1983 Ford Ranger diesel--anybody else have one?

Mozambiquer

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2004 VW Touareg V10 TDI, 2012 Audi Q7 V6 TDI, 1998 VW Jetta TDI. 1982 VW Rabbit pickup, 2001 VW Jetta TDI, 2005 VW Passat wagon TDI X3, 2001 VW golf TDI, 1980 VW rabbit pickup,
I've had my fair share of diesels, several of them uncommon or rare ones, like a Chevette diesel, and a Nissan Maxima diesel. My current not so common one is a 1983 Ford ranger diesel. It has a factory installed 2.2 liter Perkins/Mazda diesel.
 

bigsexyTDI

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Kentucky
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'98 NB, '04 Jetta
I've got a B2200 and know where a Ranger is. The one I am missing is a D50 or Mighty Max. Feel like if I ever want one I am gonna have to bite the bullet and go to the PNW.
 

Mozambiquer

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Versailles Missouri
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2004 VW Touareg V10 TDI, 2012 Audi Q7 V6 TDI, 1998 VW Jetta TDI. 1982 VW Rabbit pickup, 2001 VW Jetta TDI, 2005 VW Passat wagon TDI X3, 2001 VW golf TDI, 1980 VW rabbit pickup,
I've got a B2200 and know where a Ranger is. The one I am missing is a D50 or Mighty Max. Feel like if I ever want one I am gonna have to bite the bullet and go to the PNW.
Cool! My dad used to have a b2200 it's the same engine as my ranger. I wish mine was 4x4, but it doesn't really have enough power for that. I had a 1987 Mazda b2600 that I swapped a mighty-max engine into. That was a fun truck. I had it turned up to roll coal and all. That was when I was 16. It was my first truck. Sadly, the engine went out, and I rebuilt it, but found out that some places don't do cylinder liners very well... It blew again not very long later and then it was not rebuild able.
 

oilhammer

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outside St Louis, MO
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There are just too many to list....
I had one. An '84. It came from CT and was too rusted to rescue, and I had looked into just moving the powertrain into a Mazda pickup, but the '86-93 trucks were actually too different from the --'84 trucks (these were also sold as the Ford Courier). So the engine/trans would not easily fit, as those later trucks were really designed around the F-blocks from the 626 (physically smaller). Although they did stuff the Mitsubishi 2.6L in there, so... maybe I could have cobbled something together. But ended up I had a guy come and buy the engine/trans from me.

As I recall, the little bit I drove it, it ran well... possibly as good as my diesel Toyota truck which was also a 2.2L non-turbo. But boy that Ranger's frame and body was BAD.

The Ranger was available for one year with a 2.3L Mitsubishi-sourced TURBO diesel, and THAT could be had with 4WD. They are extremely rare. '86 I think.
 

Mozambiquer

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Mar 21, 2015
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2004 VW Touareg V10 TDI, 2012 Audi Q7 V6 TDI, 1998 VW Jetta TDI. 1982 VW Rabbit pickup, 2001 VW Jetta TDI, 2005 VW Passat wagon TDI X3, 2001 VW golf TDI, 1980 VW rabbit pickup,

Mozambiquer

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Mar 21, 2015
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Versailles Missouri
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2004 VW Touareg V10 TDI, 2012 Audi Q7 V6 TDI, 1998 VW Jetta TDI. 1982 VW Rabbit pickup, 2001 VW Jetta TDI, 2005 VW Passat wagon TDI X3, 2001 VW golf TDI, 1980 VW rabbit pickup,
I had one. An '84. It came from CT and was too rusted to rescue, and I had looked into just moving the powertrain into a Mazda pickup, but the '86-93 trucks were actually too different from the --'84 trucks (these were also sold as the Ford Courier). So the engine/trans would not easily fit, as those later trucks were really designed around the F-blocks from the 626 (physically smaller). Although they did stuff the Mitsubishi 2.6L in there, so... maybe I could have cobbled something together. But ended up I had a guy come and buy the engine/trans from me.

As I recall, the little bit I drove it, it ran well... possibly as good as my diesel Toyota truck which was also a 2.2L non-turbo. But boy that Ranger's frame and body was BAD.

The Ranger was available for one year with a 2.3L Mitsubishi-sourced TURBO diesel, and THAT could be had with 4WD. They are extremely rare. '86 I think.
The 2.3 turbo diesel was 1985-87 and it was the same engine as the mitsubishi mighty max/dodge d50. They would really go. There's a local guy who has a ranger with that engine.
 

Rxfire

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2 years ago I was "working" in Alaska, went to a garage sale to kill time one Saturday morning. The little orange Ford Ranger diesel was for sale, but only when I asked about it. NW of Tok, Alaska... North of Highway, somehwere near George Jr Road.
 

williambill

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I’ve got an ‘84 B2200. Got it from my father in law about 10 years ago. He bought it new. She was a little rough when I got her, but I fixed it up and drove it for a couple years before I got into TDI’s. It’s showing around 300k on the clock, but runs like a sewing machine and doesn’t use a drop of oil.

All it does is sit in the shop now and gets cranked and drove around the yard every now and then. I hate to admit this, but I thought about letting it go to a new home, if someone wanted it.
 

Mozambiquer

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2004 VW Touareg V10 TDI, 2012 Audi Q7 V6 TDI, 1998 VW Jetta TDI. 1982 VW Rabbit pickup, 2001 VW Jetta TDI, 2005 VW Passat wagon TDI X3, 2001 VW golf TDI, 1980 VW rabbit pickup,
I’ve got an ‘84 B2200. Got it from my father in law about 10 years ago. He bought it new. She was a little rough when I got her, but I fixed it up and drove it for a couple years before I got into TDI’s. It’s showing around 300k on the clock, but runs like a sewing machine and doesn’t use a drop of oil.

All it does is sit in the shop now and gets cranked and drove around the yard every now and then. I hate to admit this, but I thought about letting it go to a new home, if someone wanted it.
My dad had a b2200, which is what I learned to drive on. I'm on a Facebook group which is about those and the diesel rangers. If you ever decide to sell, that would be the place to do it.
 

[486]

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didn't these have a real short timing belt interval (like everything of the era, really)?
 

oilhammer

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outside St Louis, MO
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There are just too many to list....
The 2.2L Mazda diesel was a pushrod engine. The camshaft in the block, along with the injection pump drive, were all driven by helical gears off the front of the crankshaft.

The 2.0L Mazda diesel, which was used in the 626, Escort/Lynx, and Tempo/Topaz, was a belt driven SOHC engine similar to Volkswagen, Toyota, Nissan diesels of the same era. I know Ford's interval for the timing belt was a pretty high for the time 97,500 miles (they ran a 7500 service interval) and I only know that because a coworker had one and I was interested in buying it and I read through the owner's manual. One owner, always garaged, was in pristine shape.
 

Mozambiquer

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2004 VW Touareg V10 TDI, 2012 Audi Q7 V6 TDI, 1998 VW Jetta TDI. 1982 VW Rabbit pickup, 2001 VW Jetta TDI, 2005 VW Passat wagon TDI X3, 2001 VW golf TDI, 1980 VW rabbit pickup,
didn't these have a real short timing belt interval (like everything of the era, really)?
Not this one. It's gear driven, which accounts for it's reputation for being a long lasting engine. Not much power though.
The '85-'87 had the mitsubishi turbo diesel, which had a timing belt, actually two of them. One for the cam and the other for the balance shafts.
 
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