1994 Mazda B2300 2.3l Project

[Plush1992]

Originally Posted by hayden55

Damn how many mpg are you getting now? My 3.0/3.73/5mt was getting 25mpg on average doing standard stuff that we do, but you basically have the holy grail of Rangers. It is 5 speed isn't it?

It is a five speed fortunately, and yes I feel like I have the holy grail of rangers haha. The later year ones the uped the rear gear ratios to 3.27 or something. As for mpg, it's hard to say. With my current set up, I'd say around 27mpg on average. I could be dead wrong one way or the other. I don't have a scan guage. I hypermill it pretty well too.

[BackroadBomber]

I had a 94 ranger, same setup as you. 2.3, 5sp, 3.08 rear end. I have an idea for you. When i had mine, i swapped injectors. The stock ones have a single stream much like a washer fluid nozzle that squirts gas into the manifold. I got a set of four from the junkyard (i think it was an early 2000’s focus, i don’t remember but i know they were the same pound rating) that have the four small holes on them that “mist” the fuel instead of squirting it. Now, i don’t have any real-world mpg data or FE records since the truck didn’t make it much longer, but i can tell you that i hooked it up to the MAC scanner at work. With the stock injectors the fuel trim was between -1 and +1. With the focus injectors it was between -12 and -10. That was only tested at idle, since the obd1 plug was under the hood. If you have time and a cheap u-pull-it junkyard close by, it may be worth a shot.

[BackroadBomber]

Oh and another thing I forgot… you have the 8 plug head. 4 fire on ignition stroke, 4 fire on exhaust stroke to help with emissions. You can swap the four plug wires on the secondary coil so they fire on the ignition stroke, so you have two plugs firing per cylinder. There’s a ton of write ups on it with pictorial instructions if you search Ford ranger forums.

[freebeard]

You can swap the four plug wires on the secondary coil so they fire on the ignition stroke, so you have two plugs firing per cylinder.

Awesome. :thumbup"

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by BackroadBomber

Oh and another thing I forgot… you have the 8 plug head. 4 fire on ignition stroke, 4 fire on exhaust stroke to help with emissions.

I was aware of both wasted-spark and twin-spark engines, but I would never guess Ford did this setup in this engine, instead of having both spark plugs on each cylinder firing simultaneously.

[wriley4409]

A few thoughts:

1. Based on my previous experience with a Ranger, this 2.3L engine REALLY likes full synthetic oil. It makes a noticeable difference in fuel efficiency. My favorite was Mobil1 5w30.

2. Swapping the engine fan/clutch setup for an electric cooling fan properly set inside a fan shroud makes a noticeable difference in fuel economy and power available at the rear wheels.

3. Any weight reduction in things that spin will reduce the power that it takes to get your truck moving. Lighter tires, wheels, aluminum driveshaft swap, etc would all be beneficial.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by wriley4409

Swapping the engine fan/clutch setup for an electric cooling fan properly set inside a fan shroud makes a noticeable difference in fuel economy and power available at the rear wheels.

That's one of the most straightforward mods that can be implemented on trucks in general. It also decreases the likelihood of an overheating at a slow-pace traffic jam.

[Plush1992]

Originally Posted by wriley4409

A few thoughts:

1. Based on my previous experience with a Ranger, this 2.3L engine REALLY likes full synthetic oil. It makes a noticeable difference in fuel efficiency. My favorite was Mobil1 5w30.

2. Swapping the engine fan/clutch setup for an electric cooling fan properly set inside a fan shroud makes a noticeable difference in fuel economy and power available at the rear wheels.

3. Any weight reduction in things that spin will reduce the power that it takes to get your truck moving. Lighter tires, wheels, aluminum driveshaft swap, etc would all be beneficial.

My rear main seal isn't leaking oil but I can tell that it does drip very slightly and I'm afraid fully synthetic may cause that slight drip to worsen. It is a 28 year old truck after all. I'll have to think about it.

Id love to find lighter weight 15 inch rims for my truck especially ones that won't break the bank. Ive got the Mazda Navajo rims on but I feel I might be able to find a lighter weight set of oem rims at the junkyard.

I'd also love to try and find an aluminum drive shaft aswell. I heard some old Ford aerostars had them. Maybe I can find one for cheap.

[Plush1992]

I decided to try and close up the huge wheel well arch gaps. Wheel wells cause a significant amount of drag. I'm hoping my solution will actually help reduce that drag. I went and got weather stripping off a Dodge Durango, cut it to size and bolted it to the under side of the fenders. I'm half done and will do the same to the front of the truck here shortly.

I've done zero ABA testing. I'm just hoping this mod does what I want it to do haha.

[Plush1992]

Originally Posted by BackroadBomber

With the stock injectors the fuel trim was between -1 and +1. With the focus injectors it was between -12 and -10. That was only tested at idle, since the obd1 plug was under the hood. If you have time and a cheap u-pull-it junkyard close by, it may be worth a shot.

Thank you! I will 100 percent look into that