Picking up a 97 RB25DET tonight

[GSDKinked]

Anything I should look for??? I planned on pulling the oil pan and checking for shavings, and pulling the spark plugs. I'm buying it from a private seller and want to make sure its worth the $$$

[Darius]

You're going to pull the oil pan before you buy it?? Or after you pick it up? I'm confused.

Either way, the best test of engine health is a leakdown test.

[PorkChopExpress]

bring a battery and compression test. i guess you could pull the pan if he would let you but id just buy a $4 oil filter, take his and cut it open to see if theres anything nasty in there. open the oil fill cap and check for sludge.

[GSDKinked]

Before I bought it, and I want to do a leak down but I dont know what i would have to hook up in order to get the motor to turn over.

[Darius]

You're not going to pull the oil pan, trust me. Settle for draining some of the oil to see if it is sparkly. Also like porkchop said, look for chocolate milk or sludgy oil in the valve cover.

You don't need to turn the motor over for leakdown except when manually rotating it between testing each cylinder. All you need compressed air and a leakdown tester. Any mechanic can perform this for you for a reasonable fee if you don't have compressed air available.

Does this engine run or will you have to tow it home?

[GSDKinked]

You're not going to pull the oil pan, trust me. Settle for draining some of the oil to see if it is sparkly. Also like porkchop said, look for chocolate milk or sludgy oil in the valve cover.

You don't need to turn the motor over for leakdown except when manually rotating it between testing each cylinder. All you need compressed air and a leakdown tester. Any mechanic can perform this for you for a reasonable fee if you don't have compressed air available.

Does this engine run or will you have to tow it home?

I didn't pick it up. I got half way there and had a weird vibe, so i told him i would have to do it another day. I think i did that because the kid didn't seem to knowledgeable about the motor (s1 or S2) and there are a plethora of questions that I have for him, that I never asked. Also, I don't want to rush this swap.

Edit:

Just got off the phone with him and he gave me a 30 day guaranteed start-up. Had the thing for 6 months just sitting and ordered it from Tiger japan (anyone familiar with this). I'm going to see if I can bring some one to help me compression test it.
Modified by GSDKinked at 6:33 PM 9/30/2009

[240z4u]

I was under the assumption that the motor was in a car. Remember your 30 day warranty is only as good as his word. My buddy bought an RB20DET and the pan was FULL of bearing material.

Just sayin' odds are its fine though.

Evan

[GSDKinked]

I was under the assumption that the motor was in a car. Remember your 30 day warranty is only as good as his word. My buddy bought an RB20DET and the pan was FULL of bearing material.

Just sayin' odds are its fine though.

Evan

I'm looking into alternatives as we speak. Japanese Auto star might be the winner. They have free shipping and said they can show me the compression numbers.

He sent me pics.....(local motor that has been sitting for 6 months wants $2000)













Pretty Safe to say I'm not going to be picking this up. Thanks to my gut feeling and thanks for the advice guys. I'm going to be ordering from a reputable shop (Japan Star Motor) tomorrow morning and should have my RB25DET with a 180 compression on all 6 cyls in 6 days.

Modified by GSDKinked at 10:18 PM 9/30/2009
Modified by GSDKinked at 10:20 PM 9/30/2009

[GSDKinked]

This is what I picked up via Japan Star motors. They dropped it off to my house today. And it looks like this...

[yotik]

wow no turbo for 2k?

[GSDKinked]

lol I took the turbo off. Thing was done. Hot side exhaust flange was split and broken. I test fitted my 35R and it wouldn't mount up.

[zmannz]

Is this Japan Star going to replace the busted parts.

[GSDKinked]

Is this Japan Star going to replace the busted parts.

I'm going to call them again tomorrow and find out. I am also missing the igniter for this unit.

[Darius]

That's not the best looking motorset I've ever seen. Did they give you leakdown test numbers? Have you confirmed them? I'd get on that right away to verify that they didn't send you a boat anchor. The turbo stuff isn't a big deal especially if you're slapping a 35R on there right away. You'll definitely need a new manifold to accommodate that. (6boost )

[GSDKinked]

Leak down numbers for this motor set were 180 across the board. I'm working on verifying it. Just waiting on my harness from a buddy. then I should be ready to test it.

[Darius]

Leakdown numbers are usually percentages.

Compression test numbers are usually in psi. However, 180 psi on a used, cold RB25 is highly unlikely. The FSM says 173 psi is normal (assuming new) with 132 psi being the lower acceptable limit. Most guys see around 150 psi across all cylinders. This is why I'm recommending that you verify these "numbers" for your own piece of mind before the exchange/refund policy expires and you start throwing a lot of money at parts for it.

[yotik]

+1 verifying

A couple of mine were in the 120's. I said "meh what the hey" and fired it up. It worked out great but I was prepared to rip it apart. Any lower I would have been ordering internals...

[GSDKinked]

Leak down numbers for this motor set were 180 across the board. I'm working on verifying it. Just waiting on my harness from a buddy. then I should be ready to test it.

Well called him up, they are extending my warranty, giving me a new turbo, new maf, and new ignitor. And some stickers and business cards. My harness should be back tomorrow, along with my driveshaft. Now all I am waiting on is my rad and fans.

Syko Performance mounting kit is AWESOME except for the instructions. Kind of ghetto if you ask me. And if you have an aftermarket swaybar with aftermarket bushings, you have to shave the bushing a bit, but it works. Now all I need to do is source an RB25 Trans crossmember. And 150 was the lowest I had.