Advice on buying junkyard engines?

-
jcwren

jcwren

FABO Gold Member
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2019
Messages
53
Reaction score
22
Location
Clarkesville, GA
I've never bought a junkyard engine before. I actually need two engines, a 5.9L Magnum that will go in my '71 Dart, and a 4.2L V6 for a '97 Ford F-150 that blew up. While I expect to do a little freshening up on one, I don't want to need to do a full valve job, new rings and bearings, line boring the crank or cam bearings, etc. The goal is not to buy a $600 engine so I can sink $4000 more into it.

How do you avoid buying a piece of trash? I've seen these used engine and transmission wholesalers on Farcebook Marketplace and have no idea how good or bad they are. I also know some junk yards are pull your own, while others sell pre-pulled engines. I'm not adverse to paying a little more for an engine that's been compression and/or leak-down tested or comes with some kind of warranty. There are also some things that I'd consider to be obvious like not buying an engine with 200K on it, one from a car that had a hard front-end hit, little things like that.

I'm reasonably sure I don't want to go with a pull-it-yourself option, as I'd literally be doing it by myself. I'm not into crawling around in the dirt and mud to get it out, and having back issues doesn't help.

I'd love to hear other people's advice and experiences on buying from wholesalers and junkyards, and what you do to make sure you're not buying scrap metal.
 
If you can't hear it run, yake it part and look it over and have machine shop check it out, for my $ it is a ore. We know what a core may or may not require.

Years ago when I lived in Mo.and I knew so many Mopar guys ( guys that had been in the hobby for years and wasn't trying to make a fast buck to buy more parts so that the young wife wouldn't scream about), I could always find a guy that had freshened an engine, ran it awhile and pulled it out of what ever and it sat in the corner of his garage.
 
Obviously check the oil for level and presence of water or fuel. If you have access to a borescope i would check each cylinder for wear.
Magnums are known for their low cylinder wear and you should still see cross hatching on a good one. Bring a plug wrench with you.
 
I"ve bought 4 engines from salvage sources. 2 came with 30 day warranty.
I borescope the cylinders. Pull a valve cover to look at the amount of sludge build up. Look for clues of abuse or hack maintenance.
The 2 engines with warranty; I installed them and drove it. Really didn't do much for prep.

3 of the engines were first run units with reported low mileage and look to be just that. I wasn't too concerned with them. I trust first run engines better than I do machine shops and I don't want to spend the money If I don't have too. Tear down and overhaul "just because" doesn't go well with me.

One of the engines was a "rebuilt" 318. I probably shouldn't have bought. It was a decent engine but, the cam was "wild".
The seller couldn't tell me the specs.
 
On the '97 Ford, did it hydraulically lock-up when it "blew-up"? Or rather, how did it "blow-up"? I ask only because of the known issues with the earlier 4.2's, and if this were mine, I'd try to find a later year engine and swap-over the accessories as necessary.

And as others have stated, it would be preferable to hear it run before putting down the cash.
 
Last edited:
My experience has been the best junk yard pulls are the ones that have a real good warranty and cost more. My salvager is connected nationally and sells parts pulled at other yards which gives one a larger pool of parts to choose from. Also ask if they have an extended warranty. In my opinion, you get what you pay for. Salvagers pretty much know how good something is from the overall condition of the vehicle, any service records in or on the vehicle and the reputation of the owner that sold them the vehicle.
 
ProjectBazza said:
On the '97 Ford, did it hydraulically lock-up when it "blew-up"? Or rather, how did it "blow-up"? I ask only because of the known issues with the earlier 4.2's, and if this were mine, I'd try to find a later year engine and swap-over the accessories as necessary.

And as others have stated, it would be preferable to hear it run before putting down the cash.
Click to expand...
Head gasket went at somewhere around 164K miles. I had lent it to a friend, and she's not a car person. She went out to start it and it started clanking, then white smoke. She said she smelled "a sweet smell" a couple days before, which was obviously coolant going through the exhaust. I wasn't aware that the 4.2Ls had a known issue with that until I started researching. I trailered it home and dumped it in the barn. It's an otherwise solid truck with no rust, so a few hundred bucks and some labor would be worth it. If I have to put more than about $500 into it, I'll just take it to the scrap yard.
 
jcwren said:
I've never bought a junkyard engine before. I actually need two engines, a 5.9L Magnum that will go in my '71 Dart, and a 4.2L V6 for a '97 Ford F-150 that blew up. While I expect to do a little freshening up on one, I don't want to need to do a full valve job, new rings and bearings, line boring the crank or cam bearings, etc. The goal is not to buy a $600 engine so I can sink $4000 more into it.

How do you avoid buying a piece of trash? I've seen these used engine and transmission wholesalers on Farcebook Marketplace and have no idea how good or bad they are. I also know some junk yards are pull your own, while others sell pre-pulled engines. I'm not adverse to paying a little more for an engine that's been compression and/or leak-down tested or comes with some kind of warranty. There are also some things that I'd consider to be obvious like not buying an engine with 200K on it, one from a car that had a hard front-end hit, little things like that.

I'm reasonably sure I don't want to go with a pull-it-yourself option, as I'd literally be doing it by myself. I'm not into crawling around in the dirt and mud to get it out, and having back issues doesn't help.

I'd love to hear other people's advice and experiences on buying from wholesalers and junkyards, and what you do to make sure you're not buying scrap metal.
Click to expand...
I haven't bought a engine from a junk yard in years and if I did I would go through it before I put it in my vehicle. One good thing about buying a crate engine is that it has a warranty. I only said that I would rebuild a junk yard engine is because I don't like having to remove the from the vehicle. I know that you can inspect bearings and pull the cylinder heads to check out the bore, it's just I don't trust engines that have been laying around and I don't know the history of the engine
 
jcwren said:
If I have to put more than about $500 into it, I'll just take it to the scrap yard.
Click to expand...
Yup. As a Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forum member, sounds familiar.

However, don't "junk it", because if'n you have any relatives or good friends somewhere up here where road salt is as common as apple pie, even with a bad engine a "solid, rust free" truck would be worth good money, and maybe you could list it/sell it up here.

Heck, I just paid $8k for a rust free, 30 year old F250 out in Portland, Oregon to replace my current, rotted-out '92, and I'll be flying out there sometime in the next 2-3 weeks to drive 'er back. Truck like that would go for $12-14k around here, but I'm gonna drive it, not flip it.

Jim
 
Last edited:
The salvage yard I have the most experience with, I have been dealing with 47 years. I know the owner well who retired last year, his daughter took over. He is/was a straight shooter and I believe his daughter is as well. She ran one of his other yards 30 miles away for over 30 years. I have bought 3 whole cars and numerous parts over the years and I have had only one bad experience that was no fault on him. I bought a replacement engine that was the cheapest and lowest warranty available and that engine puked with less of 1000 miles of my driving. Should have known better, you get what you pay for. It came from a different yard and he had no knowledge of it and couldn’t advise me one way or the other. He said it was a roll of the dice. I rolled and lost. In no way did that discount all the really good experiences I have had in his 2 yards.

Hell sometimes I just go there for a good Saturday morning walk and coffee.
 
iScamp said:
I"ve bought 4 engines from salvage sources. 2 came with 30 day warranty.
I borescope the cylinders. Pull a valve cover to look at the amount of sludge build up. Look for clues of abuse or hack maintenance.
The 2 engines with warranty; I installed them and drove it. Really didn't do much for prep.

3 of the engines were first run units with reported low mileage and look to be just that. I wasn't too concerned with them. I trust first run engines better than I do machine shops and I don't want to spend the money If I don't have too. Tear down and overhaul "just because" doesn't go well with me.

One of the engines was a "rebuilt" 318. I probably shouldn't have bought. It was a decent engine but, the cam was "wild".
The seller couldn't tell me the specs.
Click to expand...
What do you mean by 'first run' engines. Engine that came in the vehicle?
 
#1 look for engines from front-end wrecked vehicles. You know they were likely driving when they died.
#2 don't buy engines from rollover vehicles. Oil starvation is a *****.
#3 grab the water pump shaft and give it a wiggle. If the water pump is crap, so is the motor.

This all assumes compression and leakdown check out ok.

I have a Neon at home with a piston slapping. Didn't find the water pump was shot until after the motor had been at home for a year waiting to go in. I had no choice but to gamble, and I kind of lost.
 
jcwren said:
I've never bought a junkyard engine before. I actually need two engines, a 5.9L Magnum that will go in my '71 Dart, and a 4.2L V6 for a '97 Ford F-150 that blew up. While I expect to do a little freshening up on one, I don't want to need to do a full valve job, new rings and bearings, line boring the crank or cam bearings, etc. The goal is not to buy a $600 engine so I can sink $4000 more into it.
Click to expand...

i think that you may need to adjust your expectations a little. while i understand not wanting to get into machine work, gaskets, rings and bearings should be a possible foregone conclusion. and also, that's not a ton of dough to drop.

e-bay has a lot of resellers that offer complete motors with warranty, generally they'll list mileage which can kind of, sort of give you an idea of what you're getting. and if you're not in the "roll around in the muck and pull it yourself" category that's a viable, yet pricey option. but likely to get you on the road the quickest and least painful way.

another option would be to buy a complete vehicle that's running and just pull the motor and scrap the rest.

find a specialist breaker near you and they'll likely have the best parts at the best deal.
 
We
ch1ll said:
My experience has been the best junk yard pulls are the ones that have a real good warranty and cost more. My salvager is connected nationally and sells parts pulled at other yards which gives one a larger pool of parts to choose from. Also ask if they have an extended warranty. In my opinion, you get what you pay for. Salvagers pretty much know how good something is from the overall condition of the vehicle, any service records in or on the vehicle and the reputation of the owner that sold them the vehicle.
Click to expand...

ch1ll said:
The salvage yard I have the most experience with, I have been dealing with 47 years. I know the owner well who retired last year, his daughter took over. He is/was a straight shooter and I believe his daughter is as well. She ran one of his other yards 30 miles away for over 30 years. I have bought 3 whole cars and numerous parts over the years and I have had only one bad experience that was no fault on him. I bought a replacement engine that was the cheapest and lowest warranty available and that engine puked with less of 1000 miles of my driving. Should have known better, you get what you pay for. It came from a different yard and he had no knowledge of it and couldn’t advise me one way or the other. He said it was a roll of the dice. I rolled and lost. In no way did that discount all the really good experiences I have had in his 2 yards.

Hell sometimes I just go there for a good Saturday morning walk and coffee.
Click to expand...
I tried to buy a car from a salvage yard and they wouldn't do it and if they had of it would've come with a salvage title which means no full coverage insurance. Who wants a nice car that they can't insure, not me
 
I recently went to some local yards for the first time in a number of years. Some things have changed quite a bit. And I can imagine it is likely somewhat different up north here compared to the south, but this is what I found. Because of the increased population and the scarcity of land up here, the remaining local yards work on a short turn-around and the common practice is to immediately scrap anything pre-2004 when they pick it up.

I was looking for some core Torqueflites, and after most yard workers stopped snickering they told me there was no profit in keeping that old of stuff that is seldom requested when they could immediately sell Honda and Toyota engines and trans. The couple of really old yards, the worst mess of the bunch, that did have a few trans cores stuffed in shipping containers, wanted so much, starting at $600 for a core, I easily passed.

If you want a trouble free reliable motor and don't want to build one, why not be done with it and just buy something like a Summit has for $2090, or something better like Blueprint offers on this site?
 
Outsder said:
If you want a trouble free reliable motor and don't want to build one, why not be done with it and just buy something like a Summit has for $2090, or something better like Blueprint offers on this site?
Click to expand...
VGE Remanufactured Long Lock Crate Engines DD06 - $2012.99 - "Not Available At This Time. This product cannot be ordered at this time. Future availability is unknown. We apologize for the inconvenience." Any of the affordable engines are not available. And they also have a $370 to $620 core charge, and I have no core. There's also a freight charge.

There is the DD72 which is available at $2099, but still the core and freight charge. And, honestly, I'm trying to not to put a ton of money into this project. I've already more than I'd like tied up in it and the '67 Barracuda. I know, I know, if I wanted cheap I should have gone with a Chevy.
 
These pictures are from a big block Chevy that my brother purchased used a few years ago. Seller claimed that the engine ran perfect, lots of oil pressure and tons of power. The only salvageable parts are the aluminum heads, intake, and possibly the rotating assembly, though the crank and rods will need a visit to the machine shop. He trusted the seller and paid top dollar for it, but never got around to opening it up until last week.

Resized_20231218_203635.jpeg


Resized_20231219_221822.jpg


Resized_20231220_232230.jpg


Resized_20231219_215912.jpeg
 
I’ve never bought one from a yard but have bought vehicles for there drivetrain. I’ve had very good luck doing it this way, usually the vehicle has body damage and it’s cheap. In fact I bought a 77 Dodge Royal Monaco with a 440 for a $100 bill and all it needed was a header panel, I put the header on it and drove it for three years before pulling it apart. I’ve bought cop cars for wheels etc I just don’t think you can go wrong, hell you get to drive it before you buy it.
 
Dan the man said:
We



I tried to buy a car from a salvage yard and they wouldn't do it and if they had of it would've come with a salvage title which means no full coverage insurance. Who wants a nice car that they can't insure, not me
Click to expand...

All 3 cars were parts cars. If you catch a vehicle before they transfer the title, you can buy it and get the original title transferred. My yard has cars parked outside the yard for sale. In Wisconsin if a vehicle comes in without a title it has to sit out of the yard like in the customer parking lot where it can be seen for 10 days before they can apply for a salvage license. There are ways to get titles, although I don’t know how easy that is. It all depends on what your relationship with the yard owner is. Mom and pop places like mine are easy to establish a relationship with. Like I posted, I’m there often. Be aware they are reluctant to do business with someone that buys and bitches and tarnish their reputation. They know plenty of standup scroungers and don’t need the hassle of crybabies. Most parts I bought have a 10 day warranty, batteries are 30 days and $25 a pop. They tell me before if something is as is. If I say I don’t know if it will fit or bring it back cause it doesn’t, they say ok. The 3 cars I bought, I knew what I was getting into and I have tripled my investment selling parts here on FABO.
 
Last edited:
Outsder said:
I recently went to some local yards for the first time in a number of years. Some things have changed quite a bit. And I can imagine it is likely somewhat different up north here compared to the south, but this is what I found. Because of the increased population and the scarcity of land up here, the remaining local yards work on a short turn-around and the common practice is to immediately scrap anything pre-2004 when they pick it up.

I was looking for some core Torqueflites, and after most yard workers stopped snickering they told me there was no profit in keeping that old of stuff that is seldom requested when they could immediately sell Honda and Toyota engines and trans. The couple of really old yards, the worst mess of the bunch, that did have a few trans cores stuffed in shipping containers, wanted so much, starting at $600 for a core, I easily passed.

If you want a trouble free reliable motor and don't want to build one, why not be done with it and just buy something like a Summit has for $2090, or something better like Blueprint offers on this site?
Click to expand...
My place has a core holding of 50’s-70’s cars/trucks. Anything newer gets dismantled and shredded. Some stuff they wait for it to get picked over if they know it will sell. They have over 5000 vehicles and there is never a shortage of stuff to go to the shredder and there is open space for more vehicles.

And get this, the most sought after part is computers for dodge trucks, they are sold as soon as they get them.
 
ch1ll said:
All 3 cars were parts cars. If you catch a vehicle before they transfer the title, you can buy it and get the original title transferred. My yard has cars parked outside the yard for sale. In Wisconsin if a vehicle comes in without a title it has to sit out of the yard like in the customer parking lot where it can be seen for 10 days before they can apply for a salvage license. There are ways to get titles, although I don’t know how easy that is. It all depends on what your relationship with the yard owner is. Mom and pop places like mine are easy to establish a relationship with. Like I posted, I’m there often. Be aware they are reluctant to do business with someone that buys and bitches and tarnish their reputation. They know plenty of standup scroungers and don’t need the hassle of crybabies. Most parts I bought have a 10 day warranty, batteries are 30 days and $25 a pop. They tell me before if something is as is. If I say I don’t know if it will fit or bring it back cause it doesn’t, they say ok. The 3 cars I bought, I knew what I was getting into and I have tripled my investment selling parts here on FABO.
Click to expand...
To be honest, I haven't been to a junk yard in many years. There used to be one that was pay and pull but I don't know if they are even around anymore.
 
Dan the man said:
To be honest, I haven't been to a junk yard in many years. There used to be one that was pay and pull but I don't know if they are even around anymore.
Click to expand...

3 in Wisconsin that I know of. I’m kind of into treasure hunts when I have the time, maybe your not.
 
ch1ll said:
3 in Wisconsin that I know of. I’m kind of into treasure hunts when I have the time, maybe your not.
Click to expand...
I am to. There's supposed to be a mopar only salvage yard not far from me and another one in catawassi mo. I'm wanting to check them out when the weather warms up
 
Well there you go, not just a difference from north to south, but different central to the coasts. I went to the ten or so yards left south of Seattle, and the largest Binford's has 13 acres and I don't know how many thousand cars, but few cars more than a dozen years old. When they get anything older than 2004, they go straight to the crusher and no parts pulled.

There really aren't a lot of cars that are older than 10 years or so on the roads around here, or even in driveways, like when I was a kid. With the amount of traffic here, hovering around 3rd worst in the nation after LA and Boston, there really isn't much allowance for people to be driving old cars on a daily basis.

Anything older for Mopar parts the recommended choice about half a day's drive is Oregon, Wildcat, and I don't think they've added much to their stock in the last couple decades. As for the original poster, have you tried posting a wanted ad on here for at least the 360 engine that might be within driving distance to pickup?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top