Opinion on 'reman' engines

Brother needs another engine for his XJ, his high miler E36 M3 the bed. JY used prices are $8oo-1K, mileage dependent w/ 6 mo. warranty, YMMV.

Remanufactured long blocks are $1500+ w/ 3 yr. warranty, seems like throwing a little extra scratch at it will yield better results in the long run, this vehicle could be/ is a keeper... if this works out. Early 90's Cherokee, 5-speed, 4.0L.

Never bought a reman so I dunno, always had one rebuilt or JY'd it.

What's the word on remanufactured engines? Nobody has time here anymore so it could be the Easy Button.

Buy from a big name reputable manufacturer with a good warranty, or take the original to a trusted machine shop.

I don't trust any motor not put together by the original factory or me.

Dr. Hess wrote: I don't trust any motor not put together by the original factory or me.

x2. my dad insisted on trading the 50k mile engine that i gave him in on a parts store reman. out of the box the lifters were junk, they would collapse as soon as they got warm, then rockers would flop and clack. engine company made the parts store give me new lifters and gaskets, then refused the claim and the labor bill when i sent back the bad lifters.

Dr. Hess wrote: I don't trust any motor not put together by the original factory or me.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

Its amazing how many people are all "just rebuild it!" and I am all "loooooooooooool", especially when it comes to Subaru motors.

The factory motors are killer for a reason. Unless I am making mondo-power, factory all the way, run er till she blows, throw it in tha gutta and go buy anotha.

The little shop I worked in back in high school put a lot of Jasper engines in various things. I don't recall us or the customers having any issues during the time I worked there. Of course anything that's not brand new from the manufacture is a risk and bad parts do go out but most reman engines should come with some kind of warranty.

Hell we had a run of bad waterpumps on our 400hp 6 liter engines at Mastercraft when I worked there, took about two weeks to get them all changed. Those came new in the crate from Indmar.

i would JY a 4.0. find an auto with low miles. your thinking too hard.

-J0N

I sold and installed about a half dozen jasper engines back when i used to be a tech. This was 5-10 years ago and I was always happy with the quality and had no come backs. The install kits they sell with the engines are worth buying too. I would use them again.

Don't always assume the low mile take out is golden. I found a 92,000 mile 22RE out of an 85 Celica which is low mileage for a 22RE. Had Toyota service every 3,000mi and the paper to proove it.

Thing didn't last 4,000mi before spinning a rod bearing.

For $1500, consider finding a rusty but drivable donor vehicle. Grab some of the extra bits off of it when you pull the engine. If his vehicle is in fact a 'keeper' a smallish shelving unit should be dedicated to spares. Anyways, what's more GRM than keeping a spare drivetrain on a shelf?

RossD wrote: Anyways, what's more GRM than keeping a spare drivetrain on a shelf?

Having a spare drivetrain for a vehicle you don't possess?

I swapped in a 4AGE 7-Rib long block in my MR2 after a spun bearing (my fault). The quality of the block build was excellent. All tolerances were spot-on and all components were top-notch. I think the supplier has a lot to do with it, a good remanufacture will do as good a job as anyone else, a shady one will do poor work.

As long as you're looking for opinions! When I bought my '85 C-30 Dooley over 15 years ago, it had recently been the recipient of an ATK rebuilt engine. That engine is still in the truck and still doing fine. Not a ton of miles in that time, but definitely a lot of years. Cranks right up, runs fine, and delivers a dependable 9 mpg!

http://atkvege.com/content/index.php/Why-Buy-from-ATK.php

A six month warranty will is long enough for a critically bad engine to die horribly if it is driven with regularity. Odds are good it will be a factory unit, too. The Jeep 4.0 shouldn't be too hard to find. Odds are good a lower mileage unit from a later model would offer some updated features, like the improved manifold and some other stuff.

Do keep in mind that a lower mileage 4.0 is probably going to be 150k miles unless you somehow get very lucky.

Spoolpigeon wrote:

RossD wrote: Anyways, what's more GRM than keeping a spare drivetrain on a shelf?

Having a spare drivetrain for a vehicle you don't possess?

Hey, I only have THREE subaru engines and um...no subarus.

I've had a jasper engine in a vehicle long ago (think ~2001ish) and it seemed fine for the remaining 100k I had the car for. I eventually had clutch and transmission problems, but then again, it was a DSM....

I'd do a reman 4.0. There's what.... 5 moving parts that each cost a dollar?

When I was looking for a used Nissan Z-24i engine, the ones I was finding were $400-500 and had 175k+ miles on them. A reman from Advance was $1300ish. After dicking around for three years, I pulled it and took to a local machine shop known to be reasonably priced and pretty good. I called the next day to get the price (engine was already torn down) and it was around $650 for the engine kit and machine work. I reassembled the engine and its still going strong several years later. Because the truck had sat for so long, I ended up having to replace a lot of electrical stuff to get it to run.

If I were to buy a reman 4.0L, I'd spring for a stroker 4.6L. Its a little more but the extra power (all the torques!) would make a beast of an XJ, especially with the 5 speed.

A low mileage 4.0L JY engine? Low mileage on a 4.0L is like what, 250k miles?

Hell, you could pull a 4.0L out of the bottom of a lake, change the fluids and be fine