Used Engines

[infiniphonic]

This is my first post and I thought I would start out with a bang. Three days ago I was driving my pathfinder ( white, 1991, 5spd, VG30E, 230,000mi, and a little rust ) and the timing belt just up and decided to break. Now the engine is more expensive to fix than a used replacement engine would be to purchase. I have never replaced an entire engine by myself before, but have the luck of the girlfriends dad ( ex military machine shop/mechanicical instructor ) to help out. I have looked at many engines on the internet, mostly on car-parts.com. As i am not the most knowledgeble mechanic, does anybody have any advice as to what the "right" questions would be to ask when i am calling around and trying to find a decent used engine?

[Cuong Nguyen]

i usually ask about the mileage, and what all comes with it, warranty, and compression testing

[solid snake]

Yeah, ask about milage, compression testing, what components were replaced, (especially T-belt), if there are any gaskets that need to be replaced and most importantly, warranty

 

BTW welcome to the board

Edited May 11, 2006 by solid snake

[Slick]

i don't know your location.. but i called N.O.W. (Nissan Only Wreckers) in rancho cordova and the first questions i asked were:

year of pathy motor is from?

mileage?

is it a VG30E? (i actually got a VG30i but all the difference is the intakes)

why do you have it? what's wrong with it?

what kind of warranty will you give me? (i got a 6 month warranty)

was it running when pulled?

what does it come with (i.e. brackets/a/c or alternator/ps/etc)? (beware.. if it comes with the intake and "everything".. check to see if they left the fuel injection rail on it..sneaky bastids)

 

to see the motor first would be a life saver. but looks can be deceiving as i well know..lol... anyhoo.. the best attack is to not appear "ignorant" or "unknowledgeable".. because they will smell a sucker a mile away. even if you don't know anything.. ACT LIKE IT if you can.

ask around in your area who has bought stuff from places you are shopping at.. word of mouth is golden.

depending on how badly your motor got damaged is to what you really need.. if it didn't kaboom everything and just bent a few valves.. you may get away with just a set of heads.. tho for the price some charge for heads.. you could get a whole motor n have spare parts.

it depends on your location, budget, skill level and time. shop around. it could save you hundreds

 

oh... and welcome to NPORA!! -bounce-

 

oh yeah.. i also asked abotu compression test and they said it had been tested.... i think NOT. but it's a good motor and runs strong.. (it has 170,000 mi on it)

 

oh yeah.. i was fortunate enuff to get the pathy that my motor was a donor from i got the VIN # and a super cool NPORA member ran the VIN for me n gave me the full report

Edited May 11, 2006 by Slick

[89pathy4x4]

wow! where to start on this one... I have been researching engine options for a WHILE...as my pathy is goin on 240k and the engine is getting tired. There are MANY options for you!

 

-any vg30i will be a direct replacement..they put them in maximas, quest vans, etc

 

-a vg30i would also work, if you swapped the intake manifold

 

-the trick setup is a low mileage vg33 (also from the maxima, xterra, etc) but theres some extra work involved in making your current accessories mount because of the crank pulley thats different.

 

If I had my way (and it's probably the way I will do it) Get a complete vg33 engine from a Frontier or Xterra with accessories + exhaust manifolds and get to work making everything hook up.

[MaximumHP]

I agree asking about compression is important. It's about the best way to know if the guts of the engine are in good working order. If you at least ask and they say it's OK, and you get it home and it's not, you at least have a leg to stand on that they didn't deliver what they said. Even a short warranty is nice so you at least have the piece of mind that if the engine is junk, you have something to fall back on. Plus they won't want to deal with an engine coming back, so they will be sure it's decent if it comes with a warranty.

[89pathy4x4]

Most used parts places will actually run an engine before they try and sell the thing....they just don't yank one out, pronounce it a "good" engine and call it a day....there is too much hassle involved in returning bad motors. Deal with a reputable dealer, ask the pertinant questions and it will be fine.

[unccpathfinder]

but have the luck of the girlfriends dad ( ex military machine shop/mechanicical instructor ) to help out

 

thats a good thing right there...when i broke my t belt the gf at the time her dad was a cw5 pilot/mechanic since the army really doenst have pilots...

 

out of all honesty depending on the conditions u were driving under and whether or not it is automatic or manual u could prob do a top half rebuild a lot cheaper and less time than a full swap...i know we just pulled my heads to see what the deal was and saw no piston damage except for 2 marks where the valves hit in #1 and #3 so we replaced all the valves and got a top half gasket kit and had it runnin in 2 days with misordered parts (gave us a 1 day overlay)...

 

i can say if it were me personally i would check the damage in the motor 1st then go from there unless u have the time and $ to do the swap

 

i broke my belt going up hill at about 50mph and hit the clutch as soon as it died

 

but good luck with whatever u do