Identifying original engine
 

First off...Was the seller the original owner? If so, when and why were they replaced? If not the original owner, then again, when and why were they replaced? If they were replaced thru a Ford Dealer, it should show up when the VIN is ran thru the Ford Oasis system.

No Nonsense
 

Thanks for your input. However the auto was not from the original owner. The person purchased the car in an auction with a defective transmission. He said he subsequently changed both the transmission and engine instead of only the transmission. The work was not done at a Ford dealer.

I take it...It was a provite sale to you and not thru any type of Dealer, thus no used car warranty? I probably would have walked away from the vehicle if I was told that the transmission AND engine was replaced just because the transmission was bad. As far as being able to tell if anything was actually replaced (Depending on where you live and how long ago) I would look for socket/wrench marks on anything painted that had to be removed (nuts, bolts and so on). Also look for any nuts/bolts that are offset from their original position due to shifting. Look for any tie-downs that may have been broken, not installed of looks like thay were pulled out or a bracket and such. Basically look for anything that would show that the ening was pulled as pretty much everything you see under the hood would have to have been disconneted (elecctrical, vacuum, fuel lines). Look to see if the hood was removed by wrench marks on the hinge bolts, or being off-set from their original position.

Thanks! I really was looking for a way for me to find out without being a mechanic. I thought by taking it to a Ford service center would help me find out for sure. No guessing! because then I would be able to return the car to the seller since I bought the car for that reason unlike yr intuition. He said he replaced the engine with one that only had 68k miles whereas the one pulled out had 214K miles.

look on google for a free VIN decoder it will tell you where the car was made, year, what engine was in it theres a serial # on all engines, try and research where the # is located on the engine, then try and find it on your engine and see if it matches up.