How to tell the difference between a Pi 4.6 and non Pi 4.6 / difference in 4.6 engines?

[Farmstad]

I was looking for a 8.8 rear end for my 1994 302 swapped mustang and a wrecker yard I called showed me this car. Is a 1995 v6 from the vins but it has a 4.6 in it. Sadly I still don’t know if it has the 8.8 lol but I was wondering if anyone could tell me what 4.6 this is. Thanks if you can help and hopefully you can see the picture. Who knows might be worth picking up the car if it’s not seized or something else wrong if I can get the car for cheap.

 

[v8stang289]

Hard to tell for sure with those pictures since the main differences are the intake(that is mostly obscured) and the heads(internal/port changes)
But I would say it's most likely non-PI since it has the 2 coil packs mounted at the fronts of the heads like they used in 96-98.
Coil on Plug started in 99 with the PI engines. Not to say you cant run those coils on a PI engine, but the most likely scenario would be swapping all of it over from another car.

 

[Farmstad]

Thought it looked like a non Pi as well but I thought I would ask. Wasn’t there a extra sensor on the coolant crossover on the Pi as well?

 

[v8stang289]

Thought it looked like a non Pi as well but I thought I would ask. Wasn’t there a extra sensor on the coolant crossover on the Pi as well?

Non-PI has 2, one beside the thermostat housing and one on the other side of the crossover by the passenger head. Normally PI only has the Passenger side one.

 

[COramprat]

You should be able to see the intake runners behind the alternator. If they are deep into the "V" it's a PI. The shallow runners is non-PI...unless it was swapped...but that would be rare.

 

[Cammed f1fitty]

Where the intake manifold bolts on is a good place to check as well. The pi head port is larger than the non pi head port. You can see where the design looks like it slightly restricts flow.