What's up every1... this is more or less a general question, that I did search for already. Hypothetically speaking, say I wanted to have a motor ready in case mine took a dump, not having to worry about down time while I wait for another rebuild. Is there a shelf-life on a fresh, uninstalled motor? Does it gradually lose compression over time? Thanks.

 

Anyone, anyone...???

 

Wow, really!? No1 knows? All these views, yet not a one answer? Ah well...

 

There really isn't a simple answer. It all depends on how the motor was prepped for storage. Could be anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple years. I really don't know though.

G/L

 

Well when I blew my engine out in '08 @89k, I bought a new engine from Atkins.

It sat in my van for 10 months till I finally got it installed. Now 32K miles later it's still running like it was when I first started her up.

 

if you take the proper precautions, you shouldn't have to worry about it. essentially, you want to (1) keep everything inside the engine lubricated, (2) you want to seal off any possible points of entry for debris or moisture, and (3) if possible, turn the engine by hand every so often. 1 and 2 are an absolute MUST, but 3 is just a good idea, however, i think a key point is to keep it in as dry a place as possible. moisture is not your friend. i am away from home for long periods of time, so i obviously am not there to turn my engines with any regularity. i've been doing this for decades and i have yet to have one fail just from sitting without use.

 

Thank you, thank you!!! That's all I needed to know!!! I appreciate it!

 

Also: if this makes any sense, you want your motor to be sitting so the apex seals arent compressed. 1 rotor at 12 o'clock while the other is at 6 o'clock. At those positions the apex seals arent being compressed. IMHO if they stay compressed for a long time then it will flatten or weaken the apex seal springs.

 

Totally makes sense, but with the block fully assembled, how will i know what position the rotors sitting at?

 

Also spray a lot of Fogging Oil into the motor. Through every hole. Sta-Bil makes a good one.

 

Turn the motor over until you feel there is nothing being compressed. You can feel the point at which the apex seals arent in a compression stroke. Hard for me to explain but its quite easy. Im sure you will know when your at the right point just by the feel of it.

Sure there will always be some pressure on the apex seal springs but you dont want them positioned at the point where they are more compressed.

 

Haha, "don't think, feeeeel..." thank you for that info!!! I appreciate the answers from everyone, and I'm sure I was not the only one who ever wondered this.

 

Buy an engine bag and something to seal the opening with and you won't have any problems with moisture. A huge trashbag or something would work but I used a engine cover/bag I bought from Summit which is heavy duty plastic to prevent tears.

 

Don't seal the engine to much with plastic or a bag. If it sees any high temps, you've just made a terrarium. The engine needs to be able to breath and dissipate any moisturize that the irons may accumulate from humidity. Put some desiccant bags near any openings to catch moisture and keep the engine fogged with oil like others have suggested. You could even pull the oil pan off.

 

Dessicant is a good idea. Personally I haven't noticed any moisture issues, if there were you would see evaporation with moisture dripping from inside the top of the bag. Of course having the block well oiled goes without saying. If it's sealed well it will keep any humidity in the air out, which is the purpose of sealing the bag.

 

Awesome, thank you all for the replies once again! So with all this info, I can sleep well knowing that I can hold on to a motor without installing it for a bit (I wouldn't plan on holding it uninstalled for no more than 10-12weeks anyway). Knowledge like this is much appreciated! Knowledge like this now keeps me weary of all those garages out there that sell imported "jdm" motors that half the time are just sitting in a huge wearhouse, uncovered, un-oiled, without any temperature control in place.

 

The biggest problem with JDM motors I have noticed is that they do not drain all the coolant from the block using the coolant drain plug/bolt on the bottom of the engine.

Usually there is more than enough oil left in the engine to keep it in great condition, but the coolant/water just sits there eating away at it. We all know how that ends up.

JDM engines also tend to have ridiculous amounts of carbon build up despite low mileage, which factors in other problems.

I think these are the two main reasons "JDM" engines from Japan get a bad rep.

 

Desicant pacs, as KC REPU mentioned, are a good idea.

There are a few companies that make desicant plugs for the spark plug holes that would be an excellent addition if you intend to store it indefinetly.