Duratec 2.3 vs 22-re

I'm looking to buy a cheap, small pickup. I found a 2002 Ford Ranger with a Duratec 2.3 5-speed for about $3,000 and 170,000 miles. There are also several 1994 ish Toyota pickups with 22re and 5-speed for about $2000. I'm looking for best gas mileage with some durability. Which would you choose? Or is there a different pickup I am ommitting?

www.fueleconomy.gov

The 22RE is not particulary fuel effecient. The Duratec is also a newer design.

I'd go newer. A decade is lotsa dogyears on a small truck.

Maybe this will sound crazy, but i drove a duratec 2.3/5spd 2wd ext cab ranger a few months ago and actually enjoyed driving it.

I dont 'enjoy' driving 22re toyota pickups..

B2200

Had a mod'd 22r in my Celica...go with newer technology

The 22RE and its brethren are bulletproof, nearly indestructible workhorses. The thing is, they get, er, uh, "mediocre" gas mileage even when they're moving around a Celica.

I'd go for the Danger Ranger. They are built like piss and feel a lot cheaper than a Toyota (my best friend's dad owns a fleet of them) but it will be cheaper to run in the long haul by a considerable margin.

Drive both, and a Mazda B-series if you can. You will know right away which is for you. Believe me.

The Toyota has a habit of the entire rear half of the truck rusting off.

What gas mileage does a ranger 5speed get? My Yota is good for around 27mpg.

Are you the sort who thinks turnips are good food? Is the best part of painting a room sitting there watching it dry? If so, the Toyota 22RE is for you! Tough as nails, dog slow, and as exciting as, well, watching paint dry.

Seriously, two weak areas on the Toyota trucks.

Weakness #1. The 22RE engine snaps its timing chain guides, then the chain rattles against cover on cold start (listen for a rattle that goes away in about 2-4 seconds). This gradually grinds through to the water jacket. Cheap preventative fix (better guides), cheap repair (new cover).

Weakness #2. The truck frame. It's boxed and rusts out from the inside. All Toyota trucks do this actually. Fail point is usually the dogleg behind the cab. Look for blistering or interesting holes.

Tough choice but I'll have to recommend the Duratec. The 22RE is long-wearing and the internals are bulletproof, but the stuff outside the block is not so bulletproof. It's very short on potential and very big on gas guzzlage. The Duratec is still pretty reliable, overall at least on par with the 22RE, and are a lot more modern and way better on gas.

BTW: Engine aside, the Toyotas mop the floor with the Fords. So there's that.

Theoretically, you can swap out the cams to ones from a car- they will have more lift and duration. The difference being where the engine is to be installed...

Did a lot of work with these enignes, they are quite nice. Installed in the Focus, it did a lot of good- the 2.3l PZEV's were quick cars, very underrated.

But don't take this as a recommendation- I'm biased, of course.

In reply to alfadriver:

So are there any other differences, besides the obvious FWD/RWD orientation differences, between car and truck versions?

Ranger50 wrote: In reply to alfadriver: So are there any other differences, besides the obvious FWD/RWD orientation differences, between car and truck versions?

Not that I know of. Well, the intake manifold is different- having to fit in a different spot, and all.

But the core of the engines are the same. Heck the only difference beween the 2.0 and the 2.3 is the block height (and the crank/rod/piston changes to match). Heads are interchangeable. Which is why I would suggest the cam swap.

It's a really nice set up, I think- IIRC, the injectors are in the head, not the manifold- which locates them very well, they have a great spray pattern, which resulted in very good emissions on a start. Decent power, cheap, simple, and used everywhere.

The family was supposed to be 1.8, 2.0, and 2.3 (later expanded to 2.5). I have never once encountered a 1.8 of this family.

One other thing about the early 2.3s- they were using EECV's, which are pretty easy to swap out- they are simple controllers (on a modern relative basis), and since it's easy to find a 2.3 Ranger manual- the up to date MS's can run them. IF you want to go that way.

Again, without knowledge of the Toyota, this isn't a recommendation. Just info that my feeble brain can recall.

SlickDizzy wrote: The 22RE and its brethren are bulletproof, nearly indestructible workhorses.

Except when they are eating head gaskets or timing chains. Bonus - timing chain failure also tends to eat the timing cover, to the point that the aftermarket still makes timing covers for the three remaining 22RE-engined trucks on the road.

Knurled wrote:

SlickDizzy wrote: The 22RE and its brethren are bulletproof, nearly indestructible workhorses.

Except when they are eating head gaskets or timing chains. Bonus - timing chain failure also tends to eat the timing cover, to the point that the aftermarket still makes timing covers for the three remaining 22RE-engined trucks on the road.

My only firsthand 22RE experience was an '85 Celica GT-S that I got for free and sold for $500 with 400k-something miles on it. I drove it for a winter; dunno if mine was just well maintained, but other board members seem to agree that they are pretty stout, so...

Thanks for the feedback. Rust isn't a big problem in my area so I am more concerned with drivetrain than any other factor.

Sounds like the Duratec 2.3 Ranger has GRM's blessing. Now I just need to find a good one.

alfadriver wrote: The family was supposed to be 1.8, 2.0, and 2.3 (later expanded to 2.5). I have never once encountered a 1.8 of this family.

You'll find the 1.8 in European MX-5s. Probably elsewhere as well, but my knowledge is in a limited sphere

mid 90s is not a 22R, or 22 RE, it should be the 2RZ. The 2RZ is a very modern engine, and it makes good low end power.

It is 2.4 liter. The 3RZ is a stroked version and is 2.7 liter...

I'd buy a Toyota any day over a Ford

Having had both a Ranger and a Toyota I say go with the Ford. The Toyota rusted out. The Ranger however is still running around Hagerstown like a boss.

I just helped a bud swap a 22RE in his '94 'Yota 4x4. He runs the snot out of it, but does maintain it well. His barfed due to the guide thing mentioned earlier; the pieces of the old guide were in the oil pan and they eventually made their way to the pickup with disastrous results. If he'd dropped the pan and dug out the bits, he'd still be on the original motor at ~230K. I guess this whole rust thing is north of the Manson/Nixon line 'cuz I've never seen one break in half down here.

I don't have any real experience with the Duratec Rangers, but the earlier ones were just about unkillable. They did, however, make all kinds of noises which led you to believe it was a collection of parts flying in loose formation.

JamesMcD wrote: B2200

This is another great option, cough [F2T FOR THE WIN CAN YOU DIG IT?!] cough.

If you want a small truck with guts get a nissan hardbody. The 12V engine is pretty fast.

I don't think the ford will get any better mileage than a 22re which gets around 27mpg. I had to do a time chain on my truck at 185k miles and it now has around 245k or so and runs great. The only issue I've had is a casting porosity in the cylinder head that will leak if not JB welded but I have a spare head for when the time comes. The only thing that broke on my truck was the knob off the drivers side window, everything else works. I don't think my truck is slow but that might be the driver, with 205/70/14 tires the truck handle pretty well. I can push it through the corners.

The toyota is a gardeners and cardboard harvesters choice. I haven't seen many rangers loaded with 1000lbs of cardboard.

My truck is starting to rust so that might be a concern if you live where they salt the road. My truck would be dead if exposed to salt for a year.

My uncle has a 2000 ranger I think, and I am not particularly impressed with it but he has a huge camper shell on it that must weigh 500lbs and sticks up 2ft above the cab. I don't know the fords but it looks like they are government issued around here as all the cities use them.

Man, I really like the 22RE, all the downsides considered I'd by another Toyota with a 22R-series long before I bought another Ranger (owned a 1990).

But I think Oldskewltoy's right. A 2RZ's the stuff Toyota dreams are made of :)

Thanks for all the help.

I wasn't aware of the 2rz. I always thought the 2.4's were all 22re's.

Is the 2rz a better motor than the Duratec 2.3? On paper they make similar power on similar curves and mpg's are similar. Is the life expectancy greater for one than the other? Is all aluminium better than aluminium head only?

We (the wife and I) have elevated the extended cab feature from "want" to "need" which is changing the dynamics of my vehicle search. We like the Toyota ext. cab better than the Ford. Also, the Duratec Ranger ext. cabs are almost non-existent in my area.

There's a nice truck locally - 1999 Tacoma 2rz 4cyl 5-speed extended cab SR5 with 250,000 miles. No rust, good overall condition, just a lot of miles. Is that "proceed with caution" miles or "run away!" miles?

I'm sure I can be patient and find Tacos with lower miles, but they'll likely be out of my price range.