Mechanics of the 2.3

[Jmarler]

Can someone explain how these engines work? I swear like there will be days where it feels like the engine is underperforming. Then sometimes it will be very responsive. Especially after I fill it up with gas. An example is that I drove this morning, drove normal when the engine was cold. Stopped somewhere, turned off the truck, came back and drove and then felt sluggish. Like it takes more effort to speed up. Then I stop somewhere else and get gas, drives perfectly after that. I still had half a tank when I filled up. So I'm just wondering the mechanics of this engine. Why is it sluggish sometimes and others its driving perfect. When I mean sluggish it feels like the engine is working harder.

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[Rp930]

Could be related to intercooler temperature.

 

[Trigganometry]

Love to help you but need more information before we can determine your issues. How old is your Ranger and how many miles are on it. Has temps changed much where you are? Colder more noticeable for sure.

 

[Jmarler]

It's a 2021 with 8k miles. It's been like this since I got it. Yeah temperatures have been 50s in morning up to 60s in afternoon. For this area it's usually up in the 80s and 90s during non winter.

 

[Trigganometry]

Think partially your issue is winter gas. Also if not top tier you can also see a good variation. What octane you using? Do you lock out gears or do you let truck decide for itself what gear to be in. If to high a gear it will act sluggish too.

 

[D Fresh]

Is it possible that what you are describing is the lugging of the engine due to the shift pattern in D?


Do you drive mostly in D?

Maybe try S or Tow?

 

[D Fresh]

I always drive in tow/haul mode with an occasional romp in sport.

After getting used to tow/haul, anytime I forget to put it in tow/haul feels like I'm lugging a load with lower RPMs.

Great minds, my friend. Great minds.

 

[Doc]

I always drive in tow/haul mode with an occasional romp in sport.

After getting used to tow/haul, anytime I forget to put it in tow/haul feels like I'm lugging a load with lower RPMs.

Hi, Ranger-Rocks !

 

[RedlyrsRevenge]

I always drive in tow/haul mode with an occasional romp in sport.

After getting used to tow/haul, anytime I forget to put it in tow/haul feels like I'm lugging a load with lower RPMs.

D mode is always in a race to get to the highest gear as soon as possible. Completely neuters the trucks performance for the marginal increase (if any in MPG). I too drive in tow/haul or S most of the time. Barely have seen any loss in economy. Probably because it is not constantly having to downshift every time I put a gram of pressure on the throttle.

 

[Toytec]

I'd say get to full operating temperature first, then give it the Italian tune up.

 

[D Fresh]

D mode is always in a race to get to the highest gear as soon as possible. Completely neuters the trucks performance for the marginal increase (if any in MPG). I too drive in tow/haul or S most of the time. Barely have seen any loss in economy. Probably because it is not constantly having to downshift every time I put a gram of pressure on the throttle.

Did an experiment.

Ran 3 tanks consecutively. All from the same pump, same station, same gas, stopped at first click each time.

One tank exclusively in D, it was torture.

One tank exclusive in Tow/Haul.

One tank exclusively in S.

S got the worst mileage, but it was only slightly lower than D. Tow/Haul got the best mileage for my driving style. It was about 2 mpg better than D.

I do all my driving in Tow/Haul now, dropping into S periodically. But I'm on the highway enough that I believe D might help there. I've been considering another comparison between Tow/S, and D/S to see my results.

I can look up the numbers from my experiment if you'd like. I posted them here somewhere. Also, my experiments were on heavy E-Rated 33" tires.

 

[9zero1790]

Can someone explain how these engines work? I swear like there will be days where it feels like the engine is underperforming. Then sometimes it will be very responsive. Especially after I fill it up with gas. An example is that I drove this morning, drove normal when the engine was cold. Stopped somewhere, turned off the truck, came back and drove and then felt sluggish. Like it takes more effort to speed up. Then I stop somewhere else and get gas, drives perfectly after that. I still had half a tank when I filled up. So I'm just wondering the mechanics of this engine. Why is it sluggish sometimes and others its driving perfect. When I mean sluggish it feels like the engine is working harder.

i bet the things you described are from the "smart transmission" and what gear and rpm its in vs what you actually need. #1 thing i dislike is the transmission. sometimes its awesome but half the time its bull nipples... even tuned i still dont like it.

 

[Jmarler]

Think partially your issue is winter gas. Also if not top tier you can also see a good variation. What octane you using? Do you lock out gears or do you let truck decide for itself what gear to be in. If to high a gear it will act sluggish too.

I'm always using 93 octane with the soft shift tune from livernois.

 

[Jmarler]

I'd say get to full operating temperature first, then give it the Italian tune up.

How long till full operating temperature? Takes me about 10 to 12 minutes till my first stop and that's a daily routine.

 

[Jmarler]

Is it possible that what you are describing is the lugging of the engine due to the shift pattern in D?


Do you drive mostly in D?

Maybe try S or Tow?

I normally do drive but will put in s mode if it's sluggish but even this morning it didn't feel better. Maybe it wasn't at full temperature? I already drove for 12 minutes and the temperature gauge was at the usual spot.

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