Completed Project Kirby's 1991 Ranger Build Up

[Kirby N.]

I did a little wrenching on the ranger today. I changed the oil and I also added a new Fuel Pressure Regulator- NOS ford motorcraft. Hoping it would affect the idle, but it doesn't seem like it did.


I have been running around with 3 shocks for quite some time now. The rears are probably not doing much either- they seem pretty blown. So I added the correct eyelet to the passenger side shock, loctite'd the heck out of it, and put the bushing in. Next I moved the reservoirs to the rear of the shocks so they would not interfere with the brake lines.

Next, I have had some limit straps sitting on the shelf for a few months now. I wanted to get them installed. I thought I had a plan to mount them behind the shocks, but they were a little longer than I thought would be ideal in that location and the drivers was going to interfere with the pump for the rabs. I ended up putting the top mount on one of the shock mounts and welded the bottom on. I think it will be a great location and length. Left some room behind the shocks if I ever get some hydro bumps.

A couple of days ago I came home to a surprise! I got the shifters from behemoth. I didn't think they would come with cables, but they did!

I quickly got it into the kitchen and un boxed them. I am impressed with the quality and size of these things.

You can see how they mount in this picture. I think I am going to make a new plate for my floor out of thicker steel than the current aluminum and have it rhino coated with a hole for these shifters. I need to find a good manual trans boot without the tcase boot attached. That could be a chore.

It came with an independent boot for the twin sticks:

 

[RockRanger]

Hopefully that shifter boot is better then the Amazon one a bought that cracked and fell apart after a year or so. I can't remember what brand mine was but it was cheap. I want to see how you like the doubler compared to your old d.d machine setup.

 

[Kirby N.]

Hopefully that shifter boot is better then the Amazon one a bought that cracked and fell apart after a year or so. I can't remember what brand mine was but it was cheap. I want to see how you like the doubler compared to your old d.d machine setup.

I hope so. Looks a little like the one I ran in my explorer, but different material. I think I got it from Jeffs Bronco graveyard. I ran it in the 1354 manual bezel and tucked it under. It wasn't awful. If this one gernades Ill but another Jeffs.

 

[Kirby N.]

So I ran my ranger down the highway for the first time in warm weather since she got rebuilt. A couple of things I noticed.

1. The ac only works when I am going down the highway. I really didn’t know what I was doing when I charged it and the manifold I rented didn’t really hook up to the high side anyway. Might have to do something about that

2. When cruising up the highway in 80’degrees with the ac going the temp continually climbed until it was on the high side of the temp- almost to the “L” in NORMAL. Weird. I thought it wa probably low on antifreeze. So I checked that and no. Hmm. I am going to check the fan clutch next. Should be resistant when I turn it off and when it is hot right? Any other ideas? Seems like this thing never runs hot.

 

[donalds]

Fan is my vote

 

[410Fortune]

is your 91 converted to r134? The high side fitting should go on if so

You need to vacuum the system and then the system needs to hold vacuum and prove itself worthy of a charge.

Temps climbing like that due to increased drag on the belt running the ac:

Do you have a full fan shroud?
How is your fan clutch? Old? Loose or stiff?
What fan are you running?
Cooling stack clean no mudd or cardboard? Lol

 

[Kirby N.]

It is converted to r134. The rental manifold I got was not engaging the shrader valve on the high side through the adapter for the 134. So I wasn’t getting good readings on either side because of that. I guess on those manifolds high and low are tied together? So it wasn't really making sense. I did vacuum it down and it was fine and I also added tue reccomended amount of oil. All the components of the ac were brand new with the engine swap. My guess is that it doesn’t have enough 134. I’ll have to get another manifold and try again.

I do have the stock fan shroud intact, no debris or cardboard. The condenser is brand new- so no obstruction there. The radiator is newer- did that with the paint.

I need to give the fan a spin this morning hot and cold. I am running all stock stuff there. Fan and clutch. I don’t remember changing the clutch ever- I could have, but the don’t remember. So it could be stock or have several hundreds of thousand miles on it.

 

[RockRanger]

When I first put my doubler in, when using double low the truck would ovheat in just a matter of a few minutes of 2k pulls in the rocks. New fan clutch fixed that problem.

Then in the summer on the long grade to the trails (1500 ft to 5000 ft in 8 miles) it would overheat. Swapped in the two core automatic radiator, fan shroud, and lower radiator hose. Now I can hold my foot to the floor the eentire pull and the temp barely moves even when 100 plus outside. My truck didn't come with AC so can't say what it would do with AC.

 

[BKennedy]

That grade up to the trails is brutal. Since I replaced my fan clutch and water pump I'm not seeing the rapid rise in temps I used to get on grades on warm days. The three core all aluminum radiator I put in a few years ago really helped too. I am assuming that since your engine is a fresh rebuild that everything but the radiator is probably new. If your still getting high idle issues, you have a different issue

 

[Kirby N.]

Thanks fellas.

Yeah water pump is new motorcraft. Radiator is pretty new- maybe 20k miles. I don’t see any leaks. It was the stock size- I didn’t do anything fancy or upgrades because it never got hot before.

When I did the engine I put in a new Stant thermostat.

The clutch is odd- there is lots of resistance when it is cold, little resistance when the engine is hot. I checked it first thing this morning and it wouldn’t make a full turn freewheeling. After driving and getting up to temp it spins easy and free wheels easy.

I just decided to go to ford and order a new rad cap and a fan clutch. Should be here in a week or so. On the way home it is uphill on the highway. It started getting hot, then when it flattened out it got back to the cooler side of normal. Something is not quite right. It is supposed to cool off here in the next couple days- but I will swap those parts when they get in and see if it makes a difference.

 

[Stic-o]

Some of the old Explorer Radiators are 4 rows if you can find one. There was one in the Black '97 that was all manual, I had for a short time, but I never swapped it out.

 

[410Fortune]

Could be your coolant temp sensor is getting funky? Do you have a mechanical gauge could install to monitor temps while fighting this battle? Stock gauge leaves some to be desired

My bii fan clutch was locking up soon after warmup it was oem 1996 my truck was running 210-220 in summer. New clutch and we are back to running at 190-210 Like I want

I will also only install dual core radiators in these trucks especially the first Gen. Which has a smaller radiator. You are 5 speed so that’s good, with the autos I bypass the tiny cooler (pre heater) built into the radiator

Any chance you have some
Blockage in the lower hose or? Check all of your work

Are you sure all the air has been bled since engine swap? I have to ask

 

[Kirby N.]

I am not sure air has been bled that’s a good point- do you have an reccomended proceedure? Thank you for the reminder- I will look for some blockage and double check my work.

 

[Kirby N.]

Also considering buying a 2 core and tossing it in.

 

[RockRanger]

Also considering buying a 2 core and tossing it in.

If you do that make sure you change the fan shroud as well. You will more then likely need the automatic lower radiator hose as well. I changed all three parts together when I did my swap.

 

[410Fortune]

The fan shroud can be trimmed at the top for the second core

To bleed all the air out you can actually pour boiling water (coffee pot) down the upper hose right at the thermostat, it wil open and the trapped air will burp out

Others I think have jacked up the rear of the truck and run it to temp?

The radiator hoses are the same for single and dual core?

 

[RockRanger]

I had to use a different lower radiator hose. The single core came strait out the radiator and the duel core came out pointing down at an angle. My duel is an auto trans radiator and the single was manual trans.

 

[Kirby N.]

To burp it I drove up a really steep embankment forward and back and let it idle a while at operating temp. It wasn’t super hot because the weather is cooling off today but hopefully that would have done it. I can do it again on a hot day.

 

[BKennedy]

I just go climb some rocks, then squeeze the upper radiator hose several times. Burrrrrrrrrp

 

[Kirby N.]

The cooling issue seems to be resolved.

I started a new project here in the last 3 weeks or so. I have been wanting to outboard the rear shocks for a long time. The bilstiens have continued to come apart- likely from over extension. I wanted to put them in the wheel well since I have tons of space with the wide rear axle, and also to help the thing handle better. I have the left over fox 12.1 travel 2.0s that were not long enough for the front.

I wanted to make sure not to cut into the bed- I use it too much- I also wanted to be sure the frame doesn't twist under the load- so I tied the two sides together.

You can see from this photo that the two are tied together. I used a hole saw to drill a 1.75" hole in the frame and the mounts are tied together.

Next I bent up some tube and notched it. You can see the one bilstein that is left in the picture. Way too far in to be very effective.