Okay fellas, time for a newbie question. If a new engine has been sitting up uninstalled since 1997, will this cause the engine to not function properly?

I know its a dumb question, but I figured this would some how degrade the performance of the engine. (i.e. excessive smoking from the exhaust)

I saw a brand new uninstalled 97 Max engine ($2300) for what appears to be a very reasonable rate. Yet, there wasn't any bids on the engine. Should I be concerned?

 

Never buy any motor you haven't seen actually run unless you have a real warranty for it.(i.e. not some guy who says he'll give your money back)

For a motor to be sitting that long and still be good means it needs to have been carefully prepped before storage and kept somewhere dry.

But if you must buy it:

First:

Change the oil/filter.

Spray some motor oil through the spark plug holes before trying to turn it over. I'd also probably pull the valve covers and oil everything up really well first. Then wait a day or so and compression test it next....

If it's supposed to be new, make sure there is no varnish baked on the upper reaches of the head (just look in the oil filler hole). The oil you drained should be very clean too....

Cross your fingers, install it and fire her up...It'll run like crap until the oil burns off in a little bit.

-RMB

 

WHat do you mean by "carefully prepped before storage"?

 

why spend $2300 on a maxima motor...do some junk yard shopin, the yard i use to work at has tons of them for between 500 and 1000 some with low miles some with out, and if you must see it running give it some time and wait till they get one in thats still in the car so you can check it out before it's pulled...just my .02...i'll be buyin a motor from there next year if i keep the car...hard part is finding a 5spd lsd trany to replace my existing 5spd...

 

Well for starters, this is supposed to be a crate-motor from the japanese warehouse, which means the engine will have more horsepower.

My other concern is whether or not a japanese engine w/out U.S. restrictions will be a straight bolt-on. Also, since it may not have the U.S. emissions restriction, will it pose a problem for my computer?

Bottomline, will this be a straight bolt-on assembly or will I need make modifications?

 

Why will it have more horsepower? From the lack of emissions gear? I would have to guess that Japan engines also have cats and other emissions stuff even if it isn't as strict as ours so your power gains might not be much. Isn't Japan OBD2 compliant as well?

The computer in that case would certainly have to be different if that isn't the case.

Again... I've never imported a foreign engine, but I believe if you're going to register the car, the engine would have to be a US certified one or it'll cost you more than you could afford to get it certified..... A friend that tried to bring over hotter BMW engines from Europe ran into a nightmare of red-tape....

What about the warranty? What if it's seized and dead?

-RMB

 

All of the Maxima motors come from Japan. It's the components you bolt onto a crate motor to make it run that differ from country to country. Thats where some produce more HP then others. The crate motor itself is the exact same motor every country starts out with.