Many many moons ago (when I was a student), I brought an Astra from a car auction.
Turned out the oil pump was knackered (couldn't hear the engine knocking during auction time).
Engine would gradually stall at idle with the oil light coming on before dying.
I thought I could cut corners and buy an engine from a scrap dear.
What a joke. it drank 5 litres of oil for every tank full of fuel.
So I saved my pennies and paid for a reconditioned engine to be fitted (Some company near Thurrock).
I followed the running in procedure and returned after a 1000 miles and had it serviced.
All went well and shortly afterwards got rid of the car.
However, the engine never went as well as the original (even with knackered oil pump).
Has anyone else had this with reconditioned engines or was mine a one off ?
I had always wondered.
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It would surely depend on what a reconditioned engine really is. Do they really replace all the piston rings, replace all the valves, and replace anything else they are supposed to?
To me reconditioned engines are just scrap engines which have have had some work done on them to make them work correctly.
I am sure a reconditioned engine can exist, in fact they do it with buses and trucks but they those vehicles are worth so much more. Who in the right mind would recondition an engine for an old hatchback? OK I can see demand for reconditioned engines for newer cars but not older ones.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Tue 26 Apr 11 at 22:17
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the definition of a reconditioned engine is one thats been gunked prior to resale unfortunately
only fer members will give full engine rebuild details prior to taking your conkers
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I believe the 'new' engine had a completely new top end (valves, cam and seals).
I had a cheaper deal because they took my old engine for the new one.
The 'new' engine felt slower than the knackered original but never drank oil and was good on fuel.
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I needed a recon engine shortly before I didn't need a car - Mark III Fiesta. Probably would have been better off without swapping the engine though because the problem being diagnosed was still there afterwards! Paid only part of it due to warranty.
It was a pain taking the car out to run it in because I didn't need to do many miles. And then went back for the oil change service. Sold it not that many months later with little extra mileage.
But the car seemed the same as the original engine to me - once I sorted out what was the problem that led to an unnecessary engine change. It needed welding underneath to pass an MOT before sale too....
Last car I owned... we have a second car but that's the wife's.
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I had an 11 year old MK3 Fiesta which underneath had no real rust problems but the piston rings were well and truly knackered. It was embarrassing as all you would see in the mirror was clouds of blue smoke. but 20/50 oil helped!.
I really did consider getting a new engine for it for about £50 off ebay and paying the local Dave to fit it. However on such a cheap car it just seemed to be full of too many risks.
Again could have got a reconditioned engine for the Corsa but the price involved was just too much. I believe Ted had a recon fitted to his son's Astra so he may have some experience on how it performed.
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As Bellboy says, the definition of "reconditioned" is the.key here. This definition is very vague in law, and could mean little more than a hose down and lick of paint.
It's how the likes of Heathrow Engine Centre (or whatever they call themselves this month) have got away with conning punters for years.
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Nah, would only get a recon from an FER member.....too expensive though.
The car it would be going in would probably not be worth it.
I'm fortunate to have a lot of contacts in the trade through club breakdown work.
I rang HK Motors of Minera, and he found me a low mileage Astra 1600 sport, took the complete engine with all the bits out and let me have it for £150. I had a belt put on before it was fitted and it's been a stonkingly good motor. I know he would have changed it if it hadn't.
I had a customer with a MK 1 Opel Kadette estate which threw a rod through the block...I gave him 50 quid for it , rang round our local agents and found an Astra mill which I was given free. I think the early engines had a sump that was too small...the later one was fine.
I'd much rather get an engine from a low mileage write off than a so-called recon
Re-con, to me, means a steam clean and a paraffin wipe over in most cases !
Ted
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Its the same as refurbed computers all they are is a clean install of the operating system and a cleaning of the external bits. Unless its had a new hard drive and new fans etc its not a refurb.
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wasnt a 1300 with a collapsed rear exhaust baffle by any chance rj70?
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No it was a 1100 Fiesta on a H plate. Shouldn't have got it to be honest and pushed for a company car. I initially had reasons not to but with the hassle I should have anyway... But you needed to be doing consistent high business miles and I wasn't.
The actual problem the car was due to dirt in the fuel tank entering the fuel system. An inline filter sorted it. My friendly car fixers did that for free. Never could put more business their way afterwards. But it was them that diagnosed an engine problem that led to the refurb too.
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As per BB's point, there is wide variation in the defintion of a reconditioned engine.
Manufacturer's are sometimes involved in some of the better reconditioned engines, GMX being an obvious example.
One of the things which a small engine reconditioner will struggle to replicate is the detail of the cylinder honing and finishing process. Getting this finish right is vital to acheiving good compression and low oil consumption.
Do any reconditioners deal with coated cylinder bores in alloy blocks?
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Sky News did an investigative piece on one particular outlet of this type yesterday or the day before:
tinyurl.com/3mlpnsg
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When we built our engines all old parts stripped examined and any within spec and good was re used to save cost from the company.
Usually crank & con rods and bearing caps, cylinder head, cam shaft if ok & replaced new valves and guides fitted along with new pistons and rings.
This was to industrial engines for a company i worked for but in cars i do beleive you pay for what you get so best shop around.
Was a firm in Leeds that cleaned them repaired the faults and painted them and you got a recon motor or so you thought.!!
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There was a time when engines, if they were properly maintained, were commonly "overhauled" at what we now consider to be moderate mileage - often much less than 100,000. Whether that reflected poorer manufacturing tolerances, materials, engine design or oil technology - or all of those things - I have often pondered. The idea of an overhaul on what would be a smoky and rattly engine would be to restore it to decent working order - but not "as new". That would probably mean new piston rings, a decoke, valve regrinding or replacement, new valve springs and rockers maybe.
Then there were remanufactured engines. There were certainly BMC 'Gold Seal' engines which were essentially complete units fully remachined back to manufacturer tolerances and with new engine numbers. The Gold Seal was a complete engine, or you could just have an exchange short engine. I once had a Morris Oxford that had been fitted with a Gold Seal engine (shame they didn't fit a new radiator!)
If I bought a "reconditioned" engine from a reputable source now, I would be hoping for the equivalent of an "overhauled" engine at least; not as good as new, but serviceable. However I know there are unscrupulous purveyors of "reconditioned" engines who do no more than clean and paint engines from scrapped cars, and hide behind a guarantee which at best means if it's rubbish they'll just swap it for another salvaged engine.
BB will probably be able to give chapter and verse - I don't know how easy it is to buy the equivalent of a Gold Seal engine now, at least on an off-the-shelf exchange basis, but that would be "remanufactured" rather than reconditioned.
Last edited by: Manatee on Tue 26 Apr 11 at 23:21
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I think Bb is right. You don't actually get what you pay for unless you are lucky or really know what you're doing. Had a friend who got a 'reconditioned' engine for his 5-cylinder Mercedes diesel. He hammered it from the word go and it didn't last 3 months. Some people love chucking their bread away.
Almost a better idea to dismantle, get a rebore, crankshaft polish or regrind and correct pistons and bearing sets, plus all valves and anything else for the top end (valve seals matter but are a nuisance) from a good factor, then assemble it yourself. I say 'almost' because it's a long, worrying job for an amateur even with a simple engine. And most engines these days are anything but.
Just as well they last, if cared for, eh?
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Tue 26 Apr 11 at 23:38
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Most reconditioned items aren't. Buy a "reconditioned" washing machine with a six month guarantee, and it will be a second-hand washing machine which, in the unlikely event of its failure during the guarantee period, will be refunded.
Better off buying a second hand one then at least it will be cheaper...
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Reconditioned engines - as good as original engine - RattleandSmoke
