Hey guys. My 94 22re finally blew up and I'm in the market for a new motor.

So I found a guy on Craigslist and he's gotta rebuilt motor with zero miles on it. Story is that he built it and never ended up putting it in and sold the truck first. He said it is a 87 22re with a polished stock crank, new pistons, honed cylinders, all bearings, all seals and gaskets, everything was machined, all the other stuff (oil pump, timing parts) and a rebuilt head. He says he guarantees it runs and says everything is done to exact Toyota specs. Other stuff I'm probably missing.

He only wants 350 which is kind of weird, but he says he just wants it gone.
Also it has been sitting for two years on a stand with everything drained and all holes plugged and sealed off.

My question is, what should I look for when I go check it out? Is there anything I should really check out good? What do you guys think about the whole thing? Any info would be great.
Thanks guys

 

wow, that sounds almost too good to be true. see if you can get a feel for how much mechanical experience he's got. if he seems like a decent mechanic and not a shortcut/cheapest route type, it might be okay, and a great opportunity.

personally, I can barely stand letting people put tires on my truck, so not sure I'd have the guts to trust someone with building an engine, but for $350, it's almost worth the risk.

go check it out and get him talking about the build-up. listen for stuff like where he got the parts, what kind, where he had the machine work done, whether he's done it before, ran into any problems, etc.

maybe ask him to put some oil in the spark plug holes, put a ratchet on the crank and turn it over a few times for you, and then see if you can do it. obviously should spin pretty freely without any plugs in it.

ask him about any undersizing on the journals/crank, whether the pistons are stock or oversize. if oversize, then the cylinders should have been bored, not just honed, etc. just listen to see if he knows what he's talking about.

 

Isn't the core price on these engines around $250-300? Even if the engine turns out to be garbage you wouldn't be out much money.

 

It's sounds like a good buy, but usually when things sound to good to be true that's because they are. A used one with 100k miles will set you back $900. The suggestions above are good. Find out who done the machine work. Also I'd ask why the motor was rebuilt to begin with. A thrown rod bearing could weaken the block and wouldn't be noticeable from the outside of the motor. Good luck I hope it's as good as it sounds for you though.

 

:wabbit2:I have to agree it sounds much to cheap this would not even cover the rebuilding of the head.

If it was me ask if the seller has any problem with you pulling the valve cover and the oil pan.

It is the only way I would buy this engine or any so called rebuilt engine.

Then again if your asking what to look for do you really know what your looking at.

 

I'm going to agree, very scary buying something like that. I needed a few parts last year for my 22re and found one that the guy said it has 100k miles and was bored, ported and polished head, crane cam, etc.. But said it was low psi on one cyl.

It didn't really matter to me as I just wanted a few parts. Plus I talked the guy down to 50$.

Long story short, all but one cyl had broken rings and gouged the cylinder walls so bad that the block is now a boat anchor. Cam was ground down so bad that there was an 1/8" lip left on the edges of the lobe.

Just becareful what you buy. And as others suggested, if he has nothing to hide, pull the VC and oil pan and see what's going on.

 

If it sounds too good to be true...

:wabbit2: