block ID numbers in 505 TDs

Anup Pahari (apahari@erols.com)
Thu, 13 May 1999 23:30:32 -0400

I am shopping for a good xd3t engine and in my quest i have come across
a yard that has an engine it claims is from an 86 505 TD. The yardman
says it is a 2.5 TD. Trouble is, the block Id number begins with a 147
rather than a 152. Now my understanding was that anything that said 147
had to be an xd2 engine, hence a 2.3 not a 2.5 TD. But today I called a
mechanic by the name of Norbert Zachmann ( another German French car
lover) who made a very interesting point. He claims that on occasion
when it was short of the 152 blocks, Peugeot would rebore the 147 block
and put it into the 2.5 505 TDs. His point was that if this engine is
off an 86 5050TD then the block must be a 2.5 block and not a 2.3 block
even if the ID begins with a 147. When I told him that the head says
XD2, his response was that a lot of places will install an xd2 head on
an xd3 block just because the former are more plentiful. So in effect,
could still be an xd3 block.

How plausible does this theory sound? can people with 86 505 TDs please
check their block ID (on the top edge of the block to the left of the
oil filter housing) and verify what the first three digits are? this
might help resolve this quandry for me and others.

thanks

Anup Pahari