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Hey all .. I just bought a 95 Ford Escort GT last night , Now that i have a Full Running Car do i need anything else before i start the swap?

The 1.8 BP engine and tranny is going into my 94 mx-3 RS,, Is there an Issue with ECU's?? can i use the escorts ECU instead?

thanks for any help ..
regards ,, Romeo

You should use the Engine wiring harness and ECU from the Escort GT. It will make your life a lot easier-- and takes about 30 minutes to swap everything over.

Also-- you should use the speedo cable/gear from the Escort GT as well as switch to a 92-93 MX-3 Gauge cluster so the speedo will match up.

The 94 MX-3s used an electronic speedo-- and I believe the Escort GT was still using the cable driven one.

You need to combine the lower half of the driver side tranny mount from the Escort GT and the top half from the MX-3.

Everything else should be fine!

there will be no grief with the axles? will they match up?

If you use the Escort tranny-- you will need to get or use the axles for it.

Double check if the 95 is pre-OBDII where the wiring totally changed. You have the wiring harness on the engine itself, but you have the harness that goes from the firewall inside to the ECU. Check to see if those are compatible. Search for Gro Harlem's really good post on BP swaps.

Originally posted by John Long:
Double check if the 95 is pre-OBDII where the wiring totally changed. You have the wiring harness on the engine itself, but you have the harness that goes from the firewall inside to the ECU. Check to see if those are compatible.

See if what is compatible?? All he would do is take the Engine, ECU and witing harness from the Escort & swap it over to the MX-3.

Its will be the same thing that its using now in the escort.

No Problems.

i'm changing my mx-3's engine ( the car is a 1.6L 4 cyl. automatic ) to a BP 1.8L DOHC .. my question is: does it matter if the engine I get is from a standard car? I read somewhere that standard cars have a 2-plug ECU while automatic cars have a 3-plug ECU .. and that they are not interchangeable .. does it mean i need a BP 1.8L from an automatic car? or it really doesnt matter?

Why keep it automatic??? Go 5sp!!!

If you want to keep it an Auto-- I would highly recommend that you get the ECU, Engine Wiring harness, Engine and tranny from an Automatic Protege LX. Preferrably the same car if possible.

Or-- do what I did and swap everything out & make it a manual.

Why keep it automatic??? Go 5sp!!!

Hell no, be a man, keep it automatic, thats what I'd do. (At least thats what I plan on doing when I can find another Mx with a dead drivetrain) But definitely do what Atlantamx3 said, use the auto tranny from the Escort/Protege. The dog Mazda gave us with the 1.6 will die a quick and painfull death with BP power going thru it.

how much does it come to, to change an auto to manual ??

if you have all the parts arleady isn't it free?

not if you can't convert a car to manual by yourself ..

Originally posted by atlantamx3:

Originally posted by John Long:
Double check if the 95 is pre-OBDII where the wiring totally changed. You have the wiring harness on the engine itself, but you have the harness that goes from the firewall inside to the ECU. Check to see if those are compatible.

See if what is compatible?? All he would do is take the Engine, ECU and witing harness from the Escort & swap it over to the MX-3.

Its will be the same thing that its using now in the escort.

No Problems.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the engine is in the engine compartment, and the ECU is in the passenger compartment. The engine wiring harness is also in the engine compartment. That means there is additional wiring from the firwall to the ECU that is not part of the engine wiring harness. Around 1995-1996 is when wiring was starting to change and move to OBDII. I don't think he will have a problem, but it is a good idea to check.

Okay I will correct you.

There are 2 main wiring harnesses on the Mx-3.

The Engine Wiring harness and the Dash Wiring Harness.

The engine harness is all the engine sensors and goes thru the firewall and connects to the ECU on the inside of the car.

The dash harness includes all the lights and all the stuff in the dash. It comes into the passenger compartment by way of the driver's side fender right above the driver's foot well.