What year engines will interchange with different year Windstars?

Answer 1

I work for a St. Louis. Mo. based taxi company. I am chief mechanic. You cannot use a 98 Ford Windstar engine in a 2000. You engines do not have the same code, your wiring harness will not connect to the engine nor can you use the wiring harness from the 98 because it will not connect to the vehicles ECM/PCM, etc. A 98 can only take another engine out of a 98.The 2000 can take anything from 1999-2003. Nothing older will be compatible. If your vehicle happens to be 95-97 you can swap the 3.8 for those years. So in a nutshell, the 98 3.8 is compatible only to that specific year of vehicle. You must disconnect the entire subframe and remove the engine, transmission, and front suspension while still connected to the subframe. Then you must raise the vehicle being very careful not to let the struts just lean on their own. If you do... the result will be damage to your axles. Disconnect the engine from the tranny, swap the engines, reconnect to tranny and lower the body onto the subframe taking care to make sure the struts line back up with he holes in the strut towers. I use four 3,ooolb jack stands to support the subframe so I can keep the alignement of the subframe in its spot. This will make it easier to align the struts and the keep subframe bolt holes in line for reconnecting the body. If you have done it a few times you learn a few tricks to speed up the swap process. I swapped out a 2000 about a month ago with another mechanic and we had the old one out and other one in, running and ready for emissions testing in 8hrs. there's only one way to fixs the problem, if you have a 3.8 multi split induction then you can only replace the engine block from any 3.8 but you'll have to put everything else back on the new block, the bolt pattern is the very same but the cylinder heads and different including the intake manifolds.