[JustinL]

1994 Turbo Ford Ranger Turbo Coupe Thunderbird Drive Train T5 2.3


Anyone know anything about the old Turbo Coupe Thunderbirds? Are those motors real turds or are the pretty reliable?

That guy emailed me about trading my dodge for this ranger. He seems really eager make some kind of a deal for my dodge. The listing he saw for my dodge is 8750, he is asking 5400. 5400 is pretty high for it IMO, MIN I would take is 4k for my truck, depending on the condition of his. I am not terribly interested in his truck but who knows.

[Miller]

ask nidex, he used to have one until he flipped it and it burst into flames in front of our high school

[JustinL]

hopefully he'll see this. I forgot to include the pictures he sent me from today.


JustinL/Possibility - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

[nidex]

Yes, they are turds. They do have [some] potential. Not alot of aftermarket for them, but you can still slap a bigger turbo and some fueling on it if you'd like to. Reliability.. ehhh it's a Ford, you get what you get.

A couple years ago we took a 2.3 turbo out of a Merkur XR4TI and put it in a Ranger. Still slow, but fun. I find it very strange that he doesn't have any motor pics, either.

[MSP]

I had an '85 T-Bird turbo until I totaled it. It felt punchy in a small car frame, but I wouldn't want one pushing a Ranger down the road. That looks like a Frankenstein monster frankly, take a pass. Ford doesn't make much that's good, but certainly not 4 cylinders or turbos.

[JustinL]

I test drove it tonight. He seems real interested in my truck. The ranger actually weighs a couple hundred pounds less then the stock car I believe. It is pretty clean overall. It does have a T3/T4 turbo on it. Pulls pretty nice but has quite a bit of lag. He thinks reprogramming it will solve a lot of those problems.

If I do get him to give me 4k for my truck, I'll probably take it and fix it up. Then I'll sell it and get some kind of a stock ranger. I'm not holding out much hope and I don't really want the truck. It could be pretty fun to mess around with though.

[nidex]

Originally Posted by JustinL

I test drove it tonight. He seems real interested in my truck. The ranger actually weighs a couple hundred pounds less then the stock car I believe. It is pretty clean overall. It does have a T3/T4 turbo on it. Pulls pretty nice but has quite a bit of lag. He thinks reprogramming it will solve a lot of those problems.

If I do get him to give me 4k for my truck, I'll probably take it and fix it up. Then I'll sell it and get some kind of a stock ranger. I'm not holding out much hope and I don't really want the truck. It could be pretty fun to mess around with though.

This is true.. T-Bird Turbo Coupes weigh like 3,800lbs almost.. and they're not on a unibody, they're full frame(think that's what you were talking about MSP?). What size T3/T4 is it? And what is he doing for fueling, tuning? Check that shit out before you buy it, make sure it isn't detonating because of lack of fuel(sounds like this might be the case if he's not doing anything for tuning, either that or he has big injectors that the computer doesn't know to compensate for so it would be running rich as fuck..)

When does it get full spool? You'd think it wouldn't be that bad since a 2.3 is a pretty big 4 cylinder.

[JustinL]

I don't think Im going to get it. He has methanol injection in it, comes up at 5psi. The turbo doesn't really get going until mid 4k rpms. It has the stock thunderbird computer as far as I know, he said something about one I could buy but its 700 bucks. He said something about brown top injectors, I don't know what that means (bigger/smaller/etc).

If you look at the craigslist link, you can see a picture of the turbo. the compressor side is actually smaller then the turbine side...?

1994 Turbo Ford Ranger Turbo Coupe Thunderbird Drive Train T5 2.3

[nidex]

Originally Posted by JustinL

I don't think Im going to get it. He has methanol injection in it, comes up at 5psi. The turbo doesn't really get going until mid 4k rpms. It has the stock thunderbird computer as far as I know, he said something about one I could buy but its 700 bucks. He said something about brown top injectors, I don't know what that means (bigger/smaller/etc).

If you look at the craigslist link, you can see a picture of the turbo. the compressor side is actually smaller then the turbine side...?

1994 Turbo Ford Ranger Turbo Coupe Thunderbird Drive Train T5 2.3

The "brown top injectors" are just the injectors out of the 2.3 turbo. Sounds like it's not tuned to the way it's supposed to be, probably somewhat of a hack. And pictures you can't enlarge = lame.. I'd probably pass on it, but that's just me. Unless you're the type that likes finishing peoples projects..

[JustinL]

Originally Posted by nidex

Unless you're the type that likes finishing peoples projects..

I was selling the scout, Im the guy who sells my projects for other guys to finish


One of my room mates was doing some reading on that engine and it is basically the Pinto motor.... definitely glad I passed on it now. Looking at the pictures, you can see that the exhaust side of the turbo is larger then the intake. I linked a T3/T4 turbo picture which has a larger compressor side.


http://www.mandh.co.nz/products/turbo1_l.jpg

[nidex]

Yeah, T3/T4 = T4 compressor housing, T3 exhaust.. probably some knockoff Ebay shit.