Junkyard motors

[MadMatt5oh]

Ive been looking for an engine for my car due to a knock it has at start ups.

Ive been finding compression ratios of 145-150 across with oil of 60psi (-listed that way anyway)

Prices range from 450 to 800 in the midwest for these motors.

What are the advisable specs these motors should have if Im looking to HCI the motor within a year?

 

[MadMatt5oh]

Oh,if anyone knows of a better search engine or method for getting good cheap motors let me know!

 

[drgn5.0]

try car-parts.com

 

[Ray III]

you're measuring cylinder cranking compression; compresion ratio is the ratio of the cylinder volume when the piston is at top to when piston is at bottom.

$450 for a junkyard engine to replace an engine with a $200 problem... I'll never understand the reasoning behind folks doing that. Why dontcha find out what's wrong with your motor first? Does it make any noise when you turn it by hand when it's cold?

 

[jrichker]

Here's a thought...

buy your junkyard engine (cheap as possible) and then use your old engine to build up the fresh engine with the H/C/I combo. That way you can do a little at a time according to what you have in your wallet for money & avaiable time.

 

[87'GTstang]

I'm sketchy on junkyard products concerning such important parts as an entire engine. You don't know the past life it has lead, how long it has been sitting, if anything seized up or rusted shut - just too risky. Find out what problem your engine has before you put yourself through all the hassle.

 

[RYC CUKR]

I am still kinda on the fence about junkyard motors but if you do decide to go with a junkyard motor there are two things that I would definitely replace. Those would be the timing chain and the oil pump.

 

[MadMatt5oh]

Im considering buying an 2000 explorer motor and using as much as I can including the oil cooler

 

[MadMatt5oh]

you're measuring cylinder cranking compression; compresion ratio is the ratio of the cylinder volume when the piston is at top to when piston is at bottom.

$450 for a junkyard engine to replace an engine with a $200 problem... I'll never understand the reasoning behind folks doing that. Why dontcha find out what's wrong with your motor first? Does it make any noise when you turn it by hand when it's cold?

Thats a very good point Ray! Im unsure whats wrong with the motor. It has a knock coming from the lower end at some dry startups. It doesnt do it all the time. It has been getting worse! Its a nice motor or its trade in time for a jacked up truck!

 

[ratrapp]

it's always best but not always possible to hear a motor run before purchasing it.i bought a used 90marquis motor for my stang because all the truck and ho motors have been long bought up.it was a bad mistake,the motor has little oil pressure and blows the dipstick out at high rpms,and this was after i put in a complete gasket set,cam,oil pump, and timing chain set.the motor does run so i can atleast drive it until i can afford to buy a new motor.

 

[87'GTstang]

knocks on the bottom end are usually worn out bearings or lack there of on the crankshaft where the connecting rods attatch. - open her up man.........

 

[dude5l]

Knocking at start up and then going away is usually piston slap.

 

[MadMatt5oh]

Piston slap? What exactly is that? Am I hitting the cylinder walls with the piston tops?

I thought for sure it was a main bearing problem.
Then an oil pump problem because it doesnt do it all the time.

I'd hate to raise the car up and check the bearings from underneath because I dont have a engine hoist but that was the way I would do it. If it was DEFINATELY a matter of swapping in new bearings then I might. But it isnt

 

[87'GTstang]

Knocking at start up and then going away is usually piston slap.

True, that is the time it does it the most. But it doesn't completely go away. If it does in fact come from the bottom end, then it should be the bearings. Piston slap doesn 't just go away completely though, it should also be worse with rpms in the lower range. However though it does happen to go away a little more as oil pressure builds up. It does sound like piston slap - try to make sure where it truly is comeing from, you may just think its the bottom end.

If it is piston slap, so you know, it's a condition that happens when too much wear has happened in the cylinder walls and clearances get larger so it allows a piston to "wobble" within its bore. Theres little you can do usually due to mainly clearance can be too large sometimes but overboring can bring it back to spec as well as the use of over-sized pistons. The downside is all that wobbling in the bore can sometimes call scarring on the walls - which is a problem very hard to get rid of. Good luck on your search - whatever it leads to!

 

[93-331-29psi]

I had a similar problem with blowing the dipstick out at high rpms. Found later that the intake gaskets were not the right ones. Replaced them and she run fine.

 

[Ray III]

what oil filter are you using? If it has poor oil anti-drainback then you will have dry starts... if you can really hear some banging around in there something is probably already wore out but I know NAPA Gold filters are good if you wanna try one.