ok, time to clear this up again....
There is no "2.5L pan", "3.0L pan", or "Escape pan".
There are the following 3 pan setups:
1) Unique pan for 3.0L Taurus only due to packaging differences.
2) Unique pans for Jaguars & Lincoln LS. Completely different so don't even ask if they'll fit.
3) Oil pan shared by everything else including Contour, Mystique, Cougar, Mondeo, Escape, Mazda6, and Mazda MPV. So some of these are 2.5L and some are 3.0L. Got it?
The Taurus pan will have part number on it that starts with F5DE or F7DE. That's all you need to know. It's not worth the trouble of trying to mod it to work. Use your original or buy an improved pan.
The shared pan goes like this.
F53E, F73E, YL8E pans. Would work on newer engines but do not have improvements. No major functional differences.
2S7E pan. Added ribs to front of pan.
3M4E pan (3M4Z-6675-BA service number) Same as 2S7E but has improved baffle inside the pan for better drainback of oil to pickup.
5L8E pan (5L8Z-6675-AA service number). Same as 3M4E but has oil pan gasket integrated into the pan rail.
All of the improved pans above would fit on older Contours, Cougars, etc. The oil pan is independant of the pickup screen & windage tray. You don't have to run a old/new level pickup & windage tray with a old/new level pan because the location of the pickup in the pan has not changed.
However, to run the newer windage tray, you need to use the newer pickup with the newer bolts/studs. This is because the newer tray has different mounting points for the pickup. Don't try and just use your old studs and move them around to a different location. The newer studs have a different head thickness so you would change the clearance of the pickup to the bottom of the pan. So to summarize, don't mix old pickup, tray, and bolts with new. Go all old or all new.
