Rebuild or salvage yard

[Donnphilpot00]

So my engine has a bad compression issue so I'm looking for advice would it cheaper to go to the salvage yard for a "new" motor or rebuild. It's a 95 ranger with a 3.0l in it 2wd.

 

[Dirtman]

A junkyard motor will always be cheaper than a full rebuild. That's assuming your compression issue is due to worn cylinders/rings and not head related.

But a junkyard motor is also a gamble. They usually will offer a small warranty of like 30-60 days and allow you to exchange for another one if the first one blows up during that time, but that's usually the best you'll get. Whereas a engine builder or reman company will usually offer a much better warranty of 1-3 years parts and labor.

Those warranties vary wildly from place to place so you have to do some research on who does what in your area.

 

[Donnphilpot00]

A junkyard motor will always be cheaper than a full rebuild. That's assuming your compression issue is due to worn cylinders/rings and not head related.

But a junkyard motor is also a gamble. They usually will offer a small warranty of like 30-60 days and allow you to exchange for another one if the first one blows up during that time, but that's usually the best you'll get. Whereas a engine builder or reman company will usually offer a much better warranty of 1-3 years parts and labor.

Those warranties vary wildly from place to place so you have to do some research on who does what in your area.

Yeah I was going to do the rebuild myself so that will save on labor and it's about 400$ in parts... I can't seem to find a motor from a junk yard any lower then around 600.

 

[racsan]

look over your junkyard motor good too if you go that route, I went to replace a 4.3 in a S-blazer and the 1st engine I got had bad crank bearings & journals, when I took it back they said “oh yeah, that engine had a bad (cracked) oil pan so we put a better one on it”. Its a lot faster to just swap out engines but you dont know the history of what you’re putting back in.

 

[Dirtman]

Yeah I was going to do the rebuild myself so that will save on labor and it's about 400$ in parts... I can't seem to find a motor from a junk yard any lower then around 600.

Part's don't make a rebuild. A worn engine needs machine work you can't buy parts for that price and just stick it together. The engine needs to go to a machine shop for work you absolutely cannot do. You can buy new rings but can you hone the cylinders? If the cylinders are out can you bore them?

 

[19Walt93]

/\ /\ /\ Like he said.

 

[Tater55]

Part's don't make a rebuild. A worn engine needs machine work you can't buy parts for that price and just stick it together. The engine needs to go to a machine shop for work you absolutely cannot do. You can buy new rings but can you hone the cylinders? If the cylinders are out can you bore them?

X2
Currently in the rebuild process on my 2000 3.0.
Heads alone were $475 to get machined. Now I have the block, crank, and flywheel in the shop as well waiting to get worked on.
Probably going to spend around 8-$900 in total just to get components machined.
Still have to buy rings, bolts, seals, timing chain, etc...
Needless to say, a complete rebuild adds up quickly.

 

[bilbo]

Part's don't make a rebuild. A worn engine needs machine work you can't buy parts for that price and just stick it together. The engine needs to go to a machine shop for work you absolutely cannot do. You can buy new rings but can you hone the cylinders? If the cylinders are out can you bore them?

X3. It was about $1200 total to do my 2.3 L4 a few years ago. I completely disassembled the engine myself, then paid a machine shop for hot dip, inspection, bore, grind crank, inspect rods, source & install pistons. They also ground the valve seats and replaced valve guides, the rest of the head was OK. I bought the rest of the parts and assembled myself. Yours will be more due to two more cylinders, two heads, etc.

Side note, I bought my parts from all over scouring for the best deals instead of buying them through the machine shop I had worked with. I spent a lot of time searching for parts, waiting for them to arrive, being held up because I was missing a part, etc. all to save about $100. If I could do it over I would have just bought the parts from the machine shop and had everything at once, and kept some more money local. I figured I would save more but not in this case, your mileage may vary.