Value of a Ford 5.0

I was at the junkyard this AM and there are several mountaineers and explorers in the yard that have good running 5.0 motors in them. the trucks are 97,s and 98's There is probably 3 or 4 of them all have about 80K on the clock. All are supposed to be good.

What is something like this worth? I would like to get it complete with all the accessories and the wiring harness.

Obviously they are not a hot selling item as they have a glut of them. They don't even bother to pull them unless they get a request for one.

Also in this vintage (mid 90's) is there a preferred year 5.0 to get? Would the mountaineer be better than the Explorer? I know that the Explorer / mountaineers are supposed to have a better intake and ti is a common swap for the mustang crowd. So that would be kind of a bonus. Or is it really relevant and I should just plan on a cam swap and not worry on the vintage and focus on the lowest millage / best quality (comp test) that I can get.

In reply to dean1484:

I bought a long block a couple years ago for $100. It was from an individual though, not a yard. You want a roller block if you are going to get one. I think those were in Lincoln's in or around '83 and started in Mustangs in '85, but I might be wrong. If you are going to replace the heads and pistons, there's not much difference in any of them. The HO has forged pistons, so if that matters then you need one of those.
I'm building mine with a 331 stroker kit, so I just got an '87 truck engine.

The Explorers and Mountaineers should have the good GT40 heads and intake's on them. They also have a distributerless ignition and coil packs. They have a cam sensor and oil pump driveshaft in where the distributor used to be. This can be completely reversed (pull that thing out and drop in your distributor).

they were the best of the best of the late model 5.0's, but keep in mind that if you were to put one of those engines in something like a Fox Mustang, you'd have to buy special headers due to the different exhaust ports on the GT40 heads.

novaderrik wrote: they were the best of the best of the late model 5.0's, but keep in mind that if you were to put one of those engines in something like a Fox Mustang, you'd have to buy special headers due to the different exhaust ports on the GT40 heads.

I did this, using the distributor from the Mustang engine. The headers are not hard to find or particularly expensive, I used some FRPP ones, I think. You don't want to use the cam from the Exploder motor, it's very mild, but the heads are good (GT-40P), and the intake is a slightly improved version of the FRPP Cobra intake that came on the 93 Fox-body Mustang Cobra.

Dean, to answer your question, no, there is no difference between Exploder and Mountaineer engines, and they should all be pretty much the same, so grab the best one. I have heard that some of the early 97s got the "old style" GT-40 heads because they hadn't tooled up the GT-40Ps yet, but that's no big deal either way.

Exploder and Mountaineer 5.0 engines + cam + valve springs = a kick ass motor on the cheap.

Some of the Salvage yards here in SC and GA sell them complete up to $800 (too pricey IMHO) as they are the worst keep secret to easy power to Foxbody contingent.

That's basically what we run in one of the lemons cars. 96s had the standard gt40s.

Explorer motor good, truck motor not so much. The truck motor is the non-roller, old firing order 302. Think of it more like a mopar 318; makes the right noises and it's a decent work engine, but it's not what you want to start with if you have performance in mind.

The Explorer motor is basically the '93-'95 Cobra motor.

The heads are better, GT40P's, but from what I'm seeing they're still not that great vs. anything from the performance aftermarket. Used Trick Flows don't seem to be that hard to find. The intake from an Explorer does seem to be one of the better units available. I'd prefer one of these because EDIS interests me.

ReverendDexter wrote: The Explorer motor is basically the '93-'95 Cobra motor.

More or less, but it does have the Fox-style intake, not the SN95-style. And, as mentioned, it has GT-40P heads instead of GT-40.

I paid about $400 for one of these engines on eBay about 6-7 years ago. Complete from intake to oil pan, but no accessories.

All of the Explorers got the GT40 heads starting in 1996 but early in 1997 they switched to GT40Ps. A better head but the plug angle can be an issue when installing headers if the engine is used in a swap. For performance use you just need to change the cam. If the engine does not have a roller cam you can install one with junkyard parts from your nearest pick-n-pull. Used roller cams are plentyful and stock Mustang HO 5.0 cams can be had for nothing or almost nothing and it's a step up over the Explorer cams.

In reply to jimbbski:

Wouldn't have to change the valve springs?? I know I read some where the stock explorer valve spring float with the even the FRPP Alphabet cams. . .

I changed out mine on the GT40P I have.

Strike_Zero wrote: In reply to jimbbski: Wouldn't have to change the valve springs?? I know I read some where the stock explorer valve spring float with the even the FRPP Alphabet cams. . . I changed out mine on the GT40P I have.

I didn't. Granted, I was just using a stock 89 Mustang cam, but my engine saw some sustained high-rpm work at HPDEs, and I never had a problem.

Tom_Spangler wrote:

Strike_Zero wrote: In reply to jimbbski: Wouldn't have to change the valve springs?? I know I read some where the stock explorer valve spring float with the even the FRPP Alphabet cams. . . I changed out mine on the GT40P I have.

I didn't. Granted, I was just using a stock 89 Mustang cam, but my engine saw some sustained high-rpm work at HPDEs, and I never had a problem.

Well I'll be daaaa . . . I bought some new springs and did a valve job since I wasn't sure how many miles was on this setup.

Do you remember what RPM range you ran it at? The cam guy I used helped me setup the F-Cam (got it for free) for HPDE use.

just get one and drive it.

I had a '98 Explorer v8 as a company car when i was doing field work in Minnesota back at the turn of the century.

3.73 gears. No air filter (was dirty so I trashed it). Good Gosh that thing would run.

No low-range though. Not that I needed one

I am not sure what I am going to do with one at the moment but sering so many of them got me thinking. If it was cheep enough I would get one for future use in my mustang.

Strike_Zero wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote:

Strike_Zero wrote: In reply to jimbbski: Wouldn't have to change the valve springs?? I know I read some where the stock explorer valve spring float with the even the FRPP Alphabet cams. . . I changed out mine on the GT40P I have.

I didn't. Granted, I was just using a stock 89 Muustang cam, but my engine saw some sustained high-rpm work at HPDEs, and I never had a problem.

Well I'll be daaaa . . . I bought some new springs and did a valve job since I wasn't sure how many miles was on this setup. Do you remember what RPM range you ran it at? The cam guy I used helped me setup the F-Cam (got it for free) for HPDE use.

I didn't rev it much above 5000, it didn't make much power above that, anyhow. All I did was lap the valves and install new seals.

I was thinking of getting one and putting it in my shed. There is a glut of them at the moment but I am worried that they will go the way of the RX7 motor. You can not touch a used one in this area at virtually any price.

Besides doesn't everyone need to keep a a spare 5.0? Who knows when disposal may brake or the washing machine may need to be upgraded .

More seriously I like the 3.8 in my mustang it has served me well. There are no issues with it at the moment other than it is missing 1.2L. and the red line is 4500 or so. Upgrading to a 5.0 with an improved cam and headers. Would transform my old mustang. I would probably keep the stock ECU as it so so simple but a MS could easily be used as well. This depends on what the Yard wants for the complete unit versus just the motor with a cut harness.

I was just thinking that in the long run it may be better to see about picking one up in CL with a running motor pull the motor with everything I want. Sell the trans (if it is good ) and take the rest to the Yard and recoup part of my purchase price.

I remember reading an intake comparison for build in MMFF and there was an interesting result.

For the street/strip setup the Explorer/Mountaineer intake was the best. It had the fattest torque curve and didn't taper off on top end. Just needed port matching for the build.

Real value is a bit above dirt, compared to dirt a few years ago.

GT40P's... Just need to avoid the equal length Fox/SN shorties and run the smallest plug boots you can find.

Intake is a modified 93-95 lower, it's shorter to fit under the hood, with a cheaper to make upper that also fits under the hood.

Oh and the "compact" FEAD might be worth something if you want to part with it, but only if it comes on the engine.