How can I make sure a motor is good when out of car?

[bignbumpin]

friend of mine is going sat to pick up a 6 bolt for his 2g. Question is, we dont really know how to check it if its not in the car. The guy says it was a daily and everything is cool. it has 102k on it and is in nice shape...just wonderin if there is nething else i could do to make sure its ok. Thanks for the time!!

 

[fasteclipse1992]

pulling the head is the best way to check, but if the guy wont let you do that drain and check the oil out for metal shavings and smell oil to see if it smells burnt. turn the engine over by hand to see if it will turn over w/o problems. line up the timing marks to see if there still alinged properly. your taking a chance at buyin a motor w/o any guarentee that it will run, good luck.

 

[xcelr8n]

what we did with my engine and tranny combo we bought it whatever, took our chances but immediately did a cold engine compression test, and checked all the other things already mentioned.

since we had the starter we just hooked up a power source and cranked it. cold numbers were consistent 120 across.
i was assured this was very healhy, turns out after engine is in its like 155 across the cylinders. very healthy indeed.

 

[nukefission]

You can do a leakdown test on the motor while out of the car to give you an idea of its condition.

 

[bignbumpin]

Originally posted by nukefission
You can do a leakdown test on the motor while out of the car to give you an idea of its condition.

please explain how to do that...

 

[nukefission]

You'll need a leakdown tester and compressed air. Remove the spark plugs and screw the adapter hose for the tester into each spark plug hole. Apply compressed air to the gauge and follow the gauge's instructions on how to determine leakdown percentage for each cylinder. As pressure is applied to each cylinder, rotate the crankshaft (this assumes the engine is completely assembled, i.e., timing belt is installed, etc) so that the piston for that cylinder reaches TDC (use a long 1/4" or 3/8" drive extension in one of the other cylinders to verify piston position) and listen for leaks. If an exhaust valve is leaking, listen for air coming out of the exhaust ports or O2 housing (it helps to remove the manifold and listen to the ports directly). Listen to the intake manifold or throttle body for intake valve leaks. Listen to the crankcase (remove the oil cap) for piston ring leaks. Listen in the water neck for headgasket leaks. It helps to have an automotive stethoscope for pinpointing leaks, but you can also just hold a piece of vacuum hose up to your ear.

If there's more than 10% leakdown on any cylinder, get him to knock the price down because you will have to do some repair to get the motor tip-top.

Here are some other instructions from the VFAQ:
http://www.dsmgrrrl.com/FAQs/leakdown.htm

 

[bignbumpin]

thanks a lot!!!! really helped out...were goin to look at it in the morn...ill let you know how things turn out