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Anyone had experience buying engines from the government surplus auction websites? I assume most have been removed for major failures but i read somewhere that the military is swapping out the old working 6.2l and replacing them with the new GEP 6.5l to stimulate the economy ;) any thoughts?
Ex. http://www.govliquidation.com/auctio...&convertTo=USD
I bought 2 6.5 motors from a Government Liquidation several years ago and the experience was just that.
1st is the paperwork, You have to fill out an End Use certificate stating what you plan on doing with the motors, #1 is that you dont plan on selling them to foreign nationals. Not that big of a deal but on your first buy you have to wait a period of weeks for your EUC to be approved. Again not big of a deal but just know that it takes a little time.
Second, Unless you live close enough to the base to inspect the actual lot, (you have to make an appointment) it is a toss up. The Gov Liquidation people use the military's DRMO Codes and list them in the auctions, Condition will be listed in a Letter number format such as "A3" etc. There is a key on the site which explains what codes mean what. Unserviceable generally means just that. Most non-running or Junk motors will have Red or green tags on them, These are service tags on the mechanic that inspected them. Red means the motor is not rebuildable and green means it is.
That being said the tags are just a brief inspection by a military mechanic on if they want to rebuild it. 1 of my motors had a red tag, inspection stated metal shavings in oil unserviceable. Motor had not been torn down, But the big hole in the oil pan was a clue. Tore down motor, which was 97 block and had just been rebuilt according to labels on motor, appeared clearances werent right when they installed crank or rod bearings, spun 2 crank bearings which in turn sent metal through crank oil passages starved lower end of oil rod end got so hot cap let go and sent it through the oil pan. in process knocked lower part of cylinder wall. Had machine shop inspect block, stated cylinder damage was not high enough to cause issues with ring or piston seal no cracks, junked crank rods and sold rest of motor to an individual for more than what I paid for both. He rebuilt it and is driving it to this day.
Second motor was Green tagged which according to DRMO is supposed to be rebuildable. This was a 2000 GM Improved casting block. Thicker mains etc. Motor again had nice size hole in oil pan, upon tear down, head gasket let go, hydrolocked motor rod snapped in half.
Internal knocked a chunk out of lower cylinder wall. Crank and all other rods good, Machine shop said cylinder needs to be sleeved but otherwise block is good. That motor is currently resting in my 85.
Moral of the story is you dont know what your gonna get. Condition codes and service tags are just a brief inspection and can be wrong and other documentation can be wrong. If the auction goes cheap enough or the base is close by it may be worth it, otherwise you may be better going another route.
A local fellow bought a BUTTLOAD of these a few years ago.
I sorted though several of them and after seeing all the carnage, decided to pass.
I have heard the stories of the perfect condition 6.2 engines that were swapped out for the super cheap deals.
All the stuff I saw was JUNK, not that it could not have been salvaged with enough time and $$$$$ but not worth the effort in my book.
The same fellow later had a batch of BARE blocks, stuff that had already been torn down.
Same game, holes in cyinders, main webs cracked, mainlines torn up from spun bearings and all forms of wreckage.
Add up the $$$$ you are going to spend to buy one of these piles of iron, then rebuild it.
Compare this amount to what you can buy a fresh Zero time block from Clearwater cyl head.
I have seen several of the blocks that clearwater is selling and they are nice.
No cracks, clean, zero stress time and ready to go.
If you go this way, just be sure to fully flush ALL the oil passages out completely before assembling the thing.
Machine shop time is not cheap.
Whats worse is when you get one all done, then after its running, to find that it had a crack or some other issue that you missed during the initial inspection.
Have fun, but be careful, looks can be deceiving.
Missy
Just wondering if they could really uphold this one as your government sell to us. I have 2 1008's and a 1009 at the moment plus some spare engines, trannys and axles etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by chevytuff
I sent my Humvee engine to these guys and had it remanufactured. They did a fantastic job and the engine looked brand new. It has more power and they even gave me a Dyno sheet. Militarydrivetrains.com
just adding my 2 cents in here.... you definitely never can be sure what you are getting. I bought one from an ebay seller around 2006-07 and the seller had a 99% rating... he said the engines are rated A-B-C's and the A's are the best engines and that's all he sells... bottom line is that he either lied completely or the rating system is meaningless.Quote:
Originally Posted by willibig
Total purchase cost w/shipping was $1024 Canadian $$ by the time I got it home and it was basically a pile of parts, it didn't even have gaskets but gasket surfaces were all pretty clean. It looked brand new inside and out but it also looked like someone had started it without putting oil in it when it was rebuilt. The cylinders walls still had new cross hatch. I'm betting this engine didn't run 5 minutes before someone realized what they had done and then tore it down to see the damage, two spun rod bearing and a destroyed -.010 crank.
On the bright side I did get over a $1000 worth of parts from it so I don't consider it a loss. The 4875 inj pump was new, the injectors were junk, the crank and pistons were junk, I kept the block and heads of course, I sold the intake and headers for $250.
My employer had an 84 GMC k2500 4spd truck sitting in his so called scrap pile, and was able to pick it up for the grand total of 0bucks. Meanwhile I had a 6.2 traded to me for an old garden tractor that needed tires and lots of time I didn't want to bother with. Don't know much about the engine other than it turns over, came with a brand new starter. And could use some gaskets and seals.(oily) it has Goodwrench on the valve covers, so I'm assuming it's a Remanufactured motor. And it has no EGR crap in the intake. In fact it's open plenum. One more thing, it has a flex plate. So question 1 _ can a 4 SPD flywheel work on this crank, how do I tell if said engine is J code, and if it's a good motor what if anything should I do to the fuel system to get a little more power out of it. Turbocharging is not an option financially. And it's a Farm use only rig. Just clean air in and bigger exhausts to help it's anemia