For people pondering the concept of replace vs. rebuild on your own car that you aren't flipping, consider that new parts are sometimes newer versions that address engineering flaws. Also, rebuilding and being meticulous, measuring every bore and clearance and whatnot, you can make the engine better than it came from the factory, probably fixing missed defects.

What I've learned in the first 60 seconds is don't buy a car from this guy. He puts a scrapyard engine in it and sells it to you immediately.

Few years ago someone from a supporting church blessed me with a 2008 Chevy Suburban (190K miles) so I could continue to do my ministry in the community, especially the street outreaches as a gospel DJ. I had taken out an extended warranty when I got the vehicle, few months later it had a dead cylinder. I took it to the local dealership and 2 months later after a lot of back and forth, the warranty company gave me a rebuild engine with zero miles on it, and its still running great. My deductible was $100. Hallelujah!!!

Have you ever thought about the fact that its fun and educational?? Rebuilding an Engine challenges you to do the best job you can and teaches you to pay attention to details and specs while giving you a true appreciation of just how that engine works. You shouldn't tell people to "NEVER" rebuild an engine. You are in effect encouraging them to miss out on something really valuable. Even if that engine is not used.

the key part everyone is missing is having a reliable salvage yard which knows how to test and pull the engine correctly.

Exactly! Engine swap cheap and easy. Last one I did. $500 for the car $300 for engine. I drove it 3 years. Sold it for $1800.00. Now that makes sense.

I wouldn't buy a car from a flipper, it is clear that they don't care about longevity. As you mentioned, some people simply need a car for transportation and rescuing engines to quickly put them into other cars is fine, I respect it. However, personally I don't like living with the anxiety of not knowing the state of the engine on my car, feeling like the car could break down at any time. Rebuilding it gives me the peace of mind to know the state of it without buying a brand new car. It is like gambling and that's the problem, I don't like gambling. Ultimately you make a profit and walk away, the costumer is now the one with the ticking bomb.

Years ago when i had a shop, i always bought used engines from 1 particular salvage yard. His engines were always tested and put on shelves indoors. Bought and installed over 35 engines from him in 2 years. Never had one needing a replacement. If it worked out that it did, i would have done it for free labor for 6 months. If a customer bought an engine from somewhere else. There was no free labor at all even if the engine went bad within its 30 day warranty period. I had no problem standing beind my choice in using his used engines. Anyone elses i was not confident in. Never had to provide free labor. I did as a rule replace timing chains, oil pump, water pump as well as front and rear seals.

I think that it matters for what you are doing. I personally love rebuilding engines because of the process of it and the satisfaction. Plus knowing that the engine is in great condition.

The headgasket in my 2003 chevy trailblazer 4wd blew on the way home from work and yes I kept driving lol, I live out in the country so it was about a 20 minute drive home from where I was. Pulled the valve cover off and saw 3 rocker arms broken off and milky oil cams were toast and the whole engine was done for. So I went to the local junkyard and bought a running 4.2l i6 out of the same year and model trailblazer as mine for $350. Swapped it in a day and runs great 60 psi of oil pressure I did new gaskets, plugs,coils,, and injectors on it before I put the new engine back in because taking the intake off on a trailblazer sucks while in the car. Now I drive it to work everyday and have put 20,000 miles on the $350 junkyard engine.

I've been a licensed mechanic and machinist since 1974 and have worked in machine shops on thousands of rebuilds. I found that most of the engines I did were for rare or not commonly available engines or numbers matching and performance apps. I have given this same advice to many customers when I felt the conditions warranted it. They have lots of importers for JDM engines here in Canada and their rules in Japan for used parts are very strict. I've used plenty of them in my flippers and they have never let me down. I have totally rebuilt engines for my my own special projects because it's fun and satisfying for me ,personally but for everyday runners, a good used engine is usually the best route.

It almost sounds like you don't care if you install an engine that will fail within a few months of the customer buying the car. Which, if so, is a scumbag move unless you disclosed that fact to them. "Hey this is a junkyard engine, and it's at the bottom of the scale. No telling how long it will last". But you can't really say that can you? Who would buy that car?

People gotta remember, this is how you make money, watching you rebuild an engine may be *cool* but it isn't the cheapest way to get flips done, the cheapest way to get flips done is to stick an engine in it. The *only* thing I'd do different is do a timing set and a water pump on every engine just so you can say it's a used engine but the water pump and timing set are brand new, get a few more bucks out of it, and feel good that you are sending quality automobiles out there onto America's highways for people to use for years to come.

I think it shows why the math doesn't add up on flipping cars (minus KZfaq ad revenue). Book time to replace that engine is 12ish hours, which should be around $1,000 in most shops. So if you value your labor at $80/hour you'll barely break even on this flip. Plus you have to buy it, go get it, sell it, deal with the tire kickers, and have your money tied up for weeks to months while that goes on.

Jesus Christ.. you went from $65 head gasket to 2k .. worst case scenario calm down lmao

Geez, I rebuilt a chevy small block in the early 90's for $500 with a rebuild kit from Summit, their brand camshaft and lifter kit, etc. and the machining done at a local parts house. I low-bucked the heck out of it but took my time and did an excellent job with assembly. It was for my '74 C10 stepside pickup, I scored a huge air cleaner assembly from the junkyard off a Cadillac and after I broke it in I hit the on-ramp for the highway and nailed the gas pedal. The thing took off and the hood sucked down just like on a race car, it was moving a ton of air. Those were the good old days, I could fix almost anything on that truck for $35-$50. Good times!

You are taking me back to my youth. Blow up an engine, go to the wrecking yard, pay 1$/ci and after the first time got the swap time down to 1.5 hours.

He’s right, but with that fancy screen he could have, at least, given us the weather, too…

He's right. I'm a retired ASE certified, GM factory trained line tech & the insight here is good. However, two things need to be addressed; 1) How to find an engine salvage yard you can TRUST is KEY to his concept. 2) Yes, a trustworthy salvage yard will exchange an engine if (rarely) you get a faulty one BUT...they do NOT reimburse you for the $600-$800 labor (or whatever your own time is worth) to R&R the engine a SECOND time.

Safety and quality aside, imma keep rebuilding because there is no way I can get an $800 engine replacement out here that is not also just as crappy as my current engine. I live on the Big Island of Hawaii. We have no engine remanufacturing companies here so shipping it in is the only way, and shipping ANYTHING of that size and weight will cost me both arms and one leg. Cheaper to take the engine to the machine shop, buy a rebuild kit and rebuild it myself.

It's the fastest, cheapest way to get a flip car running again. If it's a car you like and want to keep long term, and if the original engine isn't garbage it is probably worth it. Sounds like you already just said the same thing so we agree 👍

For flips this a ton of makes sense. For my project Fiero that blew a head gasket, I rolled the dice and only spent about $60 on a gasket set and didn't even check the head for flatness. I've put 5k miles on it since then with no issues

I totally agree with you on that, everyone has to go through an engine rebuild sometime in their life if you’re a car guy or girl just to realize how expensive and time consuming it is. Engine swap on a car that holds its value is totally worth it.

Notice he never said what the cost of the machine work is. Decking a head/block is not much money. And he’s also swapping an engine on a 20+ year old car. A new car (less than 10 years old) you are gonna rebuild for less. Also a warranty is nice, but you have no idea why that car was totaled. You have no idea what maintenance was/was not done. Rolling the dice on a $800 motor? Ok. Once you get into the $3-$5k for a used motor NOPE. Not worth the RISK.

Anyone recommending an engine rebuild for a flip has never rebuilt one.

Actually the math doesn't add up in this analysis. This guy is comparing 1) Buying a used engine to 2) Rebuilding an entire engine from top to bottom. Reality is in most cases a failed engine fails for one particular reason: e.g. Spun bearing, overheated, head gasket. In those cases, just the failed part should be changed and in some cases could be done with used parts. And, no if you're flipping the car, you don't need to do the "While I'm in there". I've blown a headgasket in my car with heads that are notorious for warping. I pulled the head and took it to a machine shop to check the head for cracks and to resurface it. Total cost was like $50-$100 max. I bought a new headgasket and head bolts ($20) and put it all back together. Total cost was

I rebuilt the engine of my Rav4 myself including removal and installation, it was a very enjoyable activity and spent less than a 1000 dlls on new replacements as pistons, rings metals, gaskets, etc. including machine shop of head and cylinder block, also my rebuild is much more reliable than a used engine you don't know the current clearances.

I’ve done both, yes a junkyard engine is cheaper, a reman is pretty good too but if you’re going to drive it yourself you should build it yourself.

JR wisdom being dropped. If it's a flip. Preach brother. But if it's a keeper of course rebuild it 👍

Yeah, naah. Shipping an engine the five hours from my closest major city recycler would cost as much as the engine. You have blinkers on and can only see your own situation.

While I agree on almost any other engine these 4 litre's use a cast iron block and heads that have been around around since the 70's and are known for out living the jeeps they're in. Parts are cheap and plentiful and is one of the easiest engines to work on. I wouldn't bat an eye at slapping a new gasket in, doing a diesel oil flush throwing in some mobil one and calling it a day. There's a video on here where they red line the engine with no oil and it throws 2 rods out of the block and still keeps running. A true bullet proof engine that was lost to emissions and planned obsolescence.

The problem right now is with the crazy used car market, fewer insurance jobs are being totalled, and used engine prices are WAY up for some cars.

If the numbers don't match no way I'm paying retail.

There are always exceptions. 75% of the time a good used engine is the way to go, but when you've got a minor head gasket leak with known history then just doing a head gasket can be good option, especially on a 4 cylinder. Every situation is different.

There are several things to look for in a junk yard engine. Why is the car in the yard to begin with? Was the car wrecked or worn out? Did you see the car it was in? did you hear and see it run? I've found it better for me to find a good deal on a running car that I can use or resale . A deal is almost always available if you are patient .

JR, I 95% Agree; I'm frugal. I don' want to spend when I don't have to, but sometimes it's better to spend now and not spend later. Like buying cheap tires. I have however replaced head gaskets with success a couple of times over the past few years. None of the cars had overheated, so for me it was a no brainier to just do the gaskets. And they were not for flipping. Years ago, I rebuilt a 1600 and it lasted 80k before losing the oil pump. I replaced it with a 50K or less for $230 and the thing just never quit. So I have been on both sides.

Transmission rebuilds are the same way, you can get a pulled one for sometimes less than $300

Thank you for taking care of my new Jeep. 👍

As a mechanic I always tell the client the options or replacing or even rebuilding the engine. I rather rebuild than replace because you don't know about how the replacing engine was worked or even if it's a used engine you don't have any idea how that engine was used. It's better to rebuild the engine than replace it. Always buy quality parts for your vehicle, don't go to under quality parts, they will make you throw money through the drain. And the MUST TO DO with your engine, keep it oil change on time. Use a GOOD motor oil and from time to time you can add a quantity of anti friction to the engine when oil changing.

Yes sir i totally agree! Ive been an automotive mechanic for 25yrs and found out what makes sense pretty quick. The only time i touch the internals of a motor is installing upgrades for higher preformance. Its motor swaps pretty much with everything else.

You didn't mention your 'labor cost' in the flip. R&R an engine of course involves hours of time. You have friends help you with a lot of your endeavors. I assume you let them use your shop in exchange for their 'free' labor? Your $1800 Jeep plus $800 used engine plus lights and fluids brings you up to maybe $3K? If you sell it for $4K and you consider yours and others labor time, you are at best breaking even IMHO.

I used to be an ASE certified mechanic for a Toyota dealership in San Diego. What he is saying about the head gaskets is correct. We had a recall campaign for a majority of the V-6 engines in Tacomas, 4-Runners and a handful of other vehicles where the head gaskets kept going out and in many situations the entire engine had to be replaced. The recall was called the VO6 campaign and literally, every single vehicle that was recalled or had already had the head gaskets replaced had lots of additional work that needed to be redone. Probably half got new engines from Toyota due to the amount of everything needing to be replaced. Then you look at preventative maintenance as well while you’re in there. Thermostats, timing chains or belts, and other things. So he is spot on if someone is buying a car to flip and it needs engine work. Often times it’s more cost effective to simply swap out the engine!

I'd say, for a daily driver, do a partial rebuild on the new-used engine. Hone the cylinders and throw in some new rings, new rod and main bearings, new head gasket and head bolts, new valve seals. And clean all the carbon out. The total cost of this would be under $500 and it would extend the engine's life dramatically. But this is if you were to keep the car for a long time and use it as a daily driver. Since you're flipping it, it would make more sense to just swap in the used engine as is.

For a flip car this is likely the best idea. I don't flip cars, I drive them. I also won't do the engine swap myself, that means I'm paying someone else $1,000 - $1,500 to install the engine. If the engine is garbage the salvage yard will gladly exchange it but now I have to pay ANOTHER $1,000 - $1,500 and the hassle of going through all this crap again.

With a junk yard engine most vendors require you to replace timing chains to get warranty, you will replace water pump and oil pump too. $800 is not your total cost with a junkyard buy.

When you said the math doesn’t add up I thought you meant you had parts leftover when you do an engine rebuild.lol

I went through five junkyard engines before I got a good one. The dealer and I both lost big time, there were no winners in that transaction. From then on, I have used short blocks. So much less trouble. Some cars when the engine fails, it's time to scrap it. Simply not made to be repaired.

My truck and some of my equipment use 5.9l Cummins engines, as they are extremely common. Rebuilding is thousands cheaper than buying a new engine. We also have two vehicles that have the Ecoboost 3.5L and once again, rebuilding is cheaper than new. Who would go to the trouble to replace an engine with a used one??? New or rebuilt is the way to go. If it is worth doing, It is worth doing right.

Love the idea of the whiteboard..can we get a zoom on it or huge font?

Not even considering the money, the time invested rebuilding the engine and waiting on machine work would take many hours labor longer as well as weeks(possibly) waiting on the machine shop.

This man just like that has destroyed my fetish of watching engine restoration videos. It is a SAD day for me.....

It's also a good way of the breakers to dispose of a used tyre for each engine they sell.

Pretty solid advice. I maybe should've done that with my '95 Tacoma after its head gasket blew, but my reasoning was I didn't have access to an engine lift so I had to limit myself to parts I could take out by hand. Luckily my head didn't need much machining and my camshafts weren't warped so cost wise it was quite a bit cheaper than your estimate here, but the truck was still out of service for a month in my garage. I've put a few hundred miles on it since then and it's still running great, though, so fingers crossed it will continue to do so (I plan on keeping/driving this truck for many years to come).

Very questionable statement for all who are not living in the US "We" are not on the source of reliable second-hand engines "We" have some ridiculous laws regarding engine swaps - the engine is not a spare part and you have to declare it to the registration license of your car/boat "We" don't earn 80 US$/hour, labor is way cheaper And you shouldn't thrust pulled out, a bare engine from the junkyard, because you don't know what torture had it survived in a previous vehicle BONUS: All problems that the previous owner had with the engine are transferred to you. If you want to continue to ride the same vehicle, and you want it reliable, rebuild the engine. You got a 0 miles/kilometers engine that won't have pain in ass leaks, bad gaskets, fault engine codes...

I agree 100% with this. However, this works best when a car is no more than 25 years old. After that, junk yard engines are either too old to rely on, or scarce.

Also ask yourself what business you are in. If you are not flipping cars for a living, or if you don’t have a shop with tools and lifts then spend your time doing what you do to make money. Otherwise you will over spend on fixing your car and take away from your primary means of income.

Math never lies -- it's like the evidence at a crime scene: it doesn't have an agenda.

I can't understand the hate on this man for selling cars with junk yard engines. He's not lying about what he is doing. My engine blew once and I had a used engine put in and with labor it was $1,800. When you are on a budget, getting from point A to point B is a blessing. It shows how many people haven't had it hard by the tone of some of the comments. Some people don't want a $60k bill looming over their head and are fine with a $5k car that runs and they can then maintain. It's not like the customer can't further improve the engine if needed or wanted. When someone is open and 100% transparent you have no argument with them. People like me would buy a car from him. Think of it like this, find a rental car company, see how much a rental is for 5 years... if the car you bought is cheaper vs renting and you were able to get from point A to Point B you got your moneys worth. 1k a year for transportation as a throw away isn't that bad to be honest. Chances are it will last longer with proper care. Check your oil, plugs, ignition coils, clean your carbs and injectors out the right way, etc...

The engines of the cars I like rarely can be found in wrecking yards. Sometimes rebuild is your only choice

Yooo jrgo! I totally agree with you on the engine swap.. now the only thing I would consider doing before buying is finding the real reason why the car won’t start… not saying for your jeep but in general I flip cars and when I bought non running cars especially Honda’s people will say gasket problem or overheating problems and it is either a sensor or something super super easy.. a lot of people selling these cars cheap because they are not mechanics and a friend took a look and guessed what the problem is.. so I usually ask them why they think it’s the gasket or ect and they will tell me I looked it up.. I literally turned on a Lexus sc400 no start I bought for 300 because the fuel pump went out and a burnt the fuse. Lol. Last example, bought a del sol for 300 no start and they had the distributor on wrong.. I took it out and put it correctly cranked up sold it right away for 1500

I love how it's so cheap in USA to do things like this. Cars are cheap. Decent wrecking yard engines are cheap. Heck here in Oz you need to mortgage ya house just for a second hand engine from a suspect wreckers let alone the cost of the car you need to stick it in. Flipping here sure ain't as easy.

Proud shop owner here. Rebuild and engine swaps are my bread and butter. Im currently replacing my 3rd Jasper engine due to failure. Ever since covid, old school builders at Jasper never came back to work. Im fonding that there are issues with the 6.2 engines. So be careful.

As an auto mechanic I've found it's really not worth even replacing the motor or transmission on most cars. They run up to 3 to 400000 these days so if the motor goes out the transmission is probably not to far behind. And then what about the rest of the car? Like the body is starting to go the interior is all wore out and the the car is still going on 15 years old and worth around 2 to 3000. And then of course anything you find in a salvage yard is going to be high mileage and you can't here them running before you buy so until you get it installed you don't know what you're getting. I've got salvage yard motors that knocked when I started them so back out it goes and exchange for another one. I feel like the salvage yards are slowly becoming a thing of the past and are becoming more like scrap yards as the average person doesn't work on cars anymore and car's are becoming more like disposable appliances where everything goes out all at once. So basically unless it's something you really like and committed to it's not worth it. Ure better off getting something different.

Wasn’t expecting a master class this morning

I love the presentation and the touch screen. You have kicked it up a notch!!!

I have a 2016 Cadillac ATS-V with roughly 90K miles. I love the car and would rather get the engine rebuilt than buy a new car. It's not showing any signs of wear given that it has lived a life of Amsoil products. I'm just triggered by the "NEVER" about rebuilds in this title. I'd rather have mine rebuilt by competent people than buy a pull from a junkyard. Matter of fact, I'll be looking for a highly reputable engine builder once I hit 120K. Carry on.

Let me start by saying that I'm 'OLD SCHOOL'. My father was an Engineer, I was trained as an Engineer, and I've known a few peeps over the years that knew a thing or two about building engines- Richard Petty and Smokey Yunick among them. I guess what matters most, is WHY you care about the engine in your vehicle. If your primary focus is simply to squeeze every centavo out of turning autos, then this fella has a point. On the other hand, if you love the car/truck/motorcycle etc. that you have pride in driving, then doing a rebuild is the ONLY way to go. These places that routinely turn hundreds, if not thousands of rebuilt engines. usually do so with minimum investment of parts and labor/maximizing profit being their target. However, men who do this because they love it, can easily turn out rebuilts that in pretty much every way, are superior to brand spanking new engines fresh off the assembly line. Starting with the fact that a freshly cast block usually has built in 'stresses' which will over repeated operation will eventually be relieved as the metal in the block 'settles' and dimensions stabilize. Secondly, assembly lines often contain aberrant deviations (incorrectly torqued bolts, factory permitted variations in specs etc. which can all be rectified/improved by a motivated and skilled mechanic working from a good used thus stable block. Simply put, in a vehicle you care for, the sound, feel, and power of a well crafted "blue-printed" engine, will bring you a personal joy and self satisfaction that is difficult to achieve in any other way. OTOH, if a car to you is something equivalent to a toaster, then JR's advice is the way to go.

I agree with your reasoning. I've done this several times. Even for cars I personally own. 2008 mazda6 4cyl 2.3liter. Bought the car with bad engine for $1500. Bought the engine from LKQ for $1400 + 200 in exhaust and intake gaskets and throughout bearing = $3100 for a car that is now worth $6500 or at least when I did it in 2017. We drove the car for 2 years and sold it. Great car.

I just had the head gasket done on a Volvo 240 with about 400,000 miles on it. No head or block work. It blew about a month before I got it fixed. Added oil and coolant as needed. That was about a year ago and 20,000 miles ago. Still running strong.

Problem with buying used engines is they often have problems too. I rebuilt my engine myself. Payed a machine shop to bore the block, Machine head and valve job. Parts and machine work was $2800. Been driving car for over 3 years and 45k miles. Money well spent and not questioning the health of a used motor. You often hear a motor has low miles, later to find out it has major problems.

As many scammers there are "flipping" cars, the title to this video should "Just get it running! Make it the next guy's problem!"

Totally agree with this one for daily drivers. WIth the right car, you can literally put only put a few hundred dollars into it and have a great running car even just to drive. If you find a clean car with a bad engine, good engines are are very easy to get and in one weekend you can be on the road.

I agree, unless it’s something rare, a special build, or extreme sentimental attachment engine replacement is the way to go. Now that being said, it would be cool for the old engine to be taken apart just to see what went wrong or some carnage for extra media

One thing I know for sure, there's a red jeep coming up for sale with a motor in it that came from a junk yard that I would not touch with a 10 ft pole. When I was younger, a 350 chevy from a junk yard was a gamble worth taking, but who knows what else is wrong with that jeep, and more importantly, that $800 junk yard motor. But I guess there are so many desperate people out there just trying to survive who might be enticed to take a chance. That's sad!

I was in Junkyard Dog when a wrecker hired by Car Mart drove in towing a big SUV. The driver casually told the Junkyard Dog owner "Put another engine in it" dropped the car and left. Car Mart specialized in beautiful bodies but the internals might be suspect and you would be financing $1,000 to $2,000 more than the car was worth through their in-house financing. I saw a girl co-worker roll $2,000 underwater on a 4x4 pickup into her next loan from Car Mart for another pickup from them and knew she was financially doomed.

this video felt like you just really wanted to use the tv for a video showing off that it actually works because it was glitched in the last video. LOL. still a good video though.

I like how he concludes his remarks about his strictly rational approach to car flipping by noting that he spent “the entire last week making this [Pontiac Aztek] perfect again.”

Tell us you're a sleazy used car salesmen without telling us you're a sleazy used car salesmen... Stay away from dealing with hacks like this, folks.

....Unless it's a really expensive or rare engine where you can't just go out and buy an engine at a junkyard.

The oneeee thing i would do/(get good at) is as the engine is already out doing the timing belt/chain and water pump (if on the timing). Great selling point and well worth it while youre there

I go with low mile used engines because: Factory OEM parts (bearings, seals, rings and gaskets Newer OEM components timing set, oil pump, water pump, injectors and coils

I have resurfaced so many cylinder heads with glass and sand paper. 10 years later they all still run great. Daily drivers too.

In the world of flippers with common vehicles and engines where junkyard engines are readily available at a cheap price, you're a hundred percent right. But when it comes to my vehicle that I intend to keep for a long time, it's a different story. If I'm going to go through the trouble to pull the engine, I might as well go inside it and make sure everything is right. Flipper cars are like flipper houses - caulk and paint make it what it ain't, cover it up and get it sold. I was looking for a 5.7 GM V8 for one of my Chevy work trucks and the local shops wanted $1,000 Plus and their warranty was "if it's no good after you put it in pull it out I will find you another one!" Considering that I'm not a professional and don't have a shop with a lift and full set of tools, that's a heck of a lot of work for me to risk putting in something that may be no better than what I'm pulling out. additionally, I am using these trucks to earn my living I much rather schedule rather than swapping engine and have it down again four months later! I'm not disagreeing with your saying but I think it depends significantly on what your long-term plan for the vehicle is.

I'm with you on that if it's a flip just engine swap it and sale sale sale

Is there a national listing of trusted shops? I'm in Ga. I'd gladly drive 2-3 hours for a shop that local-ish folks have recommended from folks on this channel that sell reliable engines like this.

pul a part folks. 64 bucks for a complete head. 30 bucks for a gasket. flush the oil and coolant system. its a flip. not a car you plan to drive for ten years. id have that bih back on the road for under 130 bucks, lets say 250 for pul a part parts for things i found wrong, and have it up for sale for 6 times what i put in it.

Years ago, when I was "young & dumb", my friends put me onto an old clunker for $300 (1980). Stupid me tried to fix it and it nearly sent me broke, as I was a student at the time. My friend said later, "why didn't you tell us? We would have just got you another clunker." So my dad and his mechanic mate, bought a whole same car for $50, swapped the engine out and put it into my car. Ran really well after that and I got a few more years out of it. Sadly, it had no air-con, and traded it in for the biggest lemon of all time, a VOLVO 164!!! OMG, that car broke me. Keep doing what you do JR, it only makes sense. Get rid of that Cube!!

This is how I've always felt. That being said a simple engine like a toyota 22r are really nice with a fresh rebuild.

Depending on which JEEP model and engine you have, some should definitely be replaced instead of rebuilt. With the introduction LS engines Chevy 350 smallblock engines are a dime a dozen, and easy to work on and/or rebuild, with parts available pretty much everywhere and very affordable and easy to acquire. I just replaced a Chevy 350 smallblock engine in my 1981 JEEP CJ7 for less than $500 total cost, and rebuilt the former 350 smallblcok engine pretty cheap as well, so I have a spare engine incase the new engine doesn't work out for some reason, or I can easily get my money back out of it, since there was no catastrophic damage to the block or heads, and theoretically, it should perform like a new engine, and be good to go for another 100,000 miles or more, if driven, and maintained properly. Hyundai's and most other foreign vehicle's engines should always be replaced by a qualified automotive technician because they are a completely different animal, and can be very expensive, difficult, and time consuming to rebuild, and require expensive specialty tools. Anybody who doesn't possess the 'know how' and/or have the tools, time, and an available facility to rebuild or replace a vehicles engine should always look into having it replaced vs. simply buying a 'new' car, if it is not covered by an insurance policy, because trying to have any work done, or doing it yourself, can be way to expensive, as well as long and drawn out, resulting in a vehicle that sits around too long or never gets completely done and back on the road again. If you're a car dealer, and have a budget that allows you to replace every faulty engine, it's a no brainer that you will save tons of time and money by having bad engines replaced so you can sell the vehicles faster, with less headaches, and with the better selling point of having a new engine, that more than likely comes with at least a 90-120 day warranty, because you, as the seller have more confidence in the new engine than you ever would have in an original engine, unless it's pristine and has been taken care of religiously, with fluids replaced every 3,000 miles, and good records kept to prove it. But if you have good mechanical skills, tools, time, facilities, and patience the most common engines are always easier and cheaper to rebuild yourself, so you literally have a brand new engine with O miles on it when you're finished, and potentially have a vehicle that can easily go another 100,000 miles or more if driven and taken care of properly. ALL newer engines have way too much computer stuff attached to them these days, and require just as much new knowledge and tools to work on yourself, unless you're very adept with auto mechanics, or are an automotive technician yourself. So there really isn't a 'blanket' answer for all vehicle engines as far as rebuilding or replacing, because there are way too many variables to be considered. For the average consumer who doesn't have any experience, tools, or vast knowledge of auto mechanics, having a faulty or broken engine replaced is the only answer, if they want to keep that vehicle on the road, unless they have a good friend or relative who can fix or rebuild the engine efficiently and cost effectively per their finances and available time frame for the vehicle being 'down' and getting repaired. If the vehicle in question is a 2nd vehicle, and it has a commonly rebuilt engine that's one of the easier to work on engines, with good parts availability, and you have spare time to do the work yourself, you can save a lot of money, and have good peace of mind by simply doing the work yourself, with so many valuable resources, and DYI videos on the internet to help guide you to a high quality engine rebuild, that is affordable, and easy to do yourself, if you can simply follow instructions. Those people who have very poor or no mechanical skills and tools, should never even consider rebuilding the easiest engines, because it's way too easy to get lost, confused, or simply lose focus on the project, once again resulting in a vehicle that sits for way too long and/or never gets completed and back on the road. It's most definitely NOT brain surgery though, and with a little money, time, basic tools, or tool rental, and proper guidance,, it's no more difficult than putting a puzzle together. We tend to make simple things a lot harder than they really are, when we should always have the positive attitude that if someone else can do it . . I can too.. In most cases So learn to discern . . . . and take proper care and maintenance of your vehicle's engine so you never have to worry about rebuilding or replacing it. Your automobiles Owner's Handbook includes everything you need to know to properly care for and maintain your vehicle's engine, drivetrain, brakes, etc. and if yours didn't come with one, or it got lost or stolen, most Owner's Handbooks can easily be downloaded in a PDF, or otherwise easily printable format. PEACE, and good luck

The part I hate is here in the Pacific North West everyone thinks they have gold. Your used engine in the PNW would probably be $1300 to $1500.

Never trust anyone. Always tear down an engine to verify

Nice use of the white board. Can you double the font size? Can't see what you put down.

You're right. I replaced a head gasket last year and went with the "while I'm in here approach". That turned into over 1k when all was said and done and I did all the labor myself except the head. Sent that off to a machine shop and had it completely rebuilt. Ran great afterwards but a lower miliage used engine would've been the best option looking back.

A reman engine is way better than a used one for the customer It’s the right thing to do

At the end of the day, there’s a few options with old engine after you’ve swapped. You could rebuild the engine and flip it or have it ready for another car when it’s ready, or just scrap it

100% agree with this after putting 3k into a engine and 6 months later blew it up again the same way i did the first time

Correction: You should never rebuild an engine if you're @Samcrac

While I do agree with everything you're saying, as an amateur wrench, not a car flipper or pro, I will also disagree. My time is my own, therefore it costs me nothing to first disassemble an engine to determine the extent of repair needed. I have encountered several blown head gaskets, and broken timing belts, and didn't have a warped or damaged head. Also, I absolutely have restored a heads surface using nothing more that a plate of glass, contact cement, Emory cloth, a $50 machinists straight edge, feeler gauges, a flashlight, and Prussian blue. All it takes is time, patience, and some skill. I've also restored valve seats and replaced valve guides with nothing more than hand tools. Bottom line is this: "what needs must when the devil drives" if you have a really limited budget and all the spare time that you need, then spending $300 for parts makes a lot more sense then $800 for a used motor. Note though there are places I draw the line: holed pistons or seriously damaged cylinders, forget it. That crap went everywhere inside the engine, time to get a used engine. Also, used engines, especially ones from low mileage wrecks, still have factory tolerances that you won't be able to achieve in your garage at home no matter how careful you are....so I avoid bottom end teardowns...but pulling heads I'll do any time versus pulling the engine.

I was ready to fight over the title but I can't agree more. Building an engine is a labor of love and is not economical outside of horsepower and or sentimentality.

Thanks for explaining all of that. I have an excellent mechanic in Florida who replaced my valve cover gasket last year. He told me that he doesn't do head cover gaskets anymore. Now I understand why. Thanks for the simple and great explanation.