Ford Essex V6 engine (Canadian)

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See also Ford Essex V6 engine (UK)

The Canadian Essex (90 Degree V) engine was a V6 engine family built by Ford Motor Company in Windsor, Ontario. Unlike the British Essex V6, the Canadian Essex was a 90° design. With Ford's Essex Engine scheduled to close in 2008, the future of this engine is in doubt.

The Canadian Essex was a pushrod design featuring aluminum heads, which reduced its weight considerably and made it a very powerful engine for its size. The engine was offered in two sizes, 3.8 L for mid-size cars and minivans, and 4.2 L for pickup trucks. The 3.8 L was replaced by the 3.9 L in 2004. The Essex and the smaller Vulcan V6 are the last traditional pushrod OHV engines built by Ford.

The Canadian Essex's origins are controversial. The most commonly cited story is that the Essex is a Ford Windsor V8 engine with two cylinders cut off (similar to what Chevrolet and Chrysler did to make their 4.3 L and 3.9 L V6 designs, respectively), but several important differences between the Windsor's design and the Essex's make this implausible. One source states that the Essex is instead a copy of the Buick V6 engine [1], done since Ford needed a working V6 much faster than building one from scratch would take (the Cologne V6 couldn't meet fuel economy requirements, and the all-new Vulcan was several years away from production at that point).

Contents

[edit] 3.8

The 3.8 L (3797 cc/232 in³) model was introduced for the 1982 model year, first appearing as an option on the Ford Granada.

Bore was 96.8 mm and stroke was 86 mm. Output was 112 hp (83 kW) at 4200 rpm and 175 lbf·ft (237 N·m) of torque at 2800 rpm. It initially had a 2-barrel Motorcraft 2150 carburetor. Central Fuel Injection was made available in 1984. Output was 120 hp at 3600 rpm and 205 lb-ft of torque at 1600 rpm in these models.

Sequential Fuel Injection became standard in 1987. These engines put out 140 hp (104 kW) and 215 lbf·ft (292 N·m) of torque.

A supercharged version was used in the 1989-95 Thunderbird Super Coupe and 1989-90 Cougar XR-7, producing up to 230 hp (171 kW) and 330 lbf·ft (447 N·m).

The Police Package Taurus, Lincoln Continental and Ford Windstar had a high-output version with better cylinder heads and other modifications. It produced 160 - 200 hp (119 - 149 kW) and 220 - 230 lbf·ft (298 - 312 N·m) of torque.

The Mustang version was updated for 1999 with Teflon-coated pistons, a variable length intake manifold, and a more open cylinder head. These bumped output up by 40 hp (30 kW) to 190 hp (142 kW).

Applications:

Engine Numbers: A nine-digit serial number appears on a label on the right side(front) valve cover. It also appears on a barcode label on the transmission side of the right side head. –

[edit] 3.9

A 3.9 L (238 in³) 12-valve version with 3.8 in (96.5 mm) bore and 3.46 in (87.9 mm) stroke was introduced in 2004. It was installed in a running change on later production 2004 Mustangs before it was replaced by the 4.0 L Cologne OHC engine.

Applications:

Ford spec sheets note this engine as 3802 cc (232 in³). The bore and stroke, however, work out to 3857 cc (236 in³). Another strange thing is that this engine, if specs are to be believed, is .010 in underbore compared to the 3.8 and 4.2.

[edit] 4.2

The 4.2 L (256 in³) model appeared in the 1997 model year as a replacement for the durable but aging Ford 300 straight-6. It was a long-stroke version of the 3.8 with 12 valves and pushrods. It has the same 3.81 in bore with a 3.74 in stroke (97 mm by 95 mm). Ford Power Products sells this engine as the ESG-642.

Ford experienced several severe problems with this engine in the 1997 and 1998 model years. These included issuing all 1997 engines made at the Essex plant with a bad front cover gasket.

Applications:

[edit] See also

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