1989 b250 318 tbi need more power

Gonna use it as a tow truck for my racecar. But at this point i feel its too weak and will probably make me cry on uphills.
Are there any simple boltons that doesnt cost a fortune?
Want to keep it tbi just because it runs so sweet and because of the a500 electronic controlled tranny.
Not looking for 360 power but some more would probably be enough.
Will probably do headers and good exhaust.
Not sure i wanna pull motor to do a camchange as the cam is more than this van cost me
:-)
Thanks

You might want to advance ign timing per standard procedure. (IIRC, it involves disconnecting the 2 wire coolant sensor before setting timing). You only want to advance it a little from where it's at, so you can avoid the pinging. Was able to squeek a couple of mpgs by doing that in some ramchargers I had.

You're not going to get there with TBI.

That engine needs compression and a cam to get you where you want to be. The computer won't know how to inject more fuel to make the power necessary. Essentially, a 5.2/5.9 magnum swap is a better idea.

My bro-in-law had an 89 D150 with the tbi 318 and it didn't have the nuts to pull a sprint car up a long hill. He would be down to 30-35 mph with it floored trying to make that slope.

Nothing much you can do. Headers and exhaust will do nothing but flush money down the toilet.

I did adjust timing to where i cant hear pinging. Made some difference but not much.
How about the 360 ecu and tbi?
Ive heard it works but really no proof of it.

You're just going to over fuel and throw more money away. The TBI 318 has crap compression, crap heads, crap cam, crap everything. Even a 90's magnum 318, which improved on much of this, is still going to be a dog in a 2500 van with a trailer and car.

Ok. So how about shaving the heads to get more compression, doing some fancy valve job, and shangi g the cam to a comp cams no computer mod cam?

The best thing you can do to make this pull your load is to change the gearing in the axle.

I have a 1987 D100 with a 318 and I plan to use it to pull my Ramcharger on a car trailer. The truck has 245/75R16 tires on it with a 8.25" rear with a tall gear. I built a Dana 60-2 for it that has 4.10 gears and will probably swap it in the fall. I also have a 1990 360 roller cam motor that will go in sometime later after I build it.

Good point on the gears. Stuffing something like a 4.10 under the van would bump the pulling power significantly assuming yours has the 3.21 or 2.93 rear.

The TBI computer will be your limiting factor. Toss all the related stuff in the recycle bin, build a decent motor, and put the A500 on pressure and vacuum switches to control OD.

You may get a little more power out of it, but once you put that load on the van, it's still going to be a dog.

Seems like best bet would be to try and find a 360. Starting to get hard to find and somewhat expensive here.

If you ditch the TBI you will have a whole world of options open to you.

Instead of digging up a 360 you can always stroke the 318 and build some torque with it.

http://www.manciniracing.com/smallblock318.html

This, of course, means trashing the TBI but you will have the power you need to haul your car.

Water injection (homemade is fine) + 5 degrees more lead, and 10 degrees more vacuum spark may add 3 mpg.

Ditching the emissions crap will make a difference alone,this I know.
More timing will help.
Not positive but I think jet made a chip for that year.

I had a 88 Ramcharger (2wd) w/ the same engine. I removed ALL of the emission garbage including the converter, smog pump and EGR nonsense. The thing ran MUCH better and I got better gas mileage. I was driving 80 miles a day (1/2 hwy 1/2 town) and I was getting 17.2mpg avg.

Doing that work will help but it won't make it into a good tow vehicle. It will still be greatly underpowered.

Did the same on a 88 D250 318...removed the tbi and all the smog equipment...got headers with dual exhaust, eddy performer intake...eddy performer carb, and hei distributor...runs a ton better....

completely removed computer and rewired engine compartment.

Don't forget the timing cover, pump, and eccentric

I used the original in tank pump,just put a return regulator on.

I REALLY want to keep it tbi but if that wont give me the power i need im not sure any more...
Ive heard about using the 360 tb and computer giving more power but got no proof of that.
Might try that first if i can find the stuff.
That with good exhaust and removing all the egr and air pump crap could be enough for what i need.
Gears should be fine when not using od. 3.55s

You can't tow with the OD on, or you shouldn't.

Yes thats what i ment

same thing I did,

89 318 is still a LA engine, no need to change out timing chain cover plus mine has the eccentric for the manual fuel pump.

Load of crap.


My 92 has towed through 30 states in OD, deserts to mountains. 292,000 miles and counting.

Keep it cool and you'll be fine.

This sounds a lot like one of those situations where the choice is either; do it right(remove the tbi and all smog stuff, upgrade induction & exhaust), or.......do it over(because you thought you could get "there" with the tbi and smog stuff in place).

IMO any efforts revolving around retaining any of the factory tbi/smog related equipment will end up providing disappointing/unsatisfactory results.

Years ago we replaced a 318-2bbl with a re-ringed 360 in a 77 B200 van with a performer, 600vs Holley, comp he268 cam, recurved dist and headers...... And it was a pretty darn good tow vehicle.

I see summit has jet chips for 89 pickups,you can look into compatability for your application.

Yes i saw that too. Emailed jetchip about it but no reply yet.

This is a load of crap, the OP has a 318 and should not tow in OD.

He don't have a diesel engine. Why even post that feets? Proud of your diesel?

To the OP, I know your in Sweden...but I would not even try to tow a car with a 318 unless it's flat and a short distance.

If he is flat and level then OD won't hurt with a moderate load.

As soon as he looks at the mountains then that 318 is going to need a lower gear. If he manages to build a little torque and the engine can handle OD without a struggle then he will be fine.

There is no problem towing in OD if the engine can provide enough torque to get the job done. We all know that job varies with terrain and load. In his application, the transmission will kick out of OD when necessary.

The no-towing-in-OD nonsense goes way beyond this thread. It even pops up in the diesel forums from time to time.

Yes especially when its this weak. Od kicks out when not much torque is put to it.