4.2 same as 3.8/3.9
 

My buddy and I rented a Mustang (he also crashed it into the mountain with me in it moron! . Anyway when I lifted the hood the morning after the accident I noticed that the engine was tagged with a sticker that read like this.

"3.9 Liter V6 Windsor"

Is this the same motor as the 4.2 and the 3.8. Where do these sixes come from? Are the basically a chopped off 351W?

yea it is back in those windsor days.....its not the exact same u know but same idea now adays...i read that somewhere

I also read that somewhere else too..I have a truck out in the yard with a 351 Windsor motor.

Where exactly under the hood was the tag? The 3.8/4.2's are assembled at the Essex engine plant, not Windsor. The design was "borrowed" from Buick in the 70's and has been modified over the years

The tag was right on the driver's side valve cover of the motor.

It said, "3.9 Liter V6 Windsor"

I was always under the impression that the v6 in the Mustangs was the 3.8 but the tag was very clear.

And the v6 you are referring too was the Buick design which Chevrolet borrowed for it's 3.8 liter V6 which is a way better motor in my opinion.

I'm still unclear though as to where the Ford v6's come from.

Ford 3.8's are derived from the Buick 3800 Series also
http://www.babcox.com/editorial/ar/ar90134.htm

The 3.9 is new for 2004, the crank is offset ground slightly to give the extra .1L.

That was an interesting read......

Hey, what's the point of the 3.9L anyway. Based on Ford's specs, it's no more powerful than the 3.8 yet they put it in the '04 Mustang, even though that'll be the only Mustang it'll be used in with the '05 getting a 4.0L. The only other vehicle that gets it is the Freestar. So what's the big difference between the 3.8 and the 3.9 that made Ford say "we gotta make this thing."

I'm with you, I don't know why they decided to do this. My guess though is that it was based on marketing. The 3.8 has had it's share of problems. With the new redesigned model coming out next year they still need something to get people to buy an 04, so they bring out a "new" 3.9 to leave the reputation of the 3.8 behind. :confused: Like I said though, that's just my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions :-X22
Plus, the 3.8 based engine is only going away in the Mustangs, it's supposed to hang around in the vans, and I remember reading on here that they're supposed to bring it back to the F-Series trucks again

I would agree with your assessment, the 3.9's sole purpose is to not look like the 3.8, even though it's still basically the same engine. I suppose it's not a bad idea either, considering the problems that the 3.8L V6s have had in the past. I guess I didn't catch on right away since I'm the owner of a car with one of the 3.8s that didn't screw up. 125,000+ miles on my '94 Thunderbird with a completely original 3.8L V6; no repairs, no blown head gaskets, nothing. For that matter though, my 4R70W tranny is entirely original too with no rebuilds or anything so I guess my car was one of the luckier examples off the assembly line. The only thing that did go bad on my car was the paint which really began to go bad in the past couple years but I took care of that and got the whole thing repainted; kept the color too, "Light Evergreen Frost" or so Ford called it back in '94.

Unless Ford's planning on putting more than one V6 in the F-150, I assume that you're referring to the usage of the 4.2L OHV V6 again in the '05 model year. I think that's the minimum engine that Ford can use in the F-150 because anything less, like the "new" 3.9L, would be too underpowered, especially with the weight gain that the F-150 experienced with the '04 redesign. I don't think it matters much anyway though because Ford's been leaning toward making a new V6 for heavier applications like the F-150, it's just that finances have restricted the development of such an engine. So, as a result, the 4.2 is still used in the interim simply because it's cheap and readily available but is still also a capable design. There is a prospect for the future though with the upcoming "Duratec 35," Ford's new 3.5L DOHC V6. The engine's already expected to be able to produce 245Hp and 240lbs-ft of torque but more importantly the design architecture is expected to be able to produce a new family of V6s. I've already heard someone on this forum mention the idea of a "Duratec 40" to be used for heavier V6 applications. The point though is that Ford will likely, finally, succeed in phasing out all OHV gas engines by the end of the decade.

I believe the 3.9L V-6 simply replaced the 3.8L in the engine lineup. It probably just made sense to put the 3.9L in all vehicles using the 3.8L. The Mustang will only use the 3.9L for the '04 model year, but the Freestar will probably continue using it until it's next redesign. (2007 or 2008 last I heard).

Yeah, nobody at Ford cares about minivans; personally, I despise them. Depending on the influence of "crossover" type vehicles within them next few years, it would be interesting to see if the minivan is crushed in between SUVs and wagons (like the upcoming Ford Freestyle).

3.9 mustang
 

hi, there fellow ford freaks!!


i purchased a 2004 Mustang oct. 2004. It has a 3.9 in it. ford put the engine in the mustangs starting in feb. of 2004. as all you know the 2005"s have the 4.0. anyways the engine is NOT a windsor. it id made in windsor canada. that is where ford manufactures the 3.9,4.0 and the 4.2. . as far as the performance there is a differance. My friend has a 2003 mustang witrh the 3.8 in it. his car has 5000 miles on it. our cars are the exact some from gears to tires. my car is almost a full second faster in the quarter mile. also some other things are, the headers are 1/8'' bigger on the 3.9, and the crank is ground a slight biy different. besides that the engine is the same besides the computer. also me and my friend dynoed both cars, mine with the 3.9 puts out 208 hp and my friends 3.8 puts out 183.

thanks for reading

mike

Thats one hell of a difference in dyno results.

Rman

I have driven both engines for many miles. 3.8 was in Windstar and 3.9 in Freestar .
I found that the 3.8 was more powerful when accelerating or on steep hills. The 3.9 needs
more fuel.