1994 Mazda B2300 2.3l Project

[Plush1992]

I went ahead and installed a set of EV6 xs4u-aa 4 hole fuel injectors off a 2000 Ford focus. According to my research they are between 16-19lb fuel injectors. A bit more than the standard EV1 pintle 14lb fuel injectors. I just started driving with the new set up and nothing has gone wrong so far. It idles just fine. No check engine light. Fuel trim doesn't seem to be affected by much but I would need a scan guage to truly tell. It seems like a worthy upgrade so far.

I have to give thanks to backroadbomber for bringing this idea to light.

[hat_man]

I had a 97 Ranger with the 2.3l / 5 speed / and a 3.73 rear and was getting 30-32 mpg fairly regularly but it was almost all highway. The 3.08 sounds great but is it maybe too tall for something with barely 115 hp? Especially if the majority of your driving is in town. Maybe moving up to a 3.45 would be middle ground between what you have and what I had. I did the intake baffles and the coil pack mod mentioned earlier. Tonneau cover and oversized tires to help with the final drive ratio. You can still find it in the garage under Little Black Ranger. Unfortunately it died a few years ago. Never did the injector swap.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by hat_man

The 3.08 sounds great but is it maybe too tall for something with barely 115 hp? Especially if the majority of your driving is in town. Maybe moving up to a 3.45 would be middle ground between what you have and what I had.

That's a good point. Or if the OP ends up unsatisfied with an excessively taller rear-end for such engine, maybe resorting to smaller wheels and tires like some Japanese and Korean trucks which have smaller rear wheels in some versions is another option to consider, as a smaller diameter of the wheels would equate to fitting a shorter gearing, and eventually would save some weight too...

[Plush1992]

Originally Posted by hat_man

I had a 97 Ranger with the 2.3l / 5 speed / and a 3.73 rear and was getting 30-32 mpg fairly regularly but it was almost all highway. The 3.08 sounds great but is it maybe too tall for something with barely 115 hp?

I was just thinking about that today. What makes these tall gears difficult to work with is the in town shifting. It's just not smooth at all. Each gear feels so far away from each other in terms of rpms. Shorter gearing would make shifting easier. The nice thing is I am able to get it into 5th gear at 35 without the rpms being to low when cruising

[Plush1992]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

and eventually would save some weight too...

There's actually a 15inch Ford OEM ranger rim style I can find at the junkyard that weighs less than my current Mazda Navajo alloy rims and would work with my new tires. Any weight savings on the rims would help with my lack of engine power

[Plush1992]

Just got the truck aligned first time in 5 years. The technician said everything is perfect for the suspension. I opted for zero toe. Less friction of the tires and possibly better mpg. Plus it might help with understeer and turning the truck, especially since I don't have power steering.

[mpgmike]

You mentioned the leaky rear main seal. One trick is to put a vacuum on the crankcase. You are then sucking minute amounts of air through the seal instead of bleeding minute amounts of oil out. One method (prescribed by Ron "The Gadgetman" Hatton) is to cap the breather side. This forces full engine vacuum on the crankcase through the PCV valve. If this scares you, back in the '90s I tried an En-Valve (still around last I checked) that puts a regulated 5" of vacuum on the crankcase. The one downside to the En-Valve is that it bleeds ambient air into the system, not filtered air.

Something I did was to get a vacuum regulator valve from McMaster-Carr and place it on the breather side. Putting a vacuum gauge on the dipstick allowed me to dial it in at around 7" of crankcase vacuum. More on PCV mods.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Plush1992

Any weight savings on the rims would help with my lack of engine power

I guess you know what Colin Chapman would say about weight savings...

[Plush1992]

Just installed an electric fan. I originally had it running off a 200 degree temp switch in the upper radiator hose. Issue was the bottom radiator hose was ice cold while the top was burning hot. Meaning my duel core radiator cools off the engine effectively without needing the fan. I'm using an adjustable temp switch now and the fan rarely comes on. Bottom third of the radiator is almost always cool/warm at most.

I've installed a switch to allow me to manually turn it on at any time. I have a light that comes on to indicate whenever the electric fan is running aswell.

Power is definitely up, especially after 2000 rpms. Very noticeable. I need less pedal on the highway to maintain speed.

I'm very very happy with the current results

[aerohead]

Here's a video link.
They started at Cd 0.475, and got down to Cd 0.315 ( lower than a Corvette of the day ). It still 'looks' like a pickup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHbDj4lWKus