Bought a Dodge 340 engine off a friend, how to tell if hes honest on it

  • Thread starter Thread starter witty_welder
  • Start date Start date
W

witty_welder

Guest
being rebuilt or not? The engine was traded to him for two other engines, and there's no papers on it or anything to tell it has been rebuilt, how can I tell or can a machine shop be able to tell me if it has been rebuilt or not. Pulled one of the spark plugs and they look like it hasn't been fired. Please help!
 
Since any moron can disassemble an engine to see if the parts are new, I assume you're asking how you can tell without unbolting anything.

Look into the ports with a flashlight and see if there's any discoloration on the valve stems. The guides will be clean and shiny brass too.

Stick your finger into the oil fill hole in the valve cover (if there is one) and feel around for crud on the valve springs. (Rebuilt engines have new springs, they never use the old ones).

A new engine is nearly impossible to turn over by hand (by just grabbing the pulley and twisting), but with a little effort a tired old engine will flip over to the next compression stroke.
 
You can get a good idea by pulling the oil pan and seeing if the swirl pattern left behind by the honing operation is still visible. Also pulling the head should reveal the same thing. Take off a exhaust manifold and look at the valves. They should be clean.
But even if these show that a rebuild is new, it does not mean it was done right. If you want to run the engine a long time, the best thing to do is to disassemble it and recheck all the clearances (not to mention torques)
 
pull a rod or main bearing and see if the mopar emblem is still on it. if it had been rebuilt they would more than likely use an aftermarket bearing.
 
An engine can be rebuilt and have significant wear and tear anyway depending on the way it was cared for and used...
Do a compression test in each cylinder, that should give you a good idea if you have any weak cylinders, they should be around 120 each... if that checks out, then start it up and listen to it run... 340 is a good engine..
 
The cylinder heads and oil pan will have to be removed to inspect the gaskets and internal parts.
 
Look for new gaskets on the oil pan and heads,water pump all should be new or clean anyway,if you don't want to tear your engine apart.
 
Back
Top