2.3L ('83-'97) any differences?

[Dav]

i have a '94 motor that i believe is a 2.3. someone said there may be differences where the crank sensor bolts on from what a '95 2.3 has. apparently ford changed the voltage of the sensors between '94 and '95. i want to overhaul the '94 to make a long block and swap stuff over when i pull my long suffering 95 with 400k on it. am i setting myself up for major headaches? and where on the block will i find numbers to ID it?

 

[scotts90ranger]

There are a couple differences between '94 and '95 that are important. You read right, from '89 through '94 the crank sensor was just above and to the drivers side of the crank pulley for the timing belt, in '95 the sensor moved to just above the front corner of the oil pan on the passenger side reading external notches on the crank pulley/balancer where the older one read vanes on the inside of the balancer. In '95 they also added a cam sensor at the top rear side of the auxiliary pulley kinda behind the air conditioning compressor part of the bracket so it's hard to see...

Some '95's might not have the cam sensor, I would look to see if yours has it, if it doesn't the crank sensor on a '95 just mounts to the front seal housing so that isn't a big deal to switch to...

 

[Dav]

wow, can't believe. my luck; the crank sensor is the same on both motors. the 95 has it's original motor. the 94 i picked up for the standard trans (i was feed up with the auto trans problem- i went thru i think 6 of them, {3 were aamco, a shitshow in itself}). whether the 94 was so late in production that it had the same stuff as the 95 or if someone changed motors i don't know. but it has been sitting around for 3 years since i got it (i drove it onto the trailer) and now it will get used.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Good to hear. You sure the '94 is a '94? If it has the same dash as your '95 then it's not a '94... If it's the '89-94 style dash it might be a california model... they got reworked before the standard EPA models. but then again things can get reworked in 30 years

 

[Dav]

don't know what the 94 was. that's what he told me. all that i have left is a trailer made from the bed and back frame. don't remember about the dash. truck had Arizona plates so it may have started life as a Cal truck.