remanufactured engines

[Jay'94]

I have a 1994 super cab with 245ci, 4.0 l, VIN code X. It has 189,000 miles and earned every one of them. It has the normal lifter tick, gas mileage has deteriorated. I have smelled the faint hint of coolant for the last 4 years and was unable to locate it, always thought a head gasket problem and had the attitude "with this many miles, run it till she blows". Well on vacation last year before this deployment I'm on it started running hot, changed thermostat, flushed system, and a crack appeared between cylinder 1-2 in the block lower than the head/block deck by about 4-5". Since I was on my way to Iraq (where I am now) I broke out the Harley! I've not changed an engine in about 18+ years, however, a very intelligent mechanical Friend of mine (closer than friend) has agreed to do said project before I return home! Of course I'll make sure a good amount of ever depreciating American George Washington's enter his pockets!
Questions is, Who knows which company makes the best, has the best warranties, and will ship a remanufactured engine to an individual doing a swap?
You guys are the experts here, well some are and some of us think we are, so help me out!!!
Jay

 

[Big Jim M]

First off...thanks mucho for your service from us all..
Then the engine. I have swapped many engines in my time. I guess I have covered all manufactors of vehicles in engine swaps.
ALWAYS I pull the engine and take it to a machine shop locally. I have been scared to death of getting a bad engine from a shop far away! The local guy will do just as good a job...prolly even better. AND if the engine goes south you are only miles away from getting it repaired properly.
So that's my advice.. stay near home with your new engine.
Big JIm

 

[Jay'94]

Big Jim

Well, what's the chance of this happening? The truck is in West Lake Hills, TX! So Jim, Where do I find a rebuildable 4.0L, 265ci, VIN code X in the Austin area???
And who's the best builder there? I'm not looking for hot rod nothing, just longevity, reliability and won't Rip my arm off when I pay him from way over here, through someone else! And I won't have to pull out any of my over here skills on said builder, when my motor craps out pulling a trailer (with my '95 and 2010 Harley) from there back to Ft. Campbell, KY at the end of my vacation when I get back!

 

[Jay'94]

Block Crack

Oh a small tidbit of information I left out! The crack is definitely not in the head, not a freeze plug and appears to be from a water passage between the 1-2 cylinder. I figure it's either from a freezing cold Missouri winter where I bought the truck in '95 or has rusted through due to poor coolant and my "run it till she blows attitude". So, I do not have a rebuildable block.

 

[Bird]

Well, what's the chance of this happening? The truck is in West Lake Hills, TX! So Jim, Where do I find a rebuildable 4.0L, 265ci, VIN code X in the Austin area???
And who's the best builder there? I'm not looking for hot rod nothing, just longevity, reliability and won't Rip my arm off when I pay him from way over here, through someone else! And I won't have to pull out any of my over here skills on said builder, when my motor craps out pulling a trailer (with my '95 and 2010 Harley) from there back to Ft. Campbell, KY at the end of my vacation when I get back!

I've got a 56k mile shortblock in great shape that you would only have to put new heads / valvetrain on and it'd be ready to roll..............

Only live down the road a little bit.

Bird

 

[AllanD]

I don't personally know of any engine rebuilders I'd trust.

I personally depend on "Junkyard gold", finding a running low mile
engine and setting it aside... for later.

AD

 

[Jay'94]

Engines

I just sent AllanD a message concerning some of his posts and yours, requesting him to post his thoughts on this one. And now you chime in so to speak. So I'm thinking your thoughts are the same as Big Jim?
Ain't my first ranger, had a 88 2wd with 2.3. I know '93-'97 are compatible years for a lot of stuff, not totally up on the engines though. So here comes 20 questions;
What year is block? is it compatible with mine?
What caused it to be short?
Where is best place to get new heads?
I replaced pushrods right before my engine cracking trip to Austin last year, would you reuse them?
How many economically depreciating American green paper I got to have someone put in your hand to get said shorty?
Jay

 

[Bird]

I just sent AllanD a message concerning some of his posts and yours, requesting him to post his thoughts on this one. And now you chime in so to speak. So I'm thinking your thoughts are the same as Big Jim?
Ain't my first ranger, had a 88 2wd with 2.3. I know '93-'97 are compatible years for a lot of stuff, not totally up on the engines though. So here comes 20 questions;
What year is block? is it compatible with mine?
What caused it to be short?
Where is best place to get new heads?
I replaced pushrods right before my engine cracking trip to Austin last year, would you reuse them?
How many economically depreciating American green paper I got to have someone put in your hand to get said shorty?
Jay

1. 96 short block - would require 95+ heads to keep compression at stock levels.
2. became 'short' because I needed the heads for an earlier shortblock to raise the compression.
3. have seen several sources for heads on ebay and a few other sources listed here on the forum - my old source when I was selling ported / polished heads went out of business due to a fire.
4. your pushrods / rockers would work fine with this engine (check the rocker tips / pushrod cups for wear though).
5. $250 local pickup - will also include a new set of lifters as I can't find the container that I put the original lifters in.

This shortblock was intended to put into my Splash until I found a low mile SOHC to swap in.

Bird

ps. I do guarantee that it's good and will refund full price if there's a problem (after I've inspected it)

 

[Jay'94]

Heads

Bird,
So what's the diff in rebuilding my '94 heads and putting on and finding some '95 plus? Are we talking increase in compression or decrease? and I know that would be based on whether my '94s have to be milled or not, after magna flux for cracks and rebuild.
Jay

 

[Bird]

Bird,
So what's the diff in rebuilding my '94 heads and putting on and finding some '95 plus? Are we talking increase in compression or decrease? and I know that would be based on whether my '94s have to be milled or not, after magna flux for cracks and rebuild.
Jay

That would lower the compression - need the 95+ heads with the smaller combustion chanbers to compensate for the bigger dished pistons that were installed in the 95+ engines. Factory heads already have a thin deck - milling only weakens them more and you still wouldn't get enough to keep the compression at 9:1.

Bird

 

[Jay'94]

Bird,
Well, Dysentery!!! Since I saw earlier someone didn't like my other choice word for this situation!! Now I got to go on the hunt for heads.
Hope due to my current distant location and remote location, you won't be overly eager to part with that block, now that you've teased me with it!
Give me a couple days scouring and emailing due to time diff. If you don't mind.
Jay

 

[Bird]

Bird,
Well, Dysentery!!! Since I saw earlier someone didn't like my other choice word for this situation!! Now I got to go on the hunt for heads.
Hope due to my current distant location and remote location, you won't be overly eager to part with that block, now that you've teased me with it!
Give me a couple days scouring and emailing due to time diff. If you don't mind.
Jay

It's yours until you tell me different - will do some scouting for heads for you also and let you know what I find. Maybe some others here will offer up some suggestions also.

Bird

 

[Big Jim M]

Jay From reading your first post , I understsand the crack is outside the engine. If so it should be an easy job to weld the crack and stop the leak.
In the past I have purchased several engines from Pop's Parts near Bastrop.
Pop's Parts
1552 State Highway 71 West
Cedar Creek, 78612
(512) 303-7677
I called Pop this morning and he has a 95 4.0 coming in on Tuesday next week. He quoted me $500 for the entire engine and add-ons. He didn't have milage of the engine in his hands at this time.
Engine shopping in the West Lake general area should be fairly easy as there are many Junk yards in a four county range.
Big Jim

 

[Jay'94]

Big Jim,
Well, aren't you guys just the Shit! There I said it even though I didn't earlier. First Bird offers me a short block for a knockout price, However my Brother (we're Bikers) would have to drive to SA and I'd also have to pay shipping on some heads.
However since said Motorhead (has a Screaming 1962 Apache 1 ton Flatbed dually) lives in Cedar Creek, and I'm sure he knows Pop's could drive right over, throw it on the back and have fun with that.
So now I'm in a delema. However, I don't know how miles are on said '94. You have any problem with my Brother going direct with Pop's. He also mentioned he used SRS machine shop on Congess and they did a Smokin job on his engine work at an awesome price!! And I know how that small block screams!!
Jay

 

[Big Jim M]

Sure be my guest! Pops is a great place to shop. I didn't ask about more modern engines but I'd betcha he has several SOHC 4.0's in stock.. That'd be a good swap for ya. Since your brother lives nearby he could make a deal to get everything involved for a swap.
Me? I'd be looking into welding what I had and save some bucks.
Big JIm