Motor change. Differences in 2.3's from year to year ?

My son has a 1986 LX with a carburated 2.3L. It needs a motor change, the local junkyard says only 1984 to 1986 2.3's will work. I find this hard to believe. Are there differences that prevent other year motors from fitting in this car? I would like to use the existing trans, etc.

I'm sure the later model motors would be an advantage. But, where do the differences become not worth the hassle of conversion?

After looking thru the archives I think this the correct forum to get some excellent opinions on this. :grinno:

get your son a 5.0, im sure he will be more than happy with its reliability and power ;)

Go find a thunderbird turbocoupe or a merkur that still has the motor trans wiring harness and hopefully rear end, swap in the 2.3T motor and the entire fuel injection harness, and if it has the rear swap that in too, or go for the 8.8 out of a GT. Much more power, better gas mileage than a 5.0, and very easily modable.

i dont know much about the motor boosted331 is talking about, but i think you should ask your son and ask him which he would rathre have b/c afterall it is his car, right?

This car was my oldest sons first car and is in the driveway with tremendous blowby (maybe hole in piston). I'm trying to salvage it for my youngest sons first car, he gets his license in a couple months. I'm not interested in putting him behind a 5.0 mustang just yet. But I am interested in which 2.3 motors will fit without too much trouble, and what trouble I will get into as the years change.

Thanks for the advice so far.

rick

If I had a son, his first car wouldn't be a 5.0 or anything of the like for that matter, until he proved himself responsible enough to drive one. O have a 2.3 in my Ranger. I don't think the 2.3 from a mustang is different from the one in a ranger. I know 92 was a crossover year in the ranger where they changed the igniiton. Maybe 87 is when they went to fuel injection and thats why the guy said what he did.

i'm taking the 2.3 from a '90 LX to get my notch running and driving until i get my 351 built. i have done my research. trust me, the engine swap wont' be a problem. worst case scenario, you'll have to get a new wiring harness and/or ECU if the replacment motor is injected. i'm replacing the carb with the injectors, so i have to deal with this problem. but, it's really not a big deal since i own the '90 and can have the wiring harness anytime =)

My son has a 1986 LX with a carburated 2.3L. It needs a motor change, the local junkyard says only 1984 to 1986 2.3's will work. I find this hard to believe. Are there differences that prevent other year motors from fitting in this car? I would like to use the existing trans, etc.

I'm sure the later model motors would be an advantage. But, where do the differences become not worth the hassle of conversion?

After looking thru the archives I think this the correct forum to get some excellent opinions on this. :grinno:
The addition of EFI in 87 with it's added wiring and computer are the major differences. But since your looking just for the motor you should be able to get any 2.3L motor from a mustang while still retaining your original top end. Just note that 79-85 had a 9.0:1 compression ratio and 86-93 had a 9.5:1 compression ratio.

Thanks guys, this is the info I was looking for.