What To Look For When Buying a Used Car Engine

27 January 2017

Here at JTW Autoparts, we supply only the finest second hand engines. There are several things that you need to look out for when you buy a car engine. Read our helpful guide in order to learn much more.

Check the Coolant

The coolant liquid is designed to regulate the temperature of the car engine and to prevent it from overheating. An overheated engine will become damaged and will stop working. Check that the coolant hasn’t leaked or mixed with the oil in the engine. Oil residue or foam are signs that the engine simply isn’t in good enough working order to consider buying.

Another danger sign is if there is rust around the radiator. This means that the previous owner of the engine has not but a sufficient amount of anti-freeze in there. They will have instead just relied on water to make sure that the engine stays cool. However, this is not sufficient.

See What Happens When You Turn Over the Cold Engine

Listening to the sounds that a cold engine makes can be a key indicator of how well it is performing. Listen for any sounds of grinding or clanking which could be a sign that the engine is not in the best possible condition that it could be. Sit in the car for at least a couple of minutes and make a mental note of what is going on. You might find that the engine has no unexplained noises. In that case, then there is nothing stopping you taking the final step in the process. If you don’t pay close enough attention at the beginning, you might miss important clues. This is because a warmer engine will often cover up these tell-tale signs of engine failure, so you will need to keep your ears pricked up for any warnings.

Look at the Colour of the Smoke From the Exhaust

The colour of the smoke coming from the exhaust can tell you a lot about the state of the engine. This quite a simple distinction: if the smoke coming out of the exhaust is thick and black, then this is a sign that something is wrong with the engine, most likely it has carbon deposits which can affect performance.

Test Drive

The test drive is the end of the process after you have checked out all the different aspects of the engine. Keep an ear and an eye out to see if the engine appears to be struggling when you are driving around. Once the test drive has been completed, you can weigh up the pros and cons of what you have just experienced. Then when you are happy, you will own the second-hand engine that you needed.

If you are on the hunt for a used engine, why not contact us today?

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