How good are these "JDM engines" ?

[gotime242]

Hello all. I must admit that i am pretty depressed. I just pulled the 150k motor out of my rx and rebuilt the oil pump, did a timming belt job, vavle cover gaskets, oil pan gaskets...and some other stuff. But when i put it back in, it STILL leaks oil out of one place around the drivers side headgasket that i havnt found yet. (i just saw oil buring on the exhaust pipe, got horribly upset since i just did all that work and put the engine back in, and walked away...).

 

Anyway, so that means i had two leaks to begin with, i just couldnt see one because the timming belt covers were in the way. Anyway...the more i think about it, the less i want to put work into this 150k mile engine. After seeing the gaskets and o-rings and such that i pulled out, made me realize that they are worn and dry all over the engine, and stuff is probably just going to keep going wrong.

 

I have however, fallen in love with my little mint RX. And i want it to have a nice...reliable engine. I think it woudl be WELL worth the 650 bucks or whatever for a nice jdm crate engine.

 

The question is...how good are these? I mean they are still 15+ years old! Even though they have only 30-40 k miles on them or so, what about the condition of all the gaskets and all that?

 

Has anyone used one of these? And how has it worked out? How long before stuff started going wrong with the "new" engine?

 

Thanks!

[LikeTheWind]

what about these guys?

http://www.ccrengines.com/

[4WDFrenzy]

Well, I have one in my 88 GL-10. The original engine got a big crack between the valves on the passenger side head before I owned the car. The guy I bought it from went ahead and got the used JDM block instead of buying new heads(which incidently cost more than the used engine). I have had pretty good luck with mine. The only thing that you will probably want to do is replace all the coolant hoses. That was the big problem that I had. Every couple of days, one would get a hole in it and pee coolant everywhere. So finally after the third one burst, I didn't have any choice but to replace them. Let me tell you, it's really not cool when you are in boost and passing someone on the highway and one lets loose. Luckily I was 2 minutes from home so I limped her there and began to replace them all. Other than that, I have not had any problems with oil leaking anywhere.

 

Basically, as long as you do some preventative maintanence, it should be a solid motor. Usually the places won't sell you one if there is something wrong with it, unless you plan on rebuilding it anyway.

 

Now if only I can find a JDM ecu(130hp base fuel maps) for it.

[Ross]

Over here in New Zealand, we get A lOT of second hand cars from Japan. The problem we have is that, in Japan, it is/was uneconomical to service your car. This applies to any kind of service - including oil changes and other baisic maintanence.

 

Because of this, most Jap imports will be rubbish by the time they have done 100,000km or so, even if they are looked after when they get here.

I don't know the history of these engines you are speaking of - maybe they have a different story, but i wouldn't count on it.

 

However, these engines undoubtably will not have had a previous rebuild - so you will be able to undersize crank journals etc. should you wish to recondition it.

 

I beilieve you would be better off getting an engine locally or fixing yours - 150k isnt that much, and even a full rebuild isn't that expensive.

[DrKrazy]

I have one in my RX, but I stripped it down when I got it and put all new gaskets/seals/belts/tensioners/water pump/oil pump/on and on, so I knew I wouldn't have to touch it for awhile. Runs like clockwork, have around 4k-5k on it now with some hard driving and still runs great. I expect it to be a good engine for along time, or at least hold up for a year or two while I rebuild the original engine for some real power (or get an engine from the above mentioned CCR). Oh and the nice thing...doesn't leak a drop of oil (yet, give it another 10-20k). Not sure I would put a JDM engine in without changing the seals, outer gaskets, timing belts and water pump at least. Gotta remember these engines have been sitting in a warehouse for a long time. I also went through heck trying to find at least a Gen 2 engine, and a guarantee from the people that it would be a Gen 2 or Gen 3. Had to tell them all how to tell the difference in the heads. When I found one with a Gen 2 in stock I bought it.

 

On a side note: 150k is pretty good, as long as you don't have any other problems I would just replace anything you still see that needs it and run with it until you really need an engine. You might hit 300k with hardly any problems.

[4WDFrenzy]

The only thing uneconomical over here is the prices of replacement parts. I found that living on the Japanese economy is hard. But in spite of that, there are still extremely well maintained vehicles here and they aren't owned by Americans. They are owned by the locals. So as far as the vehicles not being maintained, I have to argue with that. Chances are, if you have a vehicle that was imported from Japan and it is trashed, an American owned it at one time. It is sad to say (because I'm an American), but it is true. I'm talkin' no spark plug changes, no oil changes, don't even talk about air filters, nothing, Nada, Zilch, Zero. Most of the Americans(not all) here just ride the poor cars down into the ground until it isn't of any use anymore. And that is only because most Americans are only here for 3 or so years, so they don't care for their vehicles. Besides, JCI inspections are very extensive and very strict.

[Ross]

That may be so, but I believe it was a totally different story 10-15 years ago.

 

The number of crap Japanese vehicles we get over here is far too large for them to have all been owned by Americans. I'm talking thousands and thousands every year.

[Subi81]

I am not sure about their inspections. When I was over there my girlfriends family had a sambar that just came back from inspection. The family complained that it was running like crap and gave no heat. So I checked the thermostat and sure enough thermostat looked like it exploded. So I have lost a lot of respect for their inspection system. Maybe it was an isolated event. But when the inspection costs $1000 they should at least catch that.

 

I have a theory that all of these JDM engines are really just junkyard american engines? Just my crazy theory. Not based on any facts whatsoever.

 

I agree the Japanese repair market is a joke. If you need a part you have to go to the dealership. When I had to get the thermostat quess where I had to go. Yes for a freakin thermostat. In American I could buy a thermostat in a grocery store, well maybe not in a grocery store. end rant.