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Remanufactured Ford 2.3L L4 Engine - Tempo; Mercury Topaz
2.3L · L4 · Part DFF2
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We'll confirm availability and your price on this remanufactured engine — warrantied, with a refundable core.
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4-year no-fault nationwide warranty — includedOn gas engines in non-commercial use, at no extra charge. The builder’s standard cover is 3 years, parts only. Every gas engine we sell includes the 4-year no-fault warranty with labour, at no extra charge.
- “No fault” means we do not investigate why it failed — if a covered engine fails inside the term, it is covered.
- Labour is paid up to CAD $95.00 per hour — a cap on the rate, not a flat payout — and only for the remove-and-replace hours in the Mitchell labour guide. Diagnostic time is covered up to 2 hours, and fluids up to CAD $200.00. Towing and a rental car are not covered. Anything not listed here needs to be agreed with us before the work starts.
- The 4 years start the day the engine is installed, and a claim needs proof that a professional shop installed it.
- Unlimited kilometres, and no deductible.
- Call us before any warranty work starts, so we can authorise it. Labour paid on a repair we were not asked about first is not covered.
- A claim starts with a call to us. We file it with the manufacturer, and the manufacturer pays it.
Diesel engines, and engines put into commercial service, are not covered by this 4-year warranty — the terms vary by engine, so call us for the terms on the unit you’re pricing.
Fits
- Ford Tempo 1992–1994 · 2.3L L4
Not sure it fits? Call (780) 473-2424 with your VIN and we'll confirm.
4-year warranty included
Refundable core
Ships Canada-wide
Engine guide
Ford HSC 2.3L Four (High Swirl Combustion)
Also known as: HSC, High Swirl Combustion, 2.3 HSC, Tempo 2.3, 2.5 HSC
Overview & history
The HSC is one of the more unusual engines Ford built in the 1980s, and its origin explains why. When Ford needed a cheap four-cylinder for the 1984 Tempo and Mercury Topaz, rather than adapting the overhead-cam Lima four it already had, it took the venerable 200-cubic-inch Thriftpower inline six, removed two cylinders and reworked the result into a 2.3-litre four. The HSC name — High Swirl Combustion — refers to the cylinder head design, which used shrouded intake ports to spin the incoming charge and improve combustion of lean mixtures. The result was a pushrod, two-valve, iron engine that was old-fashioned even when new, but was cheap, compact and adequately torquey for a small front-drive sedan. It served the Tempo and Topaz for their entire production run, along with a 2.5-litre version, and disappeared when those cars were replaced by the Contour and Mystique in 1995. The critical point for parts: this is not the Lima 2.3, despite sharing a displacement.
Specs & engineering
- •Cast-iron block and cast-iron head, pushrod OHV with two valves per cylinder.
- •Derived directly from the Ford 200 cubic-inch inline six with two cylinders removed.
- •High Swirl Combustion head design uses shrouded intake ports to induce charge swirl.
- •Displacement is 2.3L; a 2.5-litre version was also produced for the same cars.
- •Output was roughly 86-100 hp depending on year and fuel system.
- •Shares nothing with the overhead-cam Lima 2.3 — different block, head, valvetrain and mounting.
Generations & variants
- •2.3L HSC (1984-1994): the standard engine in the Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz.
- •2.5L HSC (1986-1994): a larger-displacement version offered in the same cars.
- •A high-output HSO variant was offered in sportier Tempo trims.
Vehicles it powered
- •Ford Tempo (1984-1994)
- •Mercury Topaz (1984-1994)
Did you know?
- ★The HSC is a Ford inline six with two cylinders cut off — a rare case of a four-cylinder being derived from a six rather than the other way around.
- ★Ford sold two unrelated 2.3-litre four-cylinders through the late 1980s: the overhead-cam Lima in the Ranger and Mustang, and this pushrod HSC in the Tempo.
Sources: [1]