I have a 98 that has had a rough life (I bought it knowing that). It was a temp car until I could get my I30 back up and running. My question is what are your thoughts about pulling an engine from a PickNPull junkyard. the VQ in the car runs and is fine but it has 200k and dumps oil out of it. Should I fix the leaks on the current or spend the 130$ and pull a lower millage VQ. The previous owner rarely did any oil changes on the thing. My goal is to sell this car after I fix it.

Other work I need to do:

Front wheel bearings
Battery cable replacement (Current is too short due to cutting off corrosion)
Windshield spay motor needs to be replaced
trunk leaks
water in the taillights
clean up all the crusty oil that is leaking

 

There is a saying.

The devil you know vs the devil you dont.

Your current engine leaks oil. (What's leaking)
Yet it might run well enough to sell, or to use for several more years.

Your water pump is probably not leaking now.
Your injectors probably don't leak now.

A replacement engine might be better, or might not.
The car went to the wrecking yard for a reason.
Common reasons might be oil leaks, a leaking water pump, or leaking injectors.

Give us more information. Tell us exactly what it needs.

I have a hunch that the devil you know is preferable.

 

Crap + shoot = Crapshoot

 

1 word, no! take it from a guy that just did that and i got a $hit motor that ran for 2 months and died. grant you it was my 07 sonata motor and not the max, it is probably better to sell as is and save yourself a boatload of headaches, period.

 

What kind of shape is the body/interior in?

From your description it sounds like you need new:

Front wheel bearings
Battery cable replacement (Current is too short due to cutting off corrosion)

And probably for $50 at Pick N Pull:

Windshield spray motor
trunk weather stripping
taillight weather stripping/gasket/etc

So I think the key is how does there rest of the car look (rust?)
And where is the engine leaking.

 

One more thought.....

Our cars aren't worth a darn any more.

I see rust free examples like mine going for 1000- 1500 dollars. Less for cars which need work.

It makes sense to use and maintain cars we already own. They areally still useful to ourselves, and keep us from spending thousands to replace them.

It makes sense to do some low budget work to increase resale value. But how much is your time worth. Replacing the engine is a crapshoot. You will spend a lot of time for little reward. It might make sense if the car still looked good and was serviceable for 50k miles or more. But only if you will be driving it yourself.

 

I just realized you're the poster who started the I30 restoration thread. Very interested as I'm working on a '20 foot' restoration of my 96 Maxima.
Very interested in your progress.

 

Still working on my I30 will have updates soon

 

also decided not to pull the engine. I am going to replace the valve cover gaskets and other things and then sell the car off.

 

Probably the best thing you can do under the circumstances.
Sell it for best offer. Let the buyer deal with its issues. Then you can spend your time and money on the I-30.

We can't save everything.