2007 Mazda5 2.3L engine, possibly terminal - Options?

Hi all - My Mazda5 could have terminal engine issues. If that is the case (still seeing what the mechanic says), I was considering looking for a used engine to swap out. My questions revolve around what is the latest model engine can I acquire that would fit in with little or no ancillary differences. In other words, what is the latest engine that the mechanic could drop in without any differences that he could not handle. This would not be a Mazda specialist, but a neighborhood mechanic private shop.

Apologies if this is an open ended sort of question. I realize may people can make almost any engine work. I myself have swapped engines in other makes of cars and made numerous changes to get it to fit.

I know Mazda3 and 5 have the same engine, but don't know of any significant changes from 2007 onward. Given that finding the exact 2007 model engine could be challenging and a later model would likely have fewer miles on it, it makes sense to try and find the latest engine that would fit.

Thanks,
Stefano
Concord, CA
 
Thanks for the response - MZ5wagon. That is what I suspected from the general engine specs of these two cars. I just wasn't sure if there were any computer or accessory changes that would make a replacement not a straightforward change.

Thanks,
Stefano
Concord, CA
 
If you call your local scrap yard for some pricing and stuff they will list right on their computer screen, which engines out of which cars will work for yours.
 
Good news. Engine is not dead. Mechanic is incompetent. I changed the plugs and it runs fine. I did forget when I last changed the plugs, so bad on me for that. But some people just want to take your money. Sometimes you just gotta do it yourself.
 
Good news. Engine is not dead. Mechanic is incompetent. I changed the plugs and it runs fine. I did forget when I last changed the plugs, so bad on me for that. But some people just want to take your money. Sometimes you just gotta do it yourself.
Wow, dead engine to just changing plugs. What were the symptoms and how many miles on your 5?
 
The car has 180K on it. I changed the 1st set of plugs around 100K. I had not even been thinking of the plugs lately. The car had been a little hard to start from about 165K, but it always fired up after a little coaxing of the pedal. I went through a couple things I thought would cause that, PCV valve at 170K, and recently the EGR valve since the engine code was suggesting that. The mechanic was working on the AC system since I did not want to touch that and he said he could no longer even start the car. He did some preliminary checks and said the car was not getting any compression and thought it could be serious. I towed the car home and did my own checks and pulled the plugs. They looked horrible and way too open. I cleaned them and re-gapped them and the car fired up. Got a brand new set and the car hums and does not skip a beat when starting. "1/4 turn" as they say.
 
If they looked bad, something else is not right. Hopefully the regapping will fix the issue. I would pull one of the worst looking ones after about 10k and see if it's beginning to foul again.
 
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