NorCalQX4 Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 My 2001 QX4 has a leaking head gasket and I decided to do an engine swap. I made the rounds of the salvage yards today looking at used engines. At the yards which had my engine, every one of the yards were out and out lying about the actual mileage on the engine. They all gave me the VIN numbers of the cars that the engines came out of and I ran Carfax reports on the cars standing in front of them. One of the engines was advertised as having 117K miles and the Carfax report showed the last mileage reported was 250K miles!! Now, I'm wondering if I can even find an "honest" engine to have any confidence in at all in doing a swap (that I can actually afford). I don't have the money to buy a JDM engine, I just would like to find a used engine that I can bank on having some miles left--maybe one with 150K. Has anyone had good luck with a salvage yard that they trust for giving them truthful info about used engines? I'm in northern California, but would pay to have it shipped if I can trust the mileage and the price is reasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltaR50 Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 what part of norcal are you in? theres couple of sale in local craiglist jdm vq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorCalQX4 Posted August 3, 2016 Author Share Posted August 3, 2016 what part of norcal are you in? theres couple of sale in local craiglist jdm vq Thanks, I actually found one on Ebay where the seller included an AutoCheck report for the car that documented the mileage (106K), so I purchased the engine. He also had 100% feedback and a lot of good comments, so I will keep my fingers crossed that the deal works out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltaR50 Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 how much it cost u Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorCalQX4 Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 (edited) $1100 FOB to freight terminal in Sacramento. I have to pick it up there. The local yards were all around $1200 for their misrepresented mileage engines. Edited August 6, 2016 by NorCalQX4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorCalQX4 Posted September 14, 2016 Author Share Posted September 14, 2016 Just to update, the new (used) ebay engine was installed and runs great. Based on a lot of reading on this and the NICO forums, I also purchased and had the following OEM items installed: Front and rear main seals Spark Plugs Valve cover gaskets and spark plug seals All of the plenum gaskets Water Control Valve PCV valve Besides solving the head gasket issue, it is soooooo nice to have absolutely no oil leaking on my driveway. After some serious thinking about it and my wife basically forbidding me to do it, I decided to let a trusted shop do the work. Maybe 20 years ago I would have attempted the job, but a really sharp young kid did the swap and he knew what he as doing and I'm now really glad I let him do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuong Nguyen Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 What about that knock sensor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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