Used Engine questions

[CivilEGR]

My M1008 has a bad cylinder and I need a replacement. I'm not looking to upgrade or rebuild at the moment, but I do want to get my truck up and running again sooner than later.

My question is, what should I look for in a used engine? What red flags in particular?

 

[cucvmule]

What is the problem with the bad cylinder? Can the cylinder be repaired opposed to engine replacement?

Hear engine running, or purchase from reputable vender. Although I bought local running in truck engine for 400.00, and broke it down for grins to replace gaskets and seen that it was a recent rebuild, lucky, spent money on bolts and rebuild set gaskets and assembled.

Have a backup replacement in a can for when timing is everything.

 

[CivilEGR]

What is the problem with the bad cylinder? Can the cylinder be repaired opposed to engine replacement?

There's likely a hole in a piston. 0 psi and there's diesel in the oil. If I rebuild this engine, I'll need to take it out plus the down time of working on it. Not to mention a rebuild kit is likely $1,000 whereas I've found a take-out engine from someone upgrading to a big block for $350.

 

[cucvmule]

Piston replacement not a big deal, but the 0 oil pressure is. Maybe not a readily repaired engine but a possible core for later, inspect for cracks.

Looking for easy good engine on the cheap, well be wary. They are out there but are being harder to find. Call local salvage yard first and at least it will be a runner with some kind of bring back for rotten engine. You can go from 400.00 used to 10,000 for new.

 

[cucvmule]

Up in Motor City I bet you can find a good replacement in town easily.

I take valve cover off, check for any kind of sludge, make sure it is fairly clean. Look at rockers and springs for breakage.

Harmonic balancer for outer ring movement, and check for timing chain looseness by rotating balancer back and forth looking at rockers for rockers lagging. May also have to pull glow plugs for inspection, (new ones can cost you another 70 to 80 bucks) because of compression to check.

Also just depends on seller giving you the time and if you do your due diligence.