zonker

I've been trying to come up with a way to underdrive the accessory pulleys on my 1991 2.3.

I purchased a Esslinger UDP to fit one onto my car and found out after I removed the stock pulley that it will not work on a 91-93 dual plug 2.3.
It's a shame too, since the esslinger pulley is a beautiful piece that would have given me a 32 percent
underdrive across the board.

So... if you have a 2.3 with a distributor like the 87-90 2.3 Mustangs and 87-88 T-Bird Turbos, go with the $90 Esslinger pulley.

But, if you have no distributor like me, then here's your current best option:

Here's what I now have on my car:
1992 Ford Ranger 2.3 Double Belt Crank Pulley
1988 Ford T-Bird Turbo 2.3t Water Pump Pulley
1994 Ford Explorer 3.0 V6 Alternator pulley
537k6 Serpentine Belt
Original AC Serpentine Belt

Here's how much it's has underdriven the accessories:
Alternator - 31%
Power Steering - 14%
Water Pump - 14%
Air Cond - 5%

OLD BELT ROUTING
1. Alternator, Water Pump, Power Steering, Crankshaft
2. Water Pump, A/C Compressor, Crankshaft

NEW BELT ROUTING:
1. Alternator, Water Pump, Power Steering (not on crank anymore)
2. Water Pump, A/C Compressor, Crankshaft

ORIGINAL PULLEY SPECS - 1991 Dual Plug 2.3:
Crank - dual belt - 6.1875" and 4.9375"
W/P (p/n F1ZE-8509-AA) - dual belt - 5.3125" and 4.3125"
Alternator - 2.5625"

NEW PULLEY SPECS:
Ranger Crank Pulley - dual belt, 6.1875" and 4.6875" diameters
(IMPORTANT NOTE: you only put a belt on the 4.6875" pulley, the 6.1875" pulley is left blank)
T-Bird WP pulley (p/n E7SE-8509-AA) - dual belt, 5.875" and 4.75" diameters
Explorer Alt Pulley - 2.875"

RESULTS:
The car does rev a little easier, and there is a small seat of the pants improvement. I should even see a small mpg improvement as well since it will require less effort to turn all those pulleys.

CONCLUSION:
A worthwhile mod for the cost of 3 used junkyard pulleys and a new serpentine belt or 2.

FUTURE PLANS:
I still hope to have Esslinger make us a water pump pulley that will further underdrive the water pump,
alternator, and ps pump by using a billet 5.875" / 5.875" dual belt pulley, but for now this is the best I can come up with.

PICS:

zonker

Well i just used my android phone's aDyno app and it showed a 0.2 sec improvement in the 1/8 mile, so I'd guess thats somewhere between a 5 and 10 hp gain...

my77stang

any idea about junkyard pullies for a 2.3 with a dizzy? i just picked up a 2.3 fox vert and cheap gains are always a plus

zonker

Esslinger 626-444-4919 has a nice crank pulley that'll set ya back about 100 bux, it'll take everything down about 25%.

As for junkyard pulleys, the water pump and alternator pulleys listed above will work, but the crank pulley won't, so assuming the stock crank pulley is left on with belts in their stock locations, toy're looking at about a 10% underdrive with the water pump, ps, and a/c, and a 25% underdrive with the alternator.

If you were to add the Essy crank udp to the junkyard pulley you'd be looking at 35% underdrive! Now that's gonna make some power (10-15hp).

my77stang

So I'd be looking at these:

1988 Ford T-Bird Turbo 2.3t Water Pump Pulley
1994 Ford Explorer 3.0 V6 Alternator pulley

Any idea what range of years these pullies were used? the more options I have when I'm searching the yard the better my chances will be for success.

zonker

The water pump pulley i believe is 1987-88 thunderbird turbo coupe, the alternator pulley had lots of years and applications - if you're at a u-pull yard just look under the hood of the V6 rangers and explorers.

zonker

After more research, heres the updated ideal junkyard pulley setups:

1991-1993 8 plug head (2 belt setup):
Crank Pulley - 2.3 Ranger w/o distributor (1991 up?)
Water Pump Pulley - 87-90 2.3 Mustang or 87-88 T-Bird Turbo
Power Steering Pulley - 86-on 3.8 V6 Mustang (and T-bird?)
Alternator Pulley - Asst 86-99 Ford V6 with 2 7/8" OD alternator pulley

1991-1993 8 plug head (1 belt setup):
Crank Pulley - stock
Water Pump Pulley - 87-90 2.3 Mustang or 87-88 T-Bird Turbo
Power Steering Pulley - 86-on 3.8 V6 Mustang (and T-bird?)
Alternator Pulley - Asst 86-99 Ford V6 with 2 7/8" OD alternator pulley

1987-1990 4 plug head (2 belt setup):
Crank Pulley - 2.3 Ranger w/ distributor (87-90?)
Water Pump Pulley - stock
Power Steering Pulley - 86-on 3.8 V6 Mustang (and T-bird?)
Alternator Pulley - Asst 86-99 Ford V6 with 2 7/8" OD alternator pulley

1987-1990 4 plug head (1 belt setup):
Crank Pulley - stock
Water Pump Pulley - stock
Power Steering Pulley - 86-on 3.8 V6 Mustang (and T-bird?)
Alternator Pulley - Asst 86-99 Ford V6 with 2 7/8" OD alternator pulley

IMPORTANT NOTE 1: Regarding the belt routing on the 2 belt setup... when using the ranger crank pulley, do not run both belts on the crank! Only the outer (smaller) pulley should have the belt on it, the inner belt goes to WP - PS - alt only!

IMPORTANT NOTE 2: On 91-93 cars if using the larger V6 PS and Alt pulleys together, there might be a chance of the alternator mounting bolt rubbing on the back side of the serp belt. If so you might need to scrap using the V6 alternator pulley to keep enough belt-to-bolt clearance.