87 ranger 2.3t swap

[the1and0nlee]

Hello im new to the forum and got recommended to the site from a youtube video. ive recently purchased someone elses project who did a 2.3 t swap into this ford ranger and im totally excited about the project but have not been able to find any good information on doing the swap online if anyone can point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated! 

I have started by doing new plugs, wires, distributor and cap, had to run all new lines to the turbo and set timing and the truck runs amazing at idle but has absolutely no power under load and eventually hydrolocks from gas over fueling. the guy who had the truck before me kept stock wiring harness and computer but the wiring is hacked into like crappy speaker wire and random wires going every where and it is an ugly mess. Im wondering if there is a harness and computer that i can use for this swap or am i going to have to completely re wire this entire thing one wire at a time?(which im willing to do im stoked for this project) i also cannot seem to find any aftermarket intercoolers or maf sensors or anything that im going to need. also egr is deleted and wondering if im going to need it.  any information that helps me towards my goal would be amazing. thanks for your time!   

[Stinger]

Speaker wire is never a good sign. Normally household twist connectors aren't far behind.

What year is the Ranger?

Was a turbo engine swapped into the Ranger or did they slap a turbo on the Ranger engine?

[the1and0nlee]

I do know that the engine was swapped out of something but im not sure 100% what it was taken out of. i was told it was an svo ford escort that had the 2.3 t but i cant find much info on that car either. and yeah.. the speaker wire immediately told me i needed to re wire this thing for sure because i know that it isnt putting proper voltage to whatever is wired that way. its a complete rats nest of wiring and i feel like that has a lot to do with the drivability issues. also the egr is deleted on truck but is still plugged in and hanging off to the side. seems as tho the swap was started but the guy bit off more then he can chew with it. the ranger is an 87.

[Stinger]

Well, these engines didn't come in Escorts so it certainly didn't come from one of those. It came in Mustang SVO's, Thunderbird Turbo Coupes, Cougar XR-4's, Mustang GT Turbo, and Merkur XR4Ti's (which look a bit like Escorts if you don't know much about...much).

The first failure is that they retained the stock Ranger ECU. It doesn't know what to do with boost so that's an instant "no-go". Second failure is they must have used the turbo engine's injectors which are twice as large as stock (hence the over fueling issue). Third failure is an 87 Ranger only requires adding 4 wires in order to do it "right" and just use an 87-88 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe ECU, Air Meter, and injectors. Then it runs like a factory application. Now that the harness has been butchered this is likely not a good option.

Got any pics of the engine setup so I can see if they tried to use a rising rate FPR, what MAF it is, etc.?

[the1and0nlee]

[the1and0nlee]

this is how i got the truck. ive already pulled the manifold and flipped it back over the way it is supposed to be and ran all new lines i can post more pictures later on. (its very ugly in this picture i plan on fully going over this and leaning it up and making it nice.

[Stinger]

Can't see the pic, looks like it's an attachment in your email?

Flipped manifolds are common in Rangers to clear the heater box. You can't do it without flip adapters though, otherwise the ports don't line up.