I've been driving it quite a bit the last two days.

I advanced the timing a little yesterday and it helped some. Still idles rough, and smokes a lot from a cold start, but after it warms up, it idles better, and does not smoke going down the road, even up a hill.

Found the wiring diagram for my Ranger today and found the wire that goes to the volts gauge on the dash. I hooked it up to the blue wire from the alternator and it's charging just like it should.

From what I've seen, it is going to do well on the freeway in fifth gear. Rpms are pretty low at 55 mph. Have to shift down to 4th when I hit a 45 mph zone.

Still looking for a better way to shut it down though. Anybody here that can tell me how to use the ALDA valve from the firewall of the 300D to use as a shutoff? I know I read about somebody doing that somewhere a while back.

Have a great night.

Rick

 

Wire it up to the old wire that went to the coil. 12v key on to the solonoid closes the valve, key off and it opens shutting engine off. Put it in between the vacuume pump and the IP shut down.

 

Thanks for the directions on how to do that. I went out after supper and wired it up to the coil wire, and ran a line from the other post to the ground. Started the truck, turned the key and nothing happened. It kept running.

Before I wired it direct, I tested it with a couple jumper wires from the coil to the valve, and the other post on the valve to the ground. I could see a slight spark each time I touched it to the wire, and I could feel the solenoid open and close as I attached and detached the wire.

I also tested the solenoid by blowing on a tube connected to it while I turned it on and off and it would stop the air when it was on, and allow the air through when it was off.

Is it possible my vacuum pump is too weak? I felt the vacuum line while the truck was idling, and while there is vacuum, it's not like on a gasser. The power brakes seem to work easily as it is now.

Currently the only thing on the vac. pump is the master cylinder, and this solenoid. Everything to the heater controls is disconnected. Only one tee in the line between the vac. pump and the master cylinder. The tee is connected to the shutoff solenoid.

In my thinking, it shouldn't matter which hose is on which barb, but is it possible I need to reverse the lines?

Thanks again for your help.

Other than that, here is what I have found over the last two days of driving it which totals around 180 miles, and less than a half tank of fuel.

I still think I need to replace the nozzles on the injectors. It really runs rough n smokes at an idle. Runs clear going down the road though. Cannot see any exhaust even when going up a hill like I can with my 1.6L Jetta diesel.

Rpm's seem to be running low at highway speed. It wants to chug when I'm in 5th gear, and have to drop below 50-55mph. I have found I'm down shifting to 4th quite a bit. If traffic is not too heavy and I can keep the speed up to 55-60 mph I can go up the hills just fine. On flat road it sails along nicely at around 62.

I am running a 3.45 rear gear set, and stock tires that came with the truck, which are 215/75R14's and stand 25.85" tall.

Looking forward to getting it on the freeway to see how it does at 70-75mph. IIRC, when it was in the car before the transplant it would do that at around 3250 rpms. Do not have a working tach yet, but I hope to have that, and the speedo working soon. Using a GPS for speedo for now.

Rick

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In removing the solenoid valve from the lines to use for a shutoff, I didn't know what to do with the line from the intake manifold, and the line to the ALDA?

I just plugged them for now, but should they be coupled together?

I've never dealt with one before, and not sure how necessary it is, or it's actual purpose.

Thanks.

Rick

 

That sounds like a lot of money. If you already have the Jeep transfer case or 2WD tranny, and mechanical speedo, all you need is the gear drive unit that installs in place of the Variable Speed Sensor (VSS - the electronic speedo signal generator) on the tail piece of the transfer case or tranny.

 

CheaperJeeper,

You're right. It is a lot of money. He quoted me $79 for a cable with the right ends on it cut to the right length. $95 for the piece that holds the gear in place "because they don't make them anymore." $65 for a 35 tooth gear.

Last night on ebay I found the 35 tooth gear, and the housing for $23.98 including shipping.

Now I just need to find a cable the right length with the right ends on it. The Ford speedometer fitting on the top, and Jeep thread on the bottom. My Ford cable in the right length, but it has a clip fitting on the sheath at the bottom end. There is no nut to hold the cable to the housing.

I will see if I can make it work once the gear gets here next week.

Cheers!

Rick

 

It might help to have a vacuum res/tank in the line so you have plenty of vacuum on tap, that helped me. Before I installed it, shutdown was sometimes delayed, after it was instantly.

 

I drove to town a while ago and at each stop it did shut down with the key after a second or two delay.

I do have a vacuum reserve tank that I can install today. For whatever reason it didn't want to work last night, it seems to have gone away today. Hopefully it will work even better after I put on the little tank.

Thanks!

Rick

 

THERE you go. Now even if you buy the cable from him you're all set for just over 100 bucks. THAT'S more like it...

 

Any updates on the truck? Hows it running? Any mpg estimates and how is the power does it seem to have enough?

 

Redneck1465,

Thanks for the query.

Truck has been running well. My mileage varies between 26.5 and 29.1 so far. I really want to get the timing chain, and injectors replaced. I'm hoping that will get me over the 30 mpg mark.

Power is about what I expected for a 3.0L diesel. It is slower to respond to the throttle like other diesels compared to gassers. But that is what I expected. I can pull the hills on the freeway and maintain 70mph in 5th gear, as long as I don't have too heavy of a load in the bed. If I am loaded, I will sometimes have to shift down to 4th, but not always.

Overall, I am very happy with the transplant into my Ranger. My best mileage results are when I can average 55-60 mph, and not be on either the freeway, or in the city.

Cheers,

Rick