3.0 block variants

[Shran]

I have an opportunity to buy a reman 3.0 short block for $100. It's been sitting in the office of a local junkyard for quite a few years. Supposedly they bought a bunch of reman shortblocks years ago for various vehicles and this is the last one. I was actually told that it is a 4.0 and fits a Ranger... the casting number on the block (F2DE-6015-BA) leads me to believe that it's a 3.0 for a 91-94 Taurus/Sable.

Would this be useful in anything other than those years? Newer Ranger? I am often seeing late 90's/early 2000's trucks with bad 3.0s, if it would work in a later model truck I might just pick it up to have on hand. Even if I had to buy a set of heads, I'd still not have a ton of money into a brand new engine.

 

[adsm08]

AFAIK the short block never really changed, just the oil pan and heads really.

 

[Shran]

Of course after I posted this I found a brand new set of 99-07 flex fuel heads for $150 on facebook.

I don't even own or want a 3.0 truck but I feel like I'm going to end up with an engine for one.

 

[stmitch]

Blocks are interchangeable. I've always heard that the blocks gained some strengthening ribs over the years, and pics seem to verify that but there aren't any differences that would impact a swap.
Taurus oil pans are different than Ranger pans, but I've got a Taurus pan in my 2000 2WD with no issues. Not sure how a Taurus pan would work with either 4wd or Ibeam suspensions, but not a deal breaker