Visually Identifying Year of Motor?`

Thomas A

Registered User
My friend bought a used SC motor/trans and were are trying to figure out exactly what model year of car it came out of. I am a little rusty on my SC knowledge, but we I managed to figure out it is either from a 89 or 90 since it has the heater line running to the throttle body.

Is there an easy way to tell by just looking at the motor if it is from an 1989 or a 1990 model SC?

Thomas
 
On the block? Do you know what side it is on?

Thomas

The outside.


But seriously, depending on what is still attached to the engine, there will be date codes on most parts. You can read several of those, and come up with a reasonable idea of when the engine was built. Not only the year, but the month, and probably the week or day. Different parts were date coded differently, so post up what you find, and we can decipher them here.

JD
 
It is still in the full long block form, at least for now. As far as part numbers, I've come across anything from 1987-1990.

Thomas
 
Casting # on the block will only tell you if it's 89-93 or 94-95. F1xx for 94+.

Cylinder heads are date coded but that only tells you when they were cast, not when it was assembled. The sticker on the valve cover has the actual assembly date I think.
 
It's pretty easy to tell if it's an 89/90 compared to anything later due to wiring harness differences and the TB water heat tube, but as for 89 vs. 90 that's a little harder and I think the valve cover will tell you. I know that all 89's had EGR so if it doesn't have a pilot bearing then that would mean it's an auto which 89-90's were different in that regard but if it has a pilot bearing then both had EGR so that doesn't help.
 
It is still in the full long block form, at least for now. As far as part numbers, I've come across anything from 1987-1990.

Thomas

Date codes are different from the P/N's. Most of the P/N's will start with E9SZ..., etc.

Date codes are on stickers, or etched into the part. Most all electronic components will have date codes as well as a lot of the hard parts. For instance, one of my parts reads P9E8, which decodes as P (Design Level) 9 (1989) E (May) 8 (8th. Day). So, this part was made May 8th, 1989, which is correct for my car's build date of 05/22/89.

Some of the code formats differ, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure them out. Post what you find here and we can decipher them.

JD
 
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