Mazda5 Engine swap (2012-2015)

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So, I might've missed it, but I saw that the Duratec is a drop in replacement on the older Mazda5s, but I haven't been able to determine for sure that Ford bits will fit in the last generation.

What I'm trying to figure out is if the drivetrain from the Ford Focus Electric could bolt in up front in the Mazda5. I imagine that if any of the Focus or Fusion engines from the second generation C1 platform fit then the EV stack would.

I did see people have used the e-Focus motor mounts, so that's promising, but it's unclear to me if the mount points on the chassis (fine, unibody) line up. I know the engine was different in the US version of the Mazda5 between generations. Did the engine mounts stay in the same spot or move? That might be enough to go on?

I realize I'll need to find a home for the batteries and deal with wiring hell, but one problem at a time as I contemplate this project...
 
The Mazda 3 forum has a few detail threads on a 2.5 Duratec swap. IIRC, it is mostly a drop in (a few parts need to swap over) and great option for 1gen (2.0 and 2.3) to gain a little more power/displacement for cheap. All 3 Ford motor mounts have a different design but I believe the placement is the same.

Looks like you are researching a Ford EV swap. I'd suggest looking to see if a Focus/Fusion Duratec to EV swap has been done before. Overall, I don't think the fitment/space is the issue (yay for platform sharing); electrical is usually the hurdle. I think the Ford hybrid motor is a perfect match for the Mz5. Do you have a doner car?
 
Thanks for that thread! I'd seen references to it working, but not a detailed writeup like that one. Looking a bit more into the 2012-2015 motor options, it seems the 2.5L is just a bored and stroked version of the 2.3L in the earlier 5 and 3, so I would assume that the motor mount positions are therefore the same in both generations of the Mazda5 that came to the US.

There are several Focuses with the 2.5L from the Fusion and Escape (same as the Mazda block), so that tells me the 3 and 5 have the same motor mount positions as the Focus. Since the Focus EV was a compliance car, my understanding is that Ford did the bare minimum to turn it into an EV, so I'm 90% certain those are the same mounting positions, but I'll see if I can find someone who did a swap of the EV into another Ford as you suggested. So far I haven't found any EV conversions using the FFE as a basis, unfortunately.

I don't have a Mazda5 or Focus EV yet, but I've been keeping an eye on the auto auction sites and local ads to get an idea of what they're going for right now to get a feel for what I'm looking at for overall costs. I'd probably get a working Mazda5 first to drive around a bit and make sure I like it before I did the conversion, but I've got a toddler and am looking for something with sliding doors that isn't much bigger than my Impreza which pretty much leaves the Mazda5 here in the US.

My plan for the swap would be to gut the Focus for all the wiring, etc. to minimize the amount of integration I had to do. I think I could mod the dash to fit the Focus bits easier than I could troubleshoot issues with CANbus etc.
 
If I'm hearing you correctly, you want to swap the Focus Electric drivetrain into a MZ5.

The chance of getting a Ford PCM to play nice with a Mazda BCM is somewhere right between slim and none. Not even a Mazdaspeed PCM wants to talk to a Mazda BCM. Car and Driver magazine tried to make a Mazdaspeed5 by taking the drivetrain out of a MS3 and dropping it into a MZ5, and even with all of those resources at their disposal couldn't really pull it off. It was hacked together and while yes they did manage to get it to run, it never really worked correctly.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but what I think you're trying to do here would take an act of God to pull off. Not saying it's not possible. There's no such thing as "can't", but woah. You have better be good. Real good.
 
theblooms said:
If I'm hearing you correctly, you want to swap the Focus Electric drivetrain into a MZ5.

The chance of getting a Ford PCM to play nice with a Mazda BCM is somewhere right between slim and none. Not even a Mazdaspeed PCM wants to talk to a Mazda BCM. Car and Driver magazine tried to make a Mazdaspeed5 by taking the drivetrain out of a MS3 and dropping it into a MZ5, and even with all of those resources at their disposal couldn't really pull it off. It was hacked together and while yes they did manage to get it to run, it never really worked correctly.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but what I think you're trying to do here would take an act of God to pull off. Not saying it's not possible. There's no such thing as "can't", but woah. You have better be good. Real good.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I read the stuff on the Boss Wagon which is one reason why I was going to rip out all the electrical from the Mazda and replace it with Ford bits (drivetrain, wiring harness, dash pod, radio, etc.).
 
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