Engine identification question

MikeM · Apr 23, 2012

Hi. My name is mike, im new here. Im looking for some tips on identifying the engine without opening the hood. I dont own a ranger yet, im looking at a few on craigslist right now. I see a lot of listings that neglect to tell me what engine it has, and have talked to a few sellers that dont even know.

EMB1230 · Apr 23, 2012

MikeM said:
Hi. My name is mike, im new here. Im looking for some tips on identifying the engine without opening the hood. I dont own a ranger yet, im looking at a few on craigslist right now. I see a lot of listings that neglect to tell me what engine it has, and have talked to a few sellers that dont even know.

Welcome to TRS! Unfortunately, there's no way to tell what engine a Ranger has without opening the hood Another one that annoys me is when they just say V6, um, which one!? That's what was cool about the B-series, the model was the engine size!

Mac · Apr 23, 2012

Not sure for what years but with at least the 2000, the eighth position in the VIN will tell you the displacement. That either on the door sticker or the window plate or title/registration.
Dave of the Nord

snoranger · Apr 23, 2012

Mac said:
Not sure for what years but with at least the 2000, the eighth position in the VIN will tell you the displacement. That either on the door sticker or the window plate or title/registration.
Dave of the Nord

All on-road vehicles went to the current 17 digit VIN in '81.

shane96ranger · Apr 23, 2012

snoranger said:
All on-road vehicles went to the current 17 digit VIN in '81.

So 81+ will have the engine code as the 8th digit?

Mac · Apr 23, 2012

Just looked in the '93' Mustang shop manual and it agrees.
Dave of the Nord

snoranger · Apr 23, 2012

shane96ranger said:
So 81+ will have the engine code as the 8th digit?

On a Lincoln, Mercury, or Ford yes. I cant say for sure on all other makes.

adsm08 · Apr 23, 2012

snoranger said:
All on-road vehicles went to the current 17 digit VIN in '81.

shane96ranger said:
So 81+ will have the engine code as the 8th digit?

FLM and GM vehicles will. I am pretty sure Chrysler does it too.

I know a lot of Korean makes do NOT have and engine code in the VIN. Drives me nuts when I have to work on a Kia/Hyundai and already have it in the air.

snoranger · Apr 23, 2012

Here's the whole list.

http://www.insider-car-buying-tips.com/vin_number_decoder.html

ZMan · Apr 23, 2012

if you can see the vehicle in person, its easy to tell the difference between all the engines by looking through the front wheel well and finding the location of the oil filter, although, a 2.9 and a 4.0 are going to be the same, so you'd have to rely on the vin for that one, or depending on the year the 2.9 won't be an option.

Mark_88 · Apr 28, 2012

Aside from all that good advice...you can sometimes see through the rad at the front of the engine...if you know the serpentine belt arrangement of them you might be able to tell what engine it is...the 2.3 and 2.0 are the same though and you have to see if there is a breather or FI to tell them apart...

MikeM · May 1, 2012

I got an '00 4 liter. 58k miles, 4wd ext cab. I paid $8300 for it, which was a real good deal for my area.

Im too lazy to resize my pics to 800. So if anybody cares, its black.

EMB1230 · May 1, 2012

MikeM said:
I got an '00 4 liter. 58k miles, 4wd ext cab. I paid $8300 for it, which was a real good deal for my area.

Im too lazy to resize my pics to 800. So if anybody cares, its black.

Congratulations! Which Trans, Auto or Manual

MikeM · May 1, 2012

BRUTUS_T_HOG · May 1, 2012

How about this.. if they don't list the engine size or don't even know i just skip over them because its pretty likely they are too ****ing stupid to maintain a door knob.

Engine identification question

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