97 ranger 94 motor?

[roots4thought]

so i got a great deal on a 97 2wd 2.3 5 speed ranger. motor is close to toast. i also found a guy that has a bunch of rebuilt short blocks and he only wants $249 for 1 but im not sure if itll work for me. he said they are the second types that were made. 89-94 but i have a 97 ranger. can this short block work for me. i am planing to have my 97 head rebuilt at a local shop but dont really want to pay their price for rebuilding my 97 block so i am hoping that the $249 89-94 will work for me.

here is what i know.

the blocks are different in the 97 does not have a distributor hole and the oil pump was moved. along with the addition of a cam pos sensor.

the question is can i still use the short block?

my cousin has a 90 and if i remember right he also has a coil pack and no distributor. is there a way to block the dist hole?

does it matter that the oil pump is in a different spot in the block?

is the cam pos sensor in the head?

sorry for the maybe obvious question but in both the lima engine page and the 4 banger sticky it says they are different but not that they wont work together.

if all else fails i still have my 91 2.9 v6 ranger but no ac

Thanks......

 

[Spowerback]

(93-94 exactly similar 96-97 different 2.3L ) (2.5L+ 98-2000,2001-2006-2010) 2.9-2.8L older models

 

[rurouni20xx]

basically you would be taking your 97 stuff for your cam position sensor etc and putting it on the 94 2.3 block. the cam position sensor is on the secondary shaft. by second gen he means small journal main bearings and roller cam head. yes they are interchangable, they interchange all the way up to the 2.5 in 2001 models. the 2.5 is a stroker 2.3, the crank rods and pistons are different, the block is identical. the older yrs (88 down) are large main bearings and flat tappet heads. the blocks internally will not work but everything else will bolt up, just dif port shapes on the heads. since you are reusing your head and the countershaft sensors/flywheel etc you will have all the sensory installed and shouldnt run into any problems.

 

[roots4thought]

ok. so the oil pump being in a little different spot isnt a problem?

what do i do with the distributor hole?

are you sure they will work together rurouni20xx? Spowerback didnt seem to think they would. that was my fear that i would get 2 different answers.

dang it........well i guess that i can just buy the block and if it doesnt work out i can sell it on here for 250. thats pretty cheap.........

i appreciate your response. hope i can get 2 answers that are on the same page.

edit: the worst part is i called 2 local ford dealers and neither of them could give me an answer. dont they repair rangers at the dealership? wow!!

 

[modelageek]

(93-94 exactly similar 96-97 different 2.3L ) (2.5L+ 98-2000,2001-2006-2010)

this is confusing to me , would you mind clarifying it.

 

[4b316]

They are not the same blocks.They have different bosses for the alternator,coill brackets,the later brackets don't fit.The crank sensor are different and require you to drill and tap new holes in the 94 block.The cam sensor that goes in the eariler motors(california spec only,the other states had a plug in them)is diffent from the +95 engines in the wiring.Using your 95+ head would help with some of the problems ie;the brackets,but still have the difference in the block.Be a good time to get a 2.5 motor and have a little more torque with your motor change