TDI Ranger Build

greengeeker said:

Stage 1: tune (current)

Stage 2: stage 1 + R520's + retune + pyrometer

Stage 3: stage 2 + gtb2056vk + 4bar MAP + boost gauge + retune + clutch (likely)

Stage 4: stage 3 + 11mm IP

As mentioned before I'm pretty worried that stage 4 torque levels will likely exceed the strength of my stock transmission. So I guess a potential stage 5 would include a T5 and a built up shortblock (alh pistons + rosten rods is all).

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cool .... i guess it would be easy enough to use a mustang 2.3 T5 with your adapter plate .... i have 1756vk on the shelf im prob never going to utilize if you're interested .... i guess you wanna go "big" though

I have been thinking about what you said about your build and how you don't want a truck with torque that comes on super late just to gain hp in the 3000-4000rpm range. I wonder if the 1756 will have a significantly lower boost threshold compared to the 2056? From what I've read it makes full boost about 200rpm earlier.

Yes, the 2.3 t5 would work but the bellhousing from a 87-88 Thunderbird Turbocoupe is the one you want because it has a hydraulic slave like the Ranger M5OD-R1.

greengeeker said:

I have been thinking about what you said about your build and how you don't want a truck with torque that comes on super late just to gain hp in the 3000-4000rpm range. I wonder if the 1756 will have a significantly lower boost threshold compared to the 2056? From what I've read it makes full boost about 200rpm earlier.

Yes, the 2.3 t5 would work but the bellhousing from a 87-88 Thunderbird Turbocoupe is the one you want because it has a hydraulic slave like the Ranger M5OD-R1.

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ahh ok .... also the late t coupes should have the "world class" trans with stronger input and cluster gears and i think the syncros were improved ... my pop used to rebuild T5 mustang trannies and the shop is still full of gears and cases ... yup i'm not going to screw with a good thing until i can drive a VK equipped TDI... im just not convinced it can outperform or match the little VA down low

So you're telling me I need to road trip down to NC to upgrade my trans and turbo?

Putting her to work



Tank #7 : 683 miles on 17.5 gal = 39mpg. Pretty impressive considering this was the tank where I hauled 3 loads as pictured above as well as the dyno session.

tta said:

Besides the truck and the doner TDI, how much $ do you have into this swap ??

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That's really hard to answer since a lot of my expenses were tied up into the development of the adapter plate. If I don't include all of those or the cost of the motor or truck then here's a rundown of all the little things:

$260..intercooler and hoses, bends, MAP adapter
$70....fuel pressure regulator
$125...fuel system hoses, hardware, etc
$40....steel for mounting brackets
$150..aluminum driveshaft, shortened, balanced (also included was resurfacing of flywheel)
$350..timing belt kit
$150..PD150 intake with racepipe
$25....misc exhaust pipe
$100..wiring supplies (tape, connectors, solder)
$260..Beetle cooling system (condensor, radiator, fans)
$35....used 4L starter
$1565 total. I would round that up to $2000 for good measure.

greengeeker said:

...a lot of my expenses were tied up into the development of the adapter plate.

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Are you going to sell the adapter plates? Lots or Ranger owners out there! (and TDI owners who need a pickup that gets 30+ MPG!)

red golf tdi said:

Are you going to sell the adapter plates? Lots or Ranger owners out there! (and TDI owners who need a pickup that gets 30+ MPG!)

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Hey Terry,

Yes, still working on this. Been tough to find time. I was actually just down by your place with the Ranger - shoulda stopped by.

General Updates

Heat

Well I decided to finally replace the heater core as I was having a tough time keeping the windshield defrosted and it was getting too cold to just have a window open. It's about the job you would expect except when you go to actually remove the heater core and it is massively ballooned likely due to letting straight water freeze in the core.



Since I had to pull my steering column to do this repair I did take the opportunity to swap in a tilt column that I picked up at the local Upullit yard. It makes a world of difference to have even that small amount of tilt (bigger guy in a little truck)! I'm also working on mounting my cruise control stalk ala jimbote. Will post pics when I get to that.



Since I only had HIGH fan speed I also needed to address my fan resistor pack which is notorious for corrosion in the electrical connector damaging the pack or the connector itself. Well mine was so corroded I could not separate the two and had to basically cut the two apart. Even then the spade terminals would not come out of the female counterparts so I had to buy myself a repair kit from Ford and solder it in. It is very nice to have heat and I have to say it is quite a bit better than my Jetta's heat.



Aero mods

I tried my first aero mod: I borrowed a hard tonneau cover from a buddy at work. Surprisingly it really hasn't improved my mileage. I put one tank on it driving exactly the same commute (before the weather cooled off) and got the same mileage. I don't have a picture but it's hideous.

Gearing

My biggest update is I have now swapped in a rear axle for one with taller gears. As mentioned previously my truck came with a 3.73:1 rearend which was tons of fun with plenty of snort but I was spinning a little faster on the highway than I liked. Actually I was spinning faster (2450rpm) than I was calculating (2350rpm) for my commute speed of 65mph. By my calculations a 3.08:1 rearend should drop my cruising rpm by 409 to around 2000rpm. Perfect right? Well my new rearend has me running right at 1900rpm @ 65mph. I'm more than pleased with how quiet the drive is now (will take a measurement at both rpms to compare) but am a little concerned my 2056 turbo will not be very responsive in 5th gear at all....that is unless I'm breaking the law . Anyway, what is nice about this steep drop is my 4th gear cruising rpm is exactly where the 5th gear was before so I now have a true overdrive for bombing down the interstate.

While I was swapping over axles I decided to fix the parking brakes which have been inoperable for quite some time. I threw everything back together but since have been struggling with dragging rear brakes. I've had the drums off at least a dozen times per side and think I may have finally tracked down the issue: my OReilly brake cables (before you harp on me, I was assured by a trusted parts guy they had had luck with the exact parts on his Ranger) are 1) not releasing the parking pawl 2) pushing the rear shoe into the drum. I've just disconnected the cables and adjusted the shoes and will give it another commute to see if the dragging is solved.

excellent project, and excellent dyno results. 39mpg with a dyno session and heavy hauling is pretty damn impressive. Thanks to you, i can never look at a 2wd ranger the same again.

greengeeker said:

While I was swapping over axles I decided to fix the parking brakes which have been inoperable for quite some time. I threw everything back together but since have been struggling with dragging rear brakes. I've had the drums off at least a dozen times per side and think I may have finally tracked down the issue: my OReilly brake cables (before you harp on me, I was assured by a trusted parts guy they had had luck with the exact parts on his Ranger) are 1) not releasing the parking pawl 2) pushing the rear shoe into the drum. I've just disconnected the cables and adjusted the shoes and will give it another commute to see if the dragging is solved.

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Is there a rear disc swap that would potentially help alleviate this? I've got one for my old f250. Haven't installed it yet. hoping to work on it this winter

I could swap in an explorer rear axle which comes equipped from the factory with disc brakes. It does require some other mods due to it being a spring under axle (Ranger is SOA). Anyway, that's still dragging a little on the passenger side so I haven't really been able to determine if the gearing has helped FE...I think SG has been reporting 36mpg or so which is of course down from the 38-39 I'd been getting. I'm sure the colder weather isn't helping FE either.

greengeeker said:

I could swap in an explorer rear axle which comes equipped from the factory with disc brakes. It does require some other mods due to it being a spring under axle (Ranger is SOA). Anyway, that's still dragging a little on the passenger side so I haven't really been able to determine if the gearing has helped FE...I think SG has been reporting 36mpg or so which is of course down from the 38-39 I'd been getting. I'm sure the colder weather isn't helping FE either.

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Check out the rear disc brakes on a mid 90s Mustang. There have the 8.8 with disc brakes and they should go right on your your Ranger rear end. I know the backing plates, calipers and rotors will fit and think the axles will fit also.

After two disc brake swaps, I'm not doing any more unless it uses a caliper with a parking brake in it, like VW's or the caddy eldorado calipers. The tiny parking brake shoes on the disc/drum brake setups are all the adjustment hassle of a regular drum brake with none of the stopping power. Even when perfectly adjusted, the little parking drums can't hold like a regular 9" or 10" dia drum.

Thanks for the tip ELM. I'll look into that.

I agree mcneil. Luckily the Ford setups that swap into the Ranger are all cable-operated caliper arrangements.

I'd rather just get this drum axle fixed as I'm not really after and increased stopping power. I just want functional ebrakes since my driveway is inclined and I can't keep my kids out of my truck 100% of the time.

Putting her to work, again





Loaded up with: 6.2L long block, cherry picker, tdi short block, 15gal of coolant, and a set of snow tires.

This should help with snow traction which is HORRIBLE with these summer Conti's.

that's quite a traction enhancement system you have there .... what's funny is that your light little 1.9 tdi is probably not far off the stock horsepower output of that massive boat anchor in the back

jimbote said:

what's funny is that your light little 1.9 tdi is probably not far off the stock horsepower output of that massive boat anchor in the back

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Let's begin to remove all doubt.

I'll start with these and a retune (and a pyrometer of course)



I'll dyno to see how just the nozzles change things and then I'll get going with the rest of this

Trying to out power me? What model is that Garrett? a GTB xxxx?

Definitely not Richard! GTB2056vk.

Nice

Loved reading this whole swap! Very inspirational. Adapter plate still in progress? If so, any idea on completion date? Thanks!

I need to take the time to read this. My son will be driving soon n wants a Ranger. I want him to have the economy of a diesel. Can't wait to read up on it. Don't have time right now


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This will be so cool and very unique! I've done a few 4bt cummins swaps in rangers but they are shaky little guys..
That tdi motor will be perfect IMO
Good luck!!!

I'm thinking about starting a TDI to ranger Chassis swap this Summer, then throwing a 30's or 40's 4dr sedan on that chassis. I would truely be interested in that adapter plate, if it's still a work in progress. (I have a 92 ranger with a 2.3l and M5OD).

bfuchs50 said:

I'm thinking about starting a TDI to ranger Chassis swap this Summer, then throwing a 30's or 40's 4dr sedan on that chassis. I would truely be interested in that adapter plate, if it's still a work in progress. (I have a 92 ranger with a 2.3l and M5OD).

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It is. Actually just made a break through at a firecall recently. Was chatting with one of the responding department memebers who hooked me up with a local guy.

I haven't made it to the dyno since the nozzle and tune but will in the next few weeks.

Intial impressions with the nozzles and tune:
1) Very nice improvement in power throughout the power band. I'd say I picked up at least 10hp throughout the entire range and 20-30ft lbs.
2) Smoke is tolerable (if not a little enjoyable says the little devil on my shoulder). If I goose it I can get a decent puff of smoke...you know, reminding others that this isn't your average Ranger.
3) I can slip the clutch if I stomp on it below 2000rpm. Need to upgrade as it won't do me any good to take the next step in power adders if I can't put the power to the ground. It is interesting how the Ranger clutch follows the same pattern as the mk4 clutches: they can handle injectors OR a tune but not both.
4) After going with the 3.08 axle swap I was a little worried I went with too tall of gears, especially when towing. Well with the increased power this is not a problem. I recently towed another Golf (3200lb) on a dolly and the towing went just fine. I did have to ride the clutch a little when stopped on some of the steeper hills but nothing abusive.

On another note I'm toying with the idea of doing a 4/5 drop to help with aero. The only reason I haven't done it yet is I have a set of helper bags that I haven't yet installed and I have a sneaking suspicion that they won't work if I do the drop. Not only that but I'll have to go buy and even bigger offset hitch to mount upside down.

Sounds like fun. Keep us updated!

Kudos. Ranger is what a truck should be. ALH is what an engine should be.

Great build. Wish I had the time and the money to do that to my civic. I think that a little TDI civic would be great. I tried to find an import that came with the 1.6 TDI but they are impossible to find, even just for the engine for a straight swap.