How do I tell a 5.2 from a 5.9

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MileHighDart

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Made a trip to the Pick and Pull yard today, looking for a part for my wife's Nissan Sentra,

While I was there I started checking Durango's, Dakota's, and Grand Cherokee's to see if they had any 5.9 magnums. Thinking of doing the magnum swap in my Dart.
I found several magnums, but I quickly realized that I had no idea how to tell a 5.2 from a 5.9

Any help ? Where do I look for numbers, and what numbers am I looking for ?

Also, is there any reason not to pull one from a Grand Cherokee as opposed to a Durango, Ram, or Dakota?
 
Look at the balancer. The 5.2 will be smooth all the way around, because they are internally balanced. The 5.9 will have a large groove in it about 1" wide and probably about 6" around, OR it will have a "chunk" cut out of the outer ring of the balancer. They are externally balanced.
 
Look at the casting number above the starter, they are cast with engine size, same as in an LA.
 
How about checking the VIN for the engine code???
 
There should be a sticker on the core support that had 5.9 or 5.2 on it somewhere.
 
Well that will assure you that you have found a 5.2 or 5.9 core support if nothing else.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Well that will assure you that you have found a 5.2 or 5.9 core support if nothing else.
Click to expand...

Lol that's true. I guess you could go around and if you find one with the 5.9 core support sticker then check the balancer to be sure.
 
Ok, I also checked out a site called Magnumswap.com and found this

"Identification
All Magnum engines are stamped either 360 or 318 on the driver’s side near the rear of the block. The casting number found on all 360 Magnum blocks is 5302006, whereas the 5.2/318 Magnums are 53006714 or 53006657. Otherwise, the 5.2 and 5.9 appear pretty much identical."
 
5.9 Magnums usually are a "Z " code,on the VIN plate.I can't remember when the Feds went from the 5th VIN digit,to the 8th digit on engine classification.
 
The only thing that may affect your decision on the 5.9 Jeep is that the starter is on the passenger side. As far as the engine block goes, I don't know if there are any differences. The air hat and air box are located on the driver's side, right where the a-body battery tray is located. The driver's side exhaust manifold outlet is turned inward and the head pipe will probably interfere with the starter.

Be sure and get the kickdown cable, trans cable bracket, trans shift lever, PDC, PCM, and wiring harness.
I have two Dodge 5.2's and a 98 Grand Cherokee 5.9. Give me a shout if you have any specific questions.
 
Thing is, some of this assumes the previous owner didn't swap the engine before whatever reason it ended up at the yard. This was what Rusty was eluding to "in code" LMAO
 
68coupe said:
The only thing that may affect your decision on the 5.9 Jeep is that the starter is on the passenger side. As far as the engine block goes, I don't know if there are any differences. The air hat and air box are located on the driver's side, right where the a-body battery tray is located. The driver's side exhaust manifold outlet is turned inward and the head pipe will probably interfere with the starter.

Be sure and get the kickdown cable, trans cable bracket, trans shift lever, PDC, PCM, and wiring harness.
I have two Dodge 5.2's and a 98 Grand Cherokee 5.9. Give me a shout if you have any specific questions.
Click to expand...

So the Grand Cherokee has the starter on the passenger side.
Does that mean I cant us a 5.9 from a Cherokee in my Dart.
I was planning on bolting it up to my existing 904 ? Should I stick to looking for one from a Durango, Dakota, or ram?

And I was planning on putting a carb on it, so don't need the electronics or wiring harness.
 
As far as I know, there is no difference in the block that's in the Jeep. I just wanted to let you know that everything else was different.
 
My U-pull-it and cry experience.

1.Found a core support with 5.9.
2.Checked the side of the motor through the wheel well and found "360" on the block.
3.Went back and bought the motor, had to use a seatbelt to lift the motor out with a forklift. They don't supply ANYTHING.
4.Brought it home, took the heads off and found it was a .040 over remanufactured engine with worn out .040 overbore.
5. irritated a lot of members in the small block forum on how I could make it work.
6. Decided to find something else to get the car running, wait, and buy a complete machined 5.9 block from a machine shop in Houston for 650 dollars.

Now I am not saying that used 5.9 engines from u pull it are not a cool idea, because its been proven time and time again. Im just saying, don't pull the first 5.9 you find, make sure that it at least has the factory pistons in it. Next time I do it Im gonna pull a head or look through the spark plug hole at least.
 
Our U pull it places in Georgia will let you pull heads and find good heads and block mixing and matching until you find what you like. No, they will not supply anything at the prices they charge. You can get a basic long block for 158 dollars. What do you expect? For them to come pull it for you for that price? Not hardly.


That said, be glad you are not into Fords. Why you ask? I have a 351M engine in my F250 for example. There is no way to tell the difference between the 351M and 400 engines, other than either removing a head and measuring the piston stroke, or removing the oil pan and getting the crank casting number. No way. No how, because both blocks use the exact same casting numbers. My 351M even has "400" cast into the block in the intake valley, because that's how Ford created the 351M, since the 400 was made first and the 351M used the 400 block. You also cannot tell using the old trick of removing a plug and using welding rod to measure piston stroke, because the plug hole is at such a drastic angle. I got luck when my buddy PanGasket found my 400. The heads were already off and he easily saw the piston was 4" down in the bore at BDC, so we knew it was a 400. Since both engines are 4" bore and use the same casting numbers, that's the only way to tell.

The Ford "FE" series engines are much the same. There is no way to tell whether you have a 352-428 because they all use the same series of casting numbers. Your 428 may have "352" cast into the block. The only way to know for sure on those is to look at the crank casting number and measure the bore.

So Mopar guys have it easy comparatively.
 
Yea I understand that they dont supply anything. That was just a non thinking on my part. However, the seatbelt worked fine.

I did not know that its possible that u pull it in my area will allow swapping stuff around to build a complete engine. IF I go that route again I am pulling the heads to check for cracks and bore size. Thanks for the tip.
 
I've never seen this confirmed anywhere as a block ID technique, Can anyone confirm this?

On all the Jeep ZJs I've had, the 5.2s all had four bolts on the driver's side motor mount ears on the block, whereas the 5.9s only had three, and didn't have a hole for a fourth bolt. In fact, I don't think they even have an "ear" where the fourth bolt would be. (rear lower ear IIRC)
Easy to remember as it's the opposite of what you'd expect.

Confirmed that on 6 5.9s and 3 5.2s. The 5.2s were 93, 94, and 98.
These were all Jeeps, although I'm pretty sure one of the 5.9s had a Dodge motor in it.

I'm not too familiar with the Dodges but I can't imagine their blocks were any different.

Granted, I'd probably go a step further and confirm the casting #/size off the driver's side - but that might at least provide a quick ID to see if it's worth crawling under there and looking further.


I see OP said he was going carb'd, but for anyone looking to stick with EFI and a lockup/OD tranny I'd strongly recommend sticking with the year-equivalent Dodge trannies and their left side starters as a right side starter might screw up your header or exhaust manifold options.
Ask the guy with the left side startered 5 speed ZJ how he knows! :( lol!
 
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