GT500 Engine Dating

[Necrotizing]

Hello everyone,

Hopefully I'm posting this in the right place. I pondered posting it in the "Ask a SVT Tech" part of the forum, however I think my question is better suited here.

I have been Googling how to date an engine from Ford, on more than one occasion, for a couple of hours. I find alot of information on dating older engines or using the sticker at the door jam. However I do not see anything pertaining to the sticker on the engine alone. So if this has been covered before, then by all means point out my incompetence and kindly directly me to a thread/article concerning the topic.

Now I bought a GT500 drivetrain back in November. I was told that the engine had came out of a 2011 GT500. Before anyone asks, no the car wasn't there. I was shown a picture while picking it up from the gentleman, but I didn't get a great look. So here are my concerns.

For one, the valve covers are black. I was under the impression that all 2010+ GT500's came with the blue valve covers. I had a friend say that black GT500's came with black valve covers. I have no clue. I don't know how that holds up to facts. I honestly have not even looked at pictures on Google for a black 2010+ with black valve covers.

Secondly, the supercharger is not black. The supercharger is unfinished/silver. Once again, I was under the impression that stock black superchargers were on GT500's 2009 and before.

With these two things said, I would move on to the proverbial elephant in the room; the engine block. A magnet took to the block. Correct me if I am wrong, but this should be the big red flag that the engine is 2010 or newer, should it not?

So from here, I know the following;
Iron block
Black valve covers
Unfinished supercharger (not black)

The next thing to consider is the sticker on the engine. If I am correct, then the numbers 010609 refer to the assembly date. So I would think my engine had final assembly on June 1, 2009. Looking at other stickers on engines which are on eBay, I see stickers with dates different from the year than the car the assemblies were said to be pulled from.

In conclusion, to avoid being redundant, can anyone shed some light on the sticker and process which engines are assigned to their chassis? For example, is it possible or common for Ford to have engines from past years and put them in newer chassis? I suspect this engine could have been old-new stock from 2009 and put into a 2010. This is judging from the supercharger and what I think is the date on the sticker. I don't understand why someone would swap a 2010-2012 supercharger on a 2007-2009 motor unless it failed considering I believe 2013 was when the TVS started being used on the 5.8. Then again, maybe my deductive reasoning is horrible.

For anyone that took the time to read this and for those who may be able to help out, I appreciate it.

 

[MastaAce03]

Sounds like you already know what's going on. 07-10 Iron block , black valve covers, black super charger. 11-14, aluminum block, blue valve covers and silver super charger. Of course the 13-14 came with the TVS. Sounds like you didn't get what was described.


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[Necrotizing]

Sounds like you already know what's going on. 07-10 Iron block , black valve covers, black super charger. 11-14, aluminum block, blue valve covers and silver super charger. Of course the 13-14 came with the TVS. Sounds like you didn't get what was described.


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So what are your views as far as the supercharger being silver instead of black? I could see the valve covers or the supercharger being swapped. At this point I'm more curious if I have a 2010 or 2009 engine. I knew I didn't have a 2011 as soon as I put a magnet on it. I actually prefer the iron block. However I would still like to know how to decipher the sticker on the engine if anyone knows.

For instance, here is a link to an engine that a man on eBay is selling. If you look at the sticker in the picture you'll see 260608 as the date. The description reads that it was pulled from a 2009.

Now this picture displays the date as 170407.

You would expect this to be pulled from a 2008 if we were to follow the path that the engine pictured before hand was from a 2009 and dated as assembled in 2008. However the description reads that the latter pictured engine was from a 2007 as well as assembled in 2007.

So with me winding and proofreading my post before posting it. I just realized you said the black valve covers were from 2007-2010. Thanks for the correction since I thought they only went until 2009. I'm just trying to figure it out because I like to know what I have. I am not trying to pull a diamond out of the rough. I was excited when the magnet stuck. The supercharger intrigues me though.

 

[Sonic 03 Cobra]

An engine built on 6/09 would have gone into a 2010MY. 2011 was the first year for the aluminum block. I think you have a 2010 5.4 that someone swapped a later supercharger onto. This could mean it was modded and returned to stock, and the owner had sold his stock unit, could mean it was replaced under warrantee for a defect, or someone just liked the look better.

 

[Catmonkey]

I'm thinking REP means replacement. Might have come out of a 2011, but someone had already replaced the engine with the iron block. That would explain the silver supercharger.

 

[rotor_powerd]

Sounds like you have an 07-10 engine with a 11-12 blower on it, or someone just painted a 07-10 blower silver.

 

[Necrotizing]

An engine built on 6/09 would have gone into a 2010MY. 2011 was the first year for the aluminum block. I think you have a 2010 5.4 that someone swapped a later supercharger onto. This could mean it was modded and returned to stock, and the owner had sold his stock unit, could mean it was replaced under warrantee for a defect, or someone just liked the look better.

I don't know why I didn't think of someone using an aftermarket supercharger and replacing it with a stock one before selling. Told you I was incompetent!

I'm thinking REP means replacement. Might have come out of a 2011, but someone had already replaced the engine with the iron block. That would explain the silver supercharger.

The REP is on every GT500 engine I've seen, so I think it is more likely that it is a 2010 and someone put a stock 2011-2012 stock unit on it because they had previously had an aftermarket unit on it. That does make the most sense to me



Thank you everyone that has replied.

 

[Catmonkey]

The REP is on every GT500 engine I've seen, so I think it is more likely that it is a 2010 and someone put a stock 2011-2012 stock unit on it because they had previously had an aftermarket unit on it. That does make the most sense to me.

You're right. Just looked at my tag and it starts with "REP".

 

[Aaron175617]

well if you really want to date a gt500 engine then just ask her out. maybe take her to ...some Saturday night drags or something like that, or a lube shop. Sure a lot of fun thata way. You could also take her to the Saturday night vett demolition derby down over there at the county fair grounds. That always a real good time. one time, when I was young I took a lil 289 to fishing hole at the lake. I tell you what that was a real hoot. then we went over to the drive in burger joint and she was getting all kind of attention from the other small blocks. they was asking her "what you doin with the that big block over there?" well that many long story. just be strong man. (lol I been drinking)

 

[Catmonkey]

I know this was posted a while back, but I came across info in my Ford service manual to decipher the code. REP stands for Romeo Engine Plant, btw. The second set of numbers in the second row is a date code. It's DD/MM/YY. My code is 120711, which would be July 12, 2011. My 2012 GT500 was built in late July 2011.

 

[Snoopy49]

My 2013 engine was dated 191212 Dec 19, 2012. Normally I would be a little worried about an engine built 2 days before a Christmas Holliday, but this engine must be an exception, runs great and no leaks after 4 1/2 years.