Hey all, I thought I would post my first automotive ride on this site!!
Before I started, I opened up the stop on my TB butterfly 2 turns to help my idle.
Got the producer fired up. Started the engine on gas. Switched over to woodgas about 3min after lightoff. Drove into town about seven miles away. All I could get was 60 mph. About halfway home I noticed a wisp of smoke from the bed so I pulled over to investigate. A little smoldering of some bad insulation I once used I guessed, so keep on going! About a half mile from home I had a good amount of smoke now. Wow I’m glad to be almost home! When I shut her down I got some flame up from the insulation. Also,Looking underneath at my ash bin I see the paint has burnt off. It didn’t do that on the other firings, but then I didn’t have my foot into the throttle either. So I’ll be pulling the gasifier out of the bed to do an inspection.
Yes Chris they are. It is a GEK knockoff. So after the preheat tubes and the cooler I had just a slight temp increase at the filter. It was upper 30’s durring the ride though.
Congrats Terry. Hope you get that air leak fixed. I am thinking of selling my Ranger and getting a small truck with a V8. I would like to have the extended cab. Is yours a V6 or 4 cyl. Thanks.
Looks great Terry. Any chance you could add some pictures and details about the throttle arrangement and the modifications under the hood? I have more or less settled on a ranger as my woodgas vehicle. First one will be charcoal (blasphemy I know) but I’ll work up to raw wood. Would love to know what you did after the gasifier to feed it in and control it. Love the cooling tubes looks so pro…
David
I just did a pressure test now that it has cooled down. Couldn’t find anything at the ash bin.
There is a little ash in the slipped char. I don’t get any in my lawnmower. Before I pull out the gasifier I think I’ll try smaller nozzles. I might have too much combustion going on at WOT. I think I’ll try 85%.
Hey Bruce I’ts a 2.5 4 banger. Double spark plugs baby!!
Hi David, The next nice day I get I’ll snap under the hood. I’m using the same throttle and air intake. The gas combines with the air into a mini cyclone right before the TB.
Hi Terry; Congratulations You have a nice looking unit,60MPH doesnt seem too bad for a 4 cylinder,but it bprobably has more potential. Sean took me for a ride in Dec and if I remember right it was a 2.3L and it went 65-70MPH I am still working on my big truck if it is feeling good it will go up to 65 but usually 55-60 it has a 300-6cylinder so I should be able to do better just about done with runniojng the 3" line to the carb then Ill be ready to race Wayne .
I hope you can drive it down in May.
Ron L
Wayne, Ron, Indiana is the main thing on my mind. It’s going to be fun looking at everyone’s rigs!
Ron, I did design it for 60mph. Only now I’m hoping now for 75ish. Then maybe I would be able to pull my lawnmower to the meet.
It’s a fantasy right now, but I’m going to try!
(4 banger says "I think I can!! I think I can!!)
OK here are the under hood pics.
I was able to take her for a ride with the smaller nozzles. I ended up going down 70% to .265" I figure start small and go up from here. I was pulling harder on the gasifier (25"). I could barely reach 55mph. Now to open her up a little and try it again. btw mid 30’s and started to flurry on the way home.
Thank you Wayne, a little paint blends it right in.
Chris, It is actually from a small clip from worldstoves that I’ve seen.
Kickin Ass With Bio Mass!
Believe me, when I’ve overcome a gasification problem I shout it out!!
As soon as I wrote it out I did see the Ka-boom similarity.
Did you make the butterfly valves to fit inside the pvc for the gas supply? Nice setup I really like that. What a difference in the engine configuration.
Terry,
Nice work. Everything does look “factory” so to speak. I have been looking at Rangers to convert. The ext-cab with the 4 cyl is somewhat rare to come by. What year is yours, and how many miles are on it?
Keep up the good stuff!
David
David S, This is a '99 and about 135k. When I couldn’t find a Dakota I decided on the rangers because they are bigger than the S-10’s. I wanted the 3 liter engine to convert but all the websites said the 4 cyl had the same power. Also there’s bound to be more room to run plumbing with the 4.
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