Has anybody ever put a turbo on their 96 explorer 6 cyl. 4.0? I think it would be something fun to do but not sure what im looking for. Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

 

Thanks for the help... really appreciate it...

 

You shouldn't feel let down by the community simply because nobody else did what you're thinking of doing. It may indeed be fun to put a turbo charger on an Explorer ... but adding a turbocharger to a normally aspirated engine takes a lot of work and deep knowledge about both types of engines.

I think it's great you want to try new stuff, however I'm sure you're aware that adding the turbine is not as easy as rerouting the intake and the exhaust under the hood, sticking the intercooler on top of the cake and cutting your hood to install the oh-so-cool-looking extra air intake.

Read, google and don't be afraid to try. Even if the project in itself is difficult, you may be getting help for smaller parts of the project, and, at the end of it, you'll be proud to show everyone you did it.

For starters, you'll need to know how to reprogram the PCM for your engine, so it can handle the new operating parameters. You realize that the fuel calibrations you now have for your normally-aspirated engine will be severely lean once you'll be pushing extra air into the cylinders, don't you? You should be thinking of a way to trick the PCM into dispensing more fuel, to make up for the extra air. That is all well, except turbos have the well-known lag, which means that, if you enrich the mix to make up for the extra air, you'll end up with a brief flood of fuel when accelerating, which can make your engine stumble before the turbo kicks in ... or even melt down your cat because the extra fuel dispensed every time you accelerate will end up burning in it.

If I were you, I would look for a turbocharged donor car of similar weight as the Explorer (well, finding that is another story ...) and swap the engines. It'll save you a lot of trouble and it'll give you what you're looking for: a turbo-charged Explorer.

I hope this helps a bit. Don't get discouraged, but don't loose touch with the practicality of things either Good luck, and let us know what you're thinking!

 

Finally! lol. Ive been looking into doing this alot but the explorer i have is not in the greatest shape ever. Before i do this i am going to get a different car (so it may be a whole year or even two) before i can actually do this. I did figure there was more to it than just rerouting and such but didnt know about the lag. I think the explorer will be the donor car before i do this to the next car i get.

Thanks for the info though!!