The Diesel Explorer

[91BlueOval]

If you are thinking about swapping in a diesel for your gas, then you might want to check with your local ordinances. My dad and I were going to drop in an Olds 4.3 diesel in a 83 Chevy S10 *he thought it was too big for the motor compartment, so now he decides to drop in a Chevy 350 * But when we started it he asked a cop about the swap, and the reply was that it was illegal. Not sure why, not even sure if my dad told me, but that's what the Mr. Policeman told him. Sorta sucked. Would've been nice to have a 4.3 diesel S10......would've been unique, that's for sure.

 

[dogfriend]

Originally posted by 01EB5.0
Y His van has about 500,000 miles on it and still looks new. He said he keeps his diesels for 850,000 miles beofre he trades them. I was dumbfounded when he told me that. 850,000 is unheard of for cars/trucks I thought, but i guess with care and with a nice drivetrain like that it'll keep you going for a while.

Class 8 Trucks (33,000 lbs+ GCVW) typically go >250k miles before the first in-frame service, >500k before out of frame rebuild. I talked to a Peterbilt owner in Fontana, CA who had over 1 million miles on his CAT engine; he wanted to know if he could swap in a newer CAT engine because the rest of the truck was still in great shape but he was having trouble finding parts for the 15+ yr old engine

Diesels are built pretty stout to deal with the high compression necessary to ignite the fuel.

 

[95EXP4.0]

Originally posted by 01EB5.0
The 7.3 diesel would not work in an explorer because the frame can not handle an engine that powerful or that heavy. The front suspension would be bottomed out and the front end would have to be lengthened to try it. Now swapping a 4 cyl diesel from a 83-87 ranger might be a possability, but that diesel is kinda small.

I figured it would be hard to fabricate something like that but it is a nice thought though.

 

[01EB5.0]

I knew thos ebig OTR haulers lasted real long like that, but i never would have guessed a regular 7.3L powerstroke would last that long without needing major work. If he would have bought a similar van with the V-10 6.8L i'll venture a guess that he would not make it much past 300,000-400,000 miles before needing a major engine overhaul.
It's all speculatiuon I guess...but it still impressed me.

 

[tac0meat]

there is a diesel ranger that uses a 4 cylinder 2.8l tdi powerstroke, again only in other countries. the engine puts out about 130hp if i remember right

 

[dogfriend]

Originally posted by 01EB5.0
I knew thos ebig OTR haulers lasted real long like that, but i never would have guessed a regular 7.3L powerstroke would last that long without needing major work. If he would have bought a similar van with the V-10 6.8L i'll venture a guess that he would not make it much past 300,000-400,000 miles before needing a major engine overhaul.
It's all speculatiuon I guess...but it still impressed me.

The thing about the big trucks is that those engines last that long AND they are almost always heavily loaded. A Class 8 tractor/trailer can weigh up to 80,000 lbs; the typical tractor weighs 16 - 18k lbs so the payload can be 60000 lbs. And the engine still lasts 750k miles.

 

[Matte]

The euro Ford Ranger has a 2,5 TDi engine. IMO i think it´s too weak to swap in yo an Explorer, 109hp/266Nm.
The torque is 340Nm in my X, I don´t want to have less.
Now when ford owns Volvo cars they allready have an
excellent 2,4 TDi engine with 163hp/340Nm.
It has allready 340Nm in torque at 1750 rpm.
I thik that Ford should offer that engine in the X too.
It´s good enough for the new Volvo XC90 with the same
weight as an Explorer

 

[Matte]

BTW, here is a link if you wanna look closer to the euro ranger.
If you also look at the news you will see the next ranger that will come in the end of the year.
That will mabe have a more effective engine
www.ford.co.uk

 

[espnfreak]

Some of those ford vehicles are downright crazy!!! They look pretty cool but yet are so much different than what we got over here for the most part. I think its pretty sweet!

 

[Robert]

The current overseas Ranger uses a 2.5L turbo diesel. It is rated at 117ps of power at 3500 RPM and 280 Nm of torque at 2000 RPM if anyone cares to convert the numbers.

 

[BigOne]

Well, as far as I'm concerned, the only thing wrong with my X is that it isn't Diesel. I've owned a lot of diesels over the years including a diesel Rabbit, a BJ43 Landcruiser (should NEVER have sold that one) and currently an F-350.

If they bring out a diesel, I'm there!

 

[dogfriend]

Originally posted by Robert
The current overseas Ranger uses a 2.5L turbo diesel. It is rated at 117ps of power at 3500 RPM and 280 Nm of torque at 2000 RPM if anyone cares to convert the numbers.

What unit is "ps"? The SI unit of power is usually W or kW. Ergs per second if you work in a science lab.

280 Nm converts to 206.5 ft*lbf. I think that is close to the 4.0L OHV torque rating at max torque.

 

[Robert]

The ps came from Ford of Malaysia website. I don't know what ps is.

 

[dogfriend]

Maybe its a typo.

117 kW converts to 157 HP which sounds high for a diesel with 200 ft*lbf torque. Maybe its mixed units: 117 HP, 280 Nm torque?

 

[Rick]

I'm pretty sure those Rangers are the Mazda built P/Us and not the true "Ford" P/U that we get.

 

[Robert]

They are definately not the Rangers we have here in the states. They are a lot smaller (with the exception of the dual cab part). They looked about the same size as a Toyota or Nissan. I wouldn't be surprised if they were built by Mazda.

 

[Matte]

Yea Rick! You are right about that. The euro rangers are
mazda´s with a ford logo in the front. Thats too bad,
I think the US ranger could have reached better sales
over here than the one ford offer for europe now IMO.

 

[Jon Burns]

what ps is

ps is the German abbreviation for (P)ferde (S)taerke which translated means horse power.

The German article mentioned before simply says that Peugeot who are building a diesel engine for Ford won't have a product ready until 2004.

Hope this helps

 

[greengeeker]

you beat me to it jon. as for the european rangers, i don't think many off-roaders here wouldnt like it. it is pretty narrow, and taller than our rangers= nasty center of gravity. i would love to drop a 7.3 in my x, but it would probably be easier to just transplant my body to a shortened superduty frame. anybody got a superduty chassis sitting around? i promise to send pics.