Quote:
Originally Posted by Aruba1
Yes, agreed with the comments. Since the motor is on the stand, you may want to also check compression.
When I bought my motor the PO said it was in perfect condition. Got it put in the truck and it ran like crap. 150 PSI on cyl 1, 90 on cyl 3 and 0 on cyl 5 so the headgasket was gone. Took the heads off and I noticed excessive play in the pistons meaning new rings and rehoning of the block. With that I got thinking that the new higher compression to the motor would boil down to additional strain on the used bearings so I decided to do a complete rebuild. What I am trying to say is that you will never know what the engine needs until you go in there. If the rings have some wear you won't know until a couple thousand or 10 thousand miles. That is why I asked if this was a shop rebuilt and if you can get a warranty. But it will all depend on the asking price.
Just the re-ring kit for the 5.3L (bearings (cam, rod, crank), stock oil pump, full gasket kit, stock rings, stock head bolts, etc) cost a whooping $600. My heads were warped so I paid $150 to have them milled and reworked. Another $80 went into polishing of the crank and cleaning/checking the block. If you took it to a shop for a rebuild it would cost probably around $2k. My next LS engine will be one needing a rebuild, I will never again buy a drop-in engine again unless I can drive it around the block AND pull compression on it. Just by 2 cents.
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This is why I buy running parts trucks to get my engines from. I spend on each truck what most people spend on just the engine, plus I can make my money back by parting the truck.
There was a guy on my local forums, he would boast about how he'd pick truck engines off the junk pile at his buddies salvage yard, then a week later he would list the long block on craigslist for top dollar all painted and pretty. I'm sorry but stainless button head bolts and flashy paint don't make a good engine.