Enzo_Guy
New Member
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2010
- Messages
- 22
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Lima, OH/Annapolis, MD
- Vehicle Year
- 2004
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Size
- 4.0
- Transmission
- Manual
A friend finally popped his original 2.9L and now needs a new motor. His truck is a Supercab automatic that I'm pretty sure is 2WD and I think 3.73 gears were the norm for that drivetrain combination. The truck is NOT his daily driver and it's primarily used for dump runs, moving furniture, taking a lawn mower home, or as a backup vehicle while his daily is in the shop. No trailers and 750lbs or so is about all this truck would ever see. Since I work commercial sales for a large auto parts company I got on the phone and found a reman 2.9L V6 lists for about $1650. My previous truck was a '90 2.9L 2WD before the 2.3 turbo swap so I tossed out the idea of putting the 4-banger (naturally aspirated) in it instead. Phone call yields roughly a $1475 list price for a reman 2.3L motor. Cheaper motor and better fuel mileage sound great to him, he didn't seem concerned about it having less power.
My experience going from 2.9 to 2.3 was a totally different animal: T-bird TC T5, 3.45 gears, turbo, etc. I told him I'd look into it to find what would be different. My main concern is, from what I remember, I don't think the 2.9L A4LD bolts up to the 4-cylinder which means either he'll need an adapter, another automatic transmission, or he's swapping in a 5-speed. I told him that I'd personally go 4-banger for a cheap and easy swap an if he needs a transmission go with a 5-speed manual for better power and gas mileage.
Is a 2.3 swap a cheaper alternative? What else besides the trans and computer need to also be changed? Would he be better off just sticking with a 2.9L? Are remanufactured 2.9 engines worth dropping money on at all? Should he just scrap it and buy a new one?
My experience going from 2.9 to 2.3 was a totally different animal: T-bird TC T5, 3.45 gears, turbo, etc. I told him I'd look into it to find what would be different. My main concern is, from what I remember, I don't think the 2.9L A4LD bolts up to the 4-cylinder which means either he'll need an adapter, another automatic transmission, or he's swapping in a 5-speed. I told him that I'd personally go 4-banger for a cheap and easy swap an if he needs a transmission go with a 5-speed manual for better power and gas mileage.
Is a 2.3 swap a cheaper alternative? What else besides the trans and computer need to also be changed? Would he be better off just sticking with a 2.9L? Are remanufactured 2.9 engines worth dropping money on at all? Should he just scrap it and buy a new one?