I recently bought a engine from someone for 350 bucks.the seller told me it had low miles but was never installed.He also told me it was sitting on a pallet andunder a tarp for a about a year.Now my question is......how and what do i check to know that this engine is still good?compression check? how tho? if the engine is not installed? can the seals inside be rusted? can the engine go bad just sitting there?


Thanks for looking and all your input.

 

Many things can go wrong with an engine sitting. Especially if exposed ports have not been covered properly with shop towels or tape. If the engine has been sitting on the oil pan for a certain amount of time you might need to replace the gasket or inspect the pan for damage or warpage as weight can effect the landing areas.

You can test to see if the coolant seals are good if you have a pressure tester and a air compressor handy. You can also turn the engine by hand and hear the exhaust ports, if they seal properly the sound that each apex seal rotation makes would sound the same. You wont get an accurate reading or depicture of the health of the engine until you actually do a proper compression test or crack open the engine. The inside combustion chamber can rust if exposed to certain elements such as water from rain going into the intake chamber or water from a blown coolant seal.

A general advice from any rotary owner that you are going to hear is "rebuild".

 

Pull the plugs and check for rust.

Pull off the exhaust manifold and check for rust. Slowly rotate the engine and check the seals.

If all looks good, you are probably fine.

 

I kinda like that *low miles...never been installed*.

 

can apex seals "rust?"

 

i turned the engine today,very slowly just a few times.it turned easily,i dint have to use alot of strength,is thta normal? imma check the spark plugs and the exhaust manifold for rust.Thanks guys.

 

BTW.......the spark plugs are still on the engine.all hoses,and the intake manifold is covered.almost every exposed port has been covered and has been covered.can this change anything?Thanks

 

I prefer to pull the exhaust and check the seals and general look of the motor. Try pushing on the seals by hand see how things feel and look put some oil in there lube things up.

 

i went yesterday to work on the motor,and i took off the exhaust mani and took a look at the rotors inside......what exactly do i look for ? also when i turn the motor with the crank pulley,is only does like a half a turn? it stops from turning.....is this normal?the rotor surfaces look like they have a lot of carbon,is that normal? can i clean that without tearing the engine apart? thanks for all the help so far guys.

 

Eesh, scary stuff. It sounds like the engine is a good candidate to be carbon locked when you first try to start it. Id try spraying some PB blaster into the spark plug holes, intake ports and exhaust ports in the hope that it will break up the carbon and allow you to turn over the engine.

Do NOT buy the engine until you can turn it over by hand.

Once you can get it to turn over, you need to compression test it, if it has a tranny and starter you're in luck, have a buddy power the starter with a pair of jumper cables and a car battery and make sure the engine makes at least 80psi on all faces.

If it doesnt have a tranny it gets a bit more complicated but it's still possible.

 

The motor is carbon locked be careful it could snap a apex seal

 

wow....ive never heard about that?is that bad? how do i unlock it????do i have to open the motor now?

 

Don't bother with that engine.

If it truly is carbon lock (that's pretty rare) then you need to split it apart to fix it properly. Whatever is causing it to be jammed (maybe an apex seal has rolled out of the groove?) is going to require a rebuild to fix.

 

I would've advised you to buy it cheap (like $100) and try to part out anything in good shape, but N/A parts aren't worth much so it's probably not worth the trouble.

 

Just a side note. I did have a motor once that had the UIM Pulled off and sat for 2 days in shop suddenly carbon lock on spot right there. Was very hard to free but did and ran again.

 

I almost carbon locked my engine when it sat for almost a year. Took a few weeks of soaking in 2 cycle to free it up. Ran for 2 years until recently, when it gave up a corner on one of the apex seals at an event.

 

Is this with or without the spark plugs in? Its going to be awfully hard to turn over by hand by the crank pulley with the spark plugs in. Its common for the faces of the rotors to be full of carbon if the car was run on stock ecu with many miles.
Did you get this motor from the Glendale area here locally? Someone I know just sold a motor like that, and I saw it run not too long ago...

 

i got the motor from some Sage kid up in snowflake,az.he said it was runnung good prior to pulling it out.well on wednesday it started to rotate freely,i just sprayed some PB blaster in thru the spark plug holes. now im just cleaning it up and taking the parts i dont need.,i.e. like a/c comp,alt and stuff like that.right now its just the down to short block.Now,if i install it with new plugs and fluids,would the motor work fine or would there be problems in the long term?or what kind of test do i have to perform in order to tell if its a yay or a nay?? would it cost alot to rebuild the motor if was carbon locked?

everytime i turn the motor with the crank pulley and its like swoosh-swoosh-swoosh,(like it farts) does that mean its a good motor? Thanks for your help so far guys.i really appreciate it.



NOTE-i already bought the motor.

 

There is no way for us to know the condition of the engine, so all we can do is guess.

If was really carbon locked, then it may be fine, it may not be. If it was simple corrosion holding it up, then it will probably be fine as long all the seals are moving freely.

 

You need to bolt up a bellhousing, or a complete transmission with the starter and do a compression test. You can also do a coolant seal leak down test to with the right tools.

 

Are the chugs consistent as you turn the motor?

i.e. does it go chug-chug-chug-...-chug-chug? You should hear 6 chugs for a full turn of the flywheel.

So far it sounds like your making compression and its not carbon locked.

Easy way to check compression is to bolt a bell-housing and starter up to it and put a compression tester on it.