
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The 302 passenger cars all got a variation of those crappy low performing E6AE units that were found on the '86 Mustang GT. They had a high swirl combustion chamber design that although boosted low end torque, severely shrouded the valves and limited upper RPM performance. Only the post '87 302/351W trucks, or cars with HO engines ('87-up Mustang, later Mark VII's, Thunderbird and Cougars) in them got the E7TE castings.
 
The 302 passenger cars all got a variation of those crappy low performing E6AE units that were found on the '86 Mustang GT. They had a high swirl combustion chamber design that although boosted low end torque, severely shrouded the valves and limited upper RPM performance. Only the post '87 302/351W trucks, or cars with HO engines ('87-up Mustang, later Mark VII's, Thunderbird and Cougars) in them got the E7TE castings.

Ok.. I was under the impression the post 1987 crown vics got the E7TE casting. Learn something new every day..
 
Ok.. I was under the impression the post 1987 crown vics got the E7TE casting. Learn something new every day..

You'll find conflicting advice on the internet about it, but the consensus of the vast majority is that my above statement is correct.

Crown Victoria E7TE

For argument sake, I've had a few non Mustang passenger car engines apart over the years and none have had E7TE heads on them.

That' being said, beyond heads, intake, cam and pistons, the remainder of the engines are identical to that of a Mustang. Almost all post '86 blocks were drilled for roller camshafts (even though many didn't use them), so one could get quite close to HO specs by just changing the heads, intake and camshaft around.....but if memory serves, the non HO engines didn't have the required valve relief's cast into the pistons to handle much more lift than a stock HO camshaft would provide?

This is kind of why at this point I thought the OP might be further off starting from scratch, buying a used HO outright, or building up his own engine on the stand?
 
You'll find conflicting advice on the internet about it, but the consensus of the vast majority is that my above statement is correct.

Crown Victoria E7TE

For argument sake, I've had a few non Mustang passenger car engines apart over the years and none have had E7TE heads on them.

That' being said, beyond heads, intake, cam and pistons, the remainder of the engines are identical to that of a Mustang. Almost all post '86 blocks were drilled for roller camshafts (even though many didn't use them), so one could get quite close to HO specs by just changing the heads, intake and camshaft around.....but if memory serves, the non HO engines didn't have the required valve relief's cast into the pistons to handle much more lift than a stock HO camshaft would provide?

This is kind of why at this point I thought the OP might be further off starting from scratch, buying a used HO outright, or building up his own engine on the stand?

Actually, valve reliefs are easy to do, even in the car with this company's neat little tool: lindytoolsco

I used it to put 2.02 valved heads on my car and it worked like a champ! I highly recommend them to anyone.. It sure saves time and money, and much, much better made than the isky valve relief tool. The man that owns the company is very friendly and helpful and will work with you to get you exactly what you need, FWIW.
 
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The code behind the distributor RF-E8E-9K461-D3A the 1 could be an I, I am not sure. The injectors are orange and the valve covers are stamped black units. The heads are cast iron with hedman headers. So from what you guys have said so far is a have a dog on my hands. And it seems it would not benifit from a performance camshaft or the GT 40 intake. What would be better, the top end off an Explorer (GT40) or the top end of an HO mustang? And I am going to need an HO cpu right?
 
Well I have looked over my options and I believe I will just make it as HO engine. I can do the heads and intake swap in a day easy. Then Fine tune it the next I would think. I am coming from E30 BMW's and have turned a wrench or 2 (36 R&R Tech, Exhaust Fabricator) so I am confident here. What would be the best donor vehicles to get what I need and maybe shoot me to another post with info as well if it's not to much trouble to ask for it here. Thanks in advance.
 
Agreed.....the Explorer top end is the better option for you. It's the same amount of work as an HO top end swap, but the Explorer specific intake and GT40 heads are good for another 30-35hp over the stock HO stuff. The only thing you'll need to do to make the Explorer GT40 heads work with your set up is upgrade the valve springs.....which can be done for around $100.

If you plan on keeping the EGR system functional, make sure the components are from a '95-'96 model year, as later Explorer intakes don't have provisions for an EGR valve. The '95-'96 heads are also better suited to your needs, as the headers that are currently on your vehicle will bolt right up, without issue. The later '97-up GT-40 "P" head can have your running into problems.