Turbo blanket for the ranger

[l0rdv8r]

YouTube “ turbo blanket”. For those on the bubble on the turbo blanket. EE has good video using FLIR.

I love Engineering Explained. I have watched so many of his videos just because he does such a good job breaking things down. I'll never need to know half of it, but hey, it was fun learning about it haha

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[Blmpkn]

ok its starting to make more sense, but i guess the numbers in that video werent convincing me.
i believe they indicated a 0.2 to 0.3 psi boost increase, and i think near the end he hinted that it was a 6.7L engine....so that would tell me its a pretty large turbo.
then he said the increase of 140nm was like adding another cyclinder???
thats a pretty significant increase, and confused me more.
So if a blanket makes that much of an improvement, with little to no bad effects, why arent they doing this from the factory? there must be a reason. whats the catch?

Same reason they come without gas caps nowadays, cost savings. That, and its not really essential for the DD. Its just an easier,wallet friendly step us car loving lunatics take to squeeze every little last bit of performance out of our setup.

 

[txquailguy]

The science is called Charles law, its been established for 218 years. A hotter gas has more volume than a cooler one. Increasing the temp of the gasses flowing through the turbo increases the volume flowing through the turbo.. thereby increasing the speed it spins. Science!

I have real world experience with the subject. I saw a 25% increase in boost pressure as a direct result of wrap and a blanket. Ill be doing it again.


And again, underhood temps have an EXTREME infuence on performance.

A general rule of thumb is for every 10° cooler you can get you IAT's, you'll be rewarded with 1% more hp. This is from the increased density of oxygen in the air.

A side effect of the cooler air, like I've previously mentioned, is the computer will give you more timing. A motor can and will pull anywhere from 2° to 5° timing per 10 degree increase in IAT. Timing has quite a large effect on performance.. like... huge. Depending on overall "rowdiness" of said motor, this can translate to anywhere from 3hp/degree to 30hp/degree.
For our theory here, well err on the softer side of things and figure it's only 3hp.

So, reduce the IAT of your ranger by 20°.. pretty easily done with the installation of insulation... and end up with about 6 "more" hp just from increased oxygen density and 12ish "more" hp from your motor being able to time itself more aggressively. Biggest gains here would be, as I'm pretty sure Tommy mentioned.. stopped or at a low speed, as IATs should be pretty close to ambient temp once your moving along at a good rate.

Ok...in the middle of this discussion...lol...I'm already sold, just need to know what size turbo housing we have on our Rangers. I know it's out there somewhere, I've scoured the net and have yet to see whether it's a T3 or T4 housing....please advise, I want to order one.
I've already got the DEI titanium wrap in my cart on amazon....

 

[outdoorphotog]

I am sure there is a PTP turbo blanket that would fit but they are $100+, you would probably have bigger gains changing an air filter after 10k miles.

 

[D Fresh]

My 2 cents.

A turbo blanket is really a PITA to install. It was a massive pain installing on my WRX and rest assured it will be super annoying to install on my Ranger. But in HOT weather it was a game changer when doing errands, commuting or getting stuck in traffic. I was thankful for it every single time I got stuck behind some jackass who was unclear which direction was forward.

When you are on wide open highway with no obstructions it is not hugely beneficial.

But if you have any kind of tune, are towing any kind of load (especially up hills), and/or are making any amount of power over stock you should absolutely understand that your engine will run hotter and that turbo blanket will keep much of that heat inside your turbo where it helps you make power and at the same time keeps heat out of your engine bay preventing heat soak.

I cannot attribute it to any kind increase in boost because my WRX was already aggressively modified. But I can say that at the hottest part of an insanely hot summer; 90+ minutes and some bloody knuckles later installing the turbo blanket did drop some uncomfortable temps down to a reasonable level for several hot weeks while I waited for an upgraded radiator to ship. That was a long time ago, I no longer have the WRX but the principal is still sound.


TLDNR: Super annoying to install. Might be good in race applications but I wouldn't know. Works quite well for anyone making over stock power. Super useful controlling under hood temps.

The thing is, most of our Rangers are not heavily modified. From what I've seen here a heavily modified Ranger engine consists of an intake, CBE, maybe a downpipe or intercooler.

Having some Subie experience I would bet that you were still running a TMIC.

Heat soak in a TMIC is much more pronounced than a FMIC. And much more evident in ahighly modified engine.

 

[Blmpkn]

Ok...in the middle of this discussion...lol...I'm already sold, just need to know what size turbo housing we have on our Rangers. I know it's out there somewhere, I've scoured the net and have yet to see whether it's a T3 or T4 housing....please advise, I want to order one.
I've already got the DEI titanium wrap in my cart on amazon....

Another member said that mishimoto is apparently working on, or already has a blanket for the rangers. Perhaps shoot them an email, or just give them a call.

 

[outdoorphotog]

I know its definately not a T4 housing this is a baby turbo on the Ranger.

 

[Blmpkn]

Theres nothing to worry about with a blanket as long as your not negligently operating your turbo'd vehicle.

As with pretty much any modification we do to our vehicles, the chance for accelerated wear on components is there... very marginally... but its there. Its part of the game you play.

Dollar for dollar, its absolutely one of the most worthwhile mods done to a turbo motor. Definitely more so than a turbo timer lol, talk about a gimmick.. coming full circle back to that negligent operation too..

 

[TommyAtomic]

My guess is if you do a blanket, theres a tradeoff.

The tradeoff is installation. Its a PITA. If things are especially tight there may be a blood sacrifice.

The other stuff you mentioned is nonsense.

The "extra" heat is vented from the turbo as expanding gasses exiting the tailpipe.

 

[Blmpkn]

Yeah, your way overthinking things lol.

 

[Trigganometry]

It’s a double edged sword you’re dealing with here. Yes hotter during operational conditions is beneficial. Keeping engine compartment cooler isn’t a bad thing ether.

On the other edge of the sword is when you stop spooling it up. It needs to cool off. In a blanket that takes far longer. For instance, a hard run and you stop and shut down engine. What you should do is give time for circulating oil that will cool the turbo properly and reduce formation of performance-robbing deposits.

So, can’t personally say that there is any advantage to doing it.

 

[Blmpkn]

The results of that test dont line up with my personal experience with the matter ?‍

... For instance, a hard run and you stop and shut down engine. What you should do is give time for circulating oil that will cool the turbo properly and reduce formation of performance-robbing deposits.

This can't be stressed enough, even with a bone stock vehicle. Christ, it should be a sticky honestly "how to treat your new turbo motor"

The two things you really don't want to do with a turbo motor are 1) feed it the corn immediately after startup and 2) shut it off immediately after getting the turbo nice and hot.

 

[jerardisflossin]

The results of that test dont line up with my personal experience with the matter ?‍




This can't be stressed enough, even with a bone stock vehicle. Christ, it should be a sticky honestly "how to treat your new turbo motor"

The two things you really don't want to do with a turbo motor are 1) feed it the corn immediately after startup and 2) shut it off immediately after getting the turbo nice and hot.

While I agree with the first, shutting off the motor after some abuse (boost sessions) is not detrimental to an oil and liquid cooled turbo. All systems I have seen have the reservoir tank higher. Prime example is Subaru, they actually have a high "burp" tank on top of the intake manifold. The premise is this. As the stagnate coolant in the turbo heats up, natural convection occurs and actually circulates the fluid throughout the coolant system without mechanical intervention. Its simple heat transfer and works really well. Hotter fluid in the turbo nears boiling, it rises and forces cooler fluid to take its place. I actually modeled this for my thesis.

 

[jerardisflossin]

does Ford run this burp tank setup on the Ranger?

The reservoir tank in the upper left corner of the engine bay is the highest point in the system so yes, it works the same.

 

[seanellaz]

Has anyone installed a turbo blanket yet and if so is it worth buying.

Actual data showing positive effect. Of note, the bearing oil does not get hotter!

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