1987 5.0 Engine Identification (Original or Not?)

[Tiggie]

I've been eyeing the engine in my '87 CV to replace the current one in my '82. After installing my new oil pressure and water temperature gauges in the '82 last weekend, I have came to the realization that my current engine in the '82 is junk. Yeah, it looks and sounds pretty, and runs smooth. But with large amounts of smoke on startup, gallons of goo inside the engine, and 8psi of oil pressure hot, it's shot.

The '87 came from a city impound lot. I have a title, but no history on the car. It did come with an unknown AOD with a shift kit installed, the case is the newer 1989+ unit. It also has 3.27's in the rear axle. The engine runs strong, sounds strong, and makes absolutly no smoke, regardless of how hard I rev it. It appears to have new freeze plugs all the way around. Several other clues hint that the engine has been out of the car, or at least torn down.

This engine block has a large letter Z cast into the rear drivers side, next to the oil pan and tranny. My mom's '87 T-Bird with the original 5.0 doesn't have this Z. I couldn't see the part number on her block.

This engine does have the standard lo-po firing order. If this engine is from a truck, that would mean it should have the HO heads and truck cam, correct? Is the truck cam traditional 302 firing order, or 5.0 HO and 351W firing order?

Today, I crawed under the car to look for a casting number on the block. I found one, but I couldn't read it all due to the starter being in the way. I did read E7TE, with some other numbers under it. That would indicate to me that this is an '87 block, maybe later, from a truck. But I've seen other Ford vehicles with non-matching block castings going by the model line. Did all '87 Panthers with the 5.0 come with the E7TE casting block?

[Tiggie]

I was feeling a little froggy, so I decided to jack up the T-bird and look. The block casting number on the ’87 T-Bird is E6SE, with some numbers under it I cannot make out.

Also, I’ll try to more accurately describe where the Z is on the ’87 CV. As I said, it’s on the lower drivers side corner of the block. It’s located on a ~45 degree section. Under the 45 degree section, there is the inspection cover for the flywheel. There are some clock-looking things beside the Z on the 45-degree section, possibly casting dates? Both the T-bird and the CV have the clock looking things.

Also, I think the truck cam has the traditional 302 firing order, instead of the 5.0 HO/351W.

The T-Bird was made in March of '87, the CV was made in April of '87.

So whadda think, is my E7TE block original?

[Grand Marquis GT]

No.

If you think it was a truck engine, than it may be...

[Mercracer]

So whadda think, is my E7TE block original?

It may be. Often times head and block casting numbers are running changes. The same casting numbers are used for several years as is evident by the E7TE HO/truck heads and the CV/GM E6 cast heads. Pull a valve cover and look at the casting date of the head. It will give you an excellent indication of the production date for the engine. Pull a spark plug. If it takes conventional spark plugs, then it is not a CV/GM motor. If it takes the retarded CV/GM plugs, you know what you have.

[Tiggie]

I'll look into pulling one of the valve covers tomorrow. The driver's side looks to come off without having to remove the upper intake.

Right now, the car has Autolite 5245 plugs in it, which aren't supposted to fit any Ford product that Advance Auto is aware of. These plugs are for many of GM's LS-Series engines, and several other late-model GM products.

What's the difference in the spark plugs, CV/GM vs Truck?

[gadget73]

Not sure on the plugs, but IIRC a lopo plug is an autolite 2545. E7TE should be truck casting, but its hard to say for sure. The cam is a standard 289/302 firing order, but the profile is different and the heads are the e7TE. Unfortunately without knowing a bit of history, its really hard to say what the heck it is.


8 psi hot? hell thats fine. My Townie ran 0 at highway speeds when I retired it's engine. Who needs oil pressure?

[Mercracer]

I'll look into pulling one of the valve covers tomorrow. The driver's side looks to come off without having to remove the upper intake.

Right now, the car has Autolite 5245 plugs in it, which aren't supposted to fit any Ford product that Advance Auto is aware of. These plugs are for many of GM's LS-Series engines, and several other late-model GM products.

What's the difference in the spark plugs, CV/GM vs Truck?

Are you sure that isn't 2545, which is what the CV/GM takes? Someone could have accidently grabbed 5245 when they wanted 2545. The 25 is the conventional 302 truck plug and the 2545 is the extended reach plug. There is nearly a .25" difference in the reach design.
The 2545 and 5245 both look the same at a quick glance because of their extended reach design, but upon closer inspection of the electrodes you can see that they are of a different heat range.
I use "GM" plugs in my Capri with the GT40P heads when I run nitrous because they are colder than the regular "Ford" plugs. I run Autolite Racing AR103 plugs. Standard Autolite 103 plugs are more commonly GM, but are used in 4.0L Ford V-6 motors and in 4.6L CV CNG (natural gas) cars.

[Mercracer]

8 psi hot? hell thats fine. My Townie ran 0 at highway speeds when I retired it's engine. Who needs oil pressure?

No, it really didn't. A bad guage will tell you all kinds of crazy things.

[Mercracer]

If you pull a spark plug and the threads in the head start at the edge of the hole, then it is a E7TE or other conventional 302 head, but if the the threads start 3/8"+ down inside the hole, it is a CV/GM motor. It should be VERY obvious what you have.

[LTDMan83]

Today, I crawed under the car to look for a casting number on the block. I found one, but I couldn't read it all due to the starter being in the way. I did read E7TE, with some other numbers under it. That would indicate to me that this is an '87 block, maybe later, from a truck. But I've seen other Ford vehicles with non-matching block castings going by the model line. Did all '87 Panthers with the 5.0 come with the E7TE casting block?

After I read your post I deceided to go out and look on my 87,and sure enough my 87's block also reads E7TE,the DS valve cover also has a factory sticker on it that says E7TE.I've never bothered looking at the spark plugs threads yet,but I will check that out next time I get the chance.The engine looks to be original to the car.

[gadget73]

No, it really didn't. A bad guage will tell you all kinds of crazy things.

It was a brand new guage, and I verified it whith a mechanical guage. It had no oil pressure at all. The guage was on 0, the idiot light was on. It had a very distinct rod knock with no load on the motor but cruising it was quiet. I didn't drive it around much like that tho. The light flickered on me at idle one day, I installed the oil pressure guage the next day, and on my way home it dropped from 5 psi to 0. I needed to get home so I figured I'd try and make it. It got me home and I parked it. The 88 GM out here in the yard has no oil pressure either, and if you heard that baby crank up you wouldn't even need to verify it with a guage. The idiot light is on full time when the motor warms up.

[Tiggie]

Checked the plug holes today, and the threads start on down in there, making them the cruddy lo-po units I guess. I didn't pull the valve covers, that's too much like work! BTW, the spark plugs were Autolite 5245's, someone must have gotten dyslexic at the parts store. They appear to be working well; they were basically white on the tips.

Custom87, I looked at my valve cover to see if anything was written on them. I found a sticker on the passenger side cover, with an E7ME number.

Just for kicks, I pulled one of the plugs on the '82, and it's the threads started just under the seat. But I know it's heads are the original ones, which are even worse than the newer lo-po heads.

I found even more evidence that the motor in the '87 has at least been torn down to a degree; I spotted new exhaust manifold gaskets. That's in addition to the new intake gaskets, oil pan gasket, and freeze plugs.

In my terrible long winded way, I think I have concluded that the E7TE block is original to the car, or at least is currently a lo-po unit. At least it's a roller block, that alone makes it better in my opinion than my '82 block (which I think has a D8AE casting).

Thanks everyone for the response.

[Mercracer]

Just for kicks, I pulled one of the plugs on the '82, and it's the threads started just under the seat. But I know it's heads are the original ones, which are even worse than the newer lo-po heads.

I would take the '82 heads over the E6 NoPo heads any day.