ANYONE CHANGED OUT A 7AFE W/A USED ONE?, Blew an engine; thinking abt buying a Jap "used" one Options

[Rangemaster]

Son called one day, said he's stuck on the freeway. It seems he has a loud knocking sound coming from the engine.

After doing a leakdown check (#3 and #4 cylinders looks suspicious) we pulled the heads. Shop said valves and the top end were fine; head gasket was not blown either. Engines has 125K miles on it.

Upon cycling the pistons to TDC it seems we can push #4 DOWN about .020" at the start of the down stroke... this indicates piston pin or rod bearing problems.

Soooo... thinking 'bout removing the rest of the engine and installing one of the "used, inspected/tested" Japanese pulls out of Seattle that they ship over. They have a 1 year unlimited milage warranty and you use your existing manifolds/engine-mounted accessories. I plan on replacing the timing belt, water pump and thermostat in the "new" engine when I install it.

QUESTION - has anyone done a swap with one of the "used" engines? I'm pulling a 7AFE and replacing it with a 7AFE... don't want to go modding right now.

Can this engine be pulled OUT THE TOP? I've dropped the tranny before to do a clutch and hate working under the thing in the pit; it looks like if I finish pulling the accessories off and yank the water pump I might just have enuff room to unbolt the engine and slide it to the left to get the transmission input shaft out of the motor.

Any tips from someone who has been down this goat trail will be appreciated...

[56willysnut]

My guess is that there is not that much technical knowledge on this forum, I'm not getting any posts on my thread also. I'm getting ready to travel that same trail soon. I just question whether the quality of the motor will be good or not, I've checked into several remanufactered engines on line and will probably go with one of those. Try JER engines on google. I got a quote of $1469 for a long block, guaranty of 3 yrs unlimited miles. Check them out. They are in Kentucky. good luck let us what you decide and how it turns out.

This post has been edited by 56willysnut: Dec 1, 2006 - 8:17 AM

[Rangemaster]

My guess is that there is not that much technical knowledge on this forum, I'm not getting any posts on my thread also. I'm getting ready to travel that same trail soon. I just question whether the quality of the motor will be good or not, I've checked into several remanufactered engines on line and will probably go with one of those. Try JER engines on google. I got a quote of $1469 for a long block, guaranty of 3 yrs unlimited miles. Check them out. They are in Kentucky. good luck let us what you decide and how it turns out.

I looked at that - shipping to Oregon is a killer; there is also a place in the Seattle area that does rebuilds for $1695, but they rebuild YOUR long block and you have to wait at least 2-3 weeks.

I bought a used Japanese "pull" for $750 and have it on the engine stand now - they didn't have any 7AFEs so I'm retrofitting a 4AFE and mounting the accessories on it today and replacing the timing belt, front crank seal, rear main seal, water pump and thermostat. My existing intake manifold (injectors are on the manifold) and exhaust manifold will bolt right up to the block. The $750 includes a $100 core charge for the old engine. I haven't decided whether to bag that and keep the core to rebuild the 7AFE - that depends on how bad it's thrashed in the bottom end.

The replacement 4AFE (yes, I know it's only a 1.6L) was really clean, had an excellent compression test (I watched them do a final leak-down test), and came with a one year, unlimited-milage warranty. All I have to do is an initial oil change after 200 miles or 5 days, then change the oil every 2K.

I'll keep this thread open and maybe throw in some pics of the process.