Weekend oil change...bummer

[mikefocke]

There is a reason used motors have one price and totally rebuilt with "improved" parts and then tested engines have a completely different price. The gap can be $25k!!!

There is no sure thing especially with a used engine, you are relying on a few tests, the reputation of the seller, and any forum info on the seller that you can get. There are people who sell failed engines, even ones that put new IMSs into failed engines and then sell the engines or cars as if they are cured. People lie and cheat, sadly.

OTOH, the engine from my crashed '99 would have been a perfect donor engine. But how to know?

Questions I'd ask:
Why was the engine available? Crash, flood, swap?
Was it running when removed from the donor car?
Have you pulled and inspected both the filter and sump and what were the results?
Have you done a compression test and/or a leakdown test? Results?
Have you inspected the IMS area and is there any sign the IMS is not the one the car came with?
Have you made any changes/improvements to the engine? What?
What accessories are original to the engine and still attached?
Cost delivered to my door?
Warranty?

You can buy any engine and have a failure a week later, a year later or never.

[dsallean]

Originally Posted by mikefocke

There is a reason used motors have one price and totally rebuilt with "improved" parts and then tested engines have a completely different price. The gap can be $25k!!!

There is no sure thing especially with a used engine, you are relying on a few tests, the reputation of the seller, and any forum info on the seller that you can get. There are people who sell failed engines, even ones that put new IMSs into failed engines and then sell the engines or cars as if they are cured. People lie and cheat, sadly.

OTOH, the engine from my crashed '99 would have been a perfect donor engine. But how to know?

Questions I'd ask:
Why was the engine available? Crash, flood, swap?
Was it running when removed from the donor car?
Have you pulled and inspected both the filter and sump and what were the results?
Have you done a compression test and/or a leakdown test? Results?
Have you inspected the IMS area and is there any sign the IMS is not the one the car came with?
Have you made any changes/improvements to the engine? What?
What accessories are original to the engine and still attached?
Cost delivered to my door?
Warranty?

You can buy any engine and have a failure a week later, a year later or never.

mikefocke thanks so much for the insight. Good questions to ask. While I would ideally prefer some guarantee that whatever engine I end up spending thousands of dollars to buy is in perfect shape in the end I must do my due diligence and remember its my responsibility to do so. Buyer beware as they say.