How to.check health of M96 when it's out of the car?
 

I have an M96 on a pallet. No history. How can I check its condition and suitability for installation?

pull sump to look for metal or plastic bits
have a look at the ims bearing
remove and check water pump impellar for missing blades
check for any signs of intermix
Leakdown test

Thats pretty much it. M96 is a crapshoot regardless of the above anyway.

get a borescope and look in the cyls - later m96 had piston slap and scoring issues that might be visible but not show in a leakdown.

I I agree with it's a crap shoot I have the motor from my car on a pallet good pump no leak down no dented in pan but motor had low oil pressure when hot . So how would one determine if rod and main bearing are shot without pulling motor apart ??

good point, forgot about failure mode 676.