What are things you check when buying a 12v engine not in the truck?

smoken02

smoken02

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My buddy has a 12v engine I am thinking about buying. It’s complete and supposedly ran when pulled. It has 300k miles on it. I’m already figuring on rebuilding it. I’m just wondering what if anything I should look for that might be a deal breaker. I’ll check for popped freeze plugs indicating it froze sitting there and could have a cracked block. Anything else I should check?
 
Did he pull it or did he get it from someone else already pulled?
If you can pressure test the cooling system, there's core plugs behind the tappet cover and I've seen a couple of blocks that were cracked in that location.
Unfortunately one isn't found until the engine had been completely rebuild and was in the truck running.
 
No he didn’t pull it. The guy that owned the truck pulled it with the trans when he bought it. I don’t think he heard it run so it’s a crap shoot on the condition. Also it’s been sitting in his shed for a year. Even if it ran fine when the guy pulled it. It could have froze and split sitting there.
 
Broken head bolts and a busted timing case are the first 2 things I think of

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Leaking hg at the front righ corner. Must make 8 full revolutions with no unusually tight points.

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Last block I looked at had silicon carefully smeared all over.

As easy as it is to pull injectors, I like to run a scope in all the cylinders.
 
smoken02 said:
No he didn’t pull it. The guy that owned the truck pulled it with the trans when he bought it. I don’t think he heard it run so it’s a crap shoot on the condition. Also it’s been sitting in his shed for a year. Even if it ran fine when the guy pulled it. It could have froze and split sitting there.
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I'd defiantly want to pressure test it, anything else you should find during tear down for the rebuild.
I'd want some type of agreement that if it has major issues you could get your $$ back.
 
I’m thinking about asking him if he will let me take it and tear it down. If it all checks out then I’ll pay him. If it’s bad it was no good to him anyway. I’ll just give him all the parts back.
 
It's a core engine as it sits.
I'd just offer him $600-$1000, if he takes it fine, if not walk away.
At those prices, you can justify a bad block and it's not worth any more unless you can hear it run, which can still mean nothing if the block is junk.
But a block or crank would be the least of my worries.
I toss 12 valve blocks and cranks in the iron, very slow movers.

Mark.
 
Glad I asked. Several suggestions in here I wouldn’t have thought of. Mark you put that value on it complete with injection pump, turbo and all?
 
Ask yourself what sells the best off this engine, is it there and does it look like it's not damaged and all complete?

The pump from a 160/175 engine is worth a minimum of $400 to me as a core, a 180/215 is at least $550.
Timing case, ~$100-$150.
Pump gear, S60-$100.
Oil lines and fittings to the pump(s) $65-$75.
Combo pumps, $125 and more.
Block adapters go from $75 to as high as $225 in some places.

Then, there's a myriad of other pieces that sell.

$1000 is a good buy in for a complete engine on the ground, that you can't hear run or inspect.
I always try to rotate them and listen for pops, clunks or snaps and I rotate it in BOTH directions, with quick starts to detect a rod bearing that's loose.

I've given more for "cores", but I'm usually confident it was a runner, and that the seller wasn't blowing sunshine up my ass. :D

If anything, the stuff that runs it is where the value is, the bottom end is irrelevant, when viewing from a parts value standpoint.

Mark.
 
Oh, if it's not out of a DODGE PICK-UP, value is seriously affected, as the fuel system isn't as desirable.

Mark.
 
Ok good to know. I do know it’s out of a dodge truck for sure. It still has the trans bolted to it but it’s no good to me since it’s 2wd.
 
If it's all complete still, and on some kind of stand. Just rig some cables to the starter, and splice on a fuel line and crank it up. If it has minimal blow by, your good to go.
 
jasonc said:
If it's all complete still, and on some kind of stand. Just rig some cables to the starter, and splice on a fuel line and crank it up. If it has minimal blow by, your good to go.
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Generally speaking, you're correct, however, the 1998 12 valve truck I am driving is a different scenario.
Very, very little blowby when idling, but blows oil out the vent and will blue smoke out the exhaust when I nail it hard, down the road.
It's all fine at idle and revving it, fires right up, even on 15* days, so it has compression.
Only thing I can think of causing it to do this is well-worn rings and guides.

Yet, it hazes very little out of the oil filler at idle.

I'll be glad when I finally tear that POS engine apart. :D

Mark.
 
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