Motor swap from a 1996 Mazda B3000 3.0L to a 1994 Aerostar.

[Jobie]

After losing both head gaskets and finding cracks in the valve seats...I decided to get another motor for my 94 cargo van...However, the motor that I have found is a few years older...it is a 91 Mazda 3.0 ...I appears to be in great shape and much lower miles on the motor...Are there any differences between the two???

 

[BrooklynBay]

Do both of them appear to be the same engine? Could you post a side by side photo comparison?

 

[Jobie]

No I don't have a pic right now...

However reading about it online it appears that it is exactly the same motor as what is in the Ranger PU's...Valve covers are the same including everything else...The one new snag is that it may not have a roller cam set up like the newer ford engines...because that is the year it changed from regular lifters apparently...One would have to remove the intake to verify if it has the roller type or not...The heads and block seem to be the same besides that...

 

[Jobie]

Big mistake...

I said "older" but it was a 96, not 91!
The question is still: will it work???

 

[Jobie]

Motor swap 96 Mazda 3000 3.0 to 94 Aerostar

I had another thread about this but this is more up to date. The swap is from a 96 Mazda 3000 3.0 to a 94 Aerostar 3.0...(I know that this is exactly the same motor as the Ranger PU's...
Has anyone here actually done one??? Please no guessing or speculating...I need to hear from people that have actually done one...
If so, will a distributor fit in the newer block???
What about the water pump and timing cover??? Do I need to change it and is the crank end the same length as the older motor???
Do I use the balancer from the old one since the new one has the sensor type one???
Tomorrow is the last day of the pick n Pull half off sale and would appreciate any help from someone who has done a similar swap...

 

[Jobie]

So far...

I am checking some of this myself online, looking up parts on O Reilly's Auto parts web site...

This is what I've found so far: (I will add more as I go)...
Water pump, same
Balancer, Different, since the newer one has a sensor....
Intake gaskets, same...
Camshaft, same
Timing chain set, same
Head gaskets are the same...on models like the front wheel drive use a different head gasket that has extra openings in the gasket but the blocks and heads are the same...only small variations in combustion chamber sizes for flex fuel vehicles...
So far it is interesting that most of these parts fit a number of vehicles that include, Taurus,Windstar,Tempo,Ranger,Probe,Sable,Topaz,and Mazda...For some of the above will differ like water pumps on the front wheel drive ones but cams and timing gear sets, appear to use the same numbers...

 

[BrooklynBay]

Both of your threads were merged. Please keep everything in the same thread. You will have to swap the fuel injector harness along with other sensors since it was previously used with the OBD-II system.

 

[Jobie]

Ok BB

Thanks for merging these and I'll do as you say...
I am out today to grab the motor...Lots of stuff to check out...Last day of 1/2 off sale!
Do you know if the pan is the same?

 

[BrooklynBay]

Most things should be the same but I'm sure that there are some things that are different. Whatever is different could be swapped from your engine.

 

[Jobie]

Finally!

I got the motor today for a whopping $79.99 on sale for the long block I bought... It came with block,heads, valve covers,lower intake,flywheel and pan...I could have had the balancer too but I ended up leaving it there...
After taxes and buying their year guarantee it came out to $179... That way if I got a mess, I can always go and get another anytime within that year+a month..I guess that's worth it...

Tomorrow I will spend some time cleaning it...The inside is spotless! There isn't any rust in the block at all! It seems the maintenance was really kept up on this motor...I almost bought the water pump as well because it was spotless and in really good shape...Hope the motor works as well...The outside was fairly dirty though...
I will be adding new gaskets, along with a rear seal and I believe I'll use that new timing chain I just installed in the other motor as well since it has about 160 miles on it total...wouldn't think that could be a problem...

I will have to change the pan for sure, as it looks a lot different and maybe the intake, but at least I got it home...Talk about "labor day!

 

[Jobie]

Update...

The motor was cleaned and taken apart...the lower end looked great, but the heads looked bad...After doing a quick leak test of the heads I found the valves were leaking out of the seats pretty good...I guess it is off to the machine shop to get them checked out...

 

[Jobie]

???

Besides the physical differences of the 3.0 balancer's 94 vs 96 with its timing sensor ring on it...Will the 3.0 94 balancer work on the newer motor??? I have read the cranks are a little different...

 

[BrooklynBay]

You could use your old part if the new one doesn't fit.

 

[Jobie]

I was just worried that it was different since ford changed the cranks weight balance a bit starting with the 95's...

 

[Jobie]

Heads...

had the heads worked on, (valve job), and just got them back the other day...Lucky they didn't have any cracks,but I had new exhaust valves seats installed, (A very weak link in these heads)
Will post pictures when I find my dang usb cord!