What else do do when installing a used engine?

Assuming I could get a used engine I felt confident in purchasing, what maintenance and updates should I do to the motor itself along with the install or while the engine is out? I'm thinking about the following (in addition to fluids and filters): Spark plugs IMS bearing (probably LN retrofit for dual row) Clutch kit AOS RMS Water pump Thermostat Coolant tank Fuel filter Am I missing anything? Thanks for your suggestions, and let's please not turn this into a discussion about rebuilding engines. I have another thread going on that topic which you're welcome to join.

All new exhaust clamps and gaskets Things to consider: -Engine mounts -Trans mount -Coil packs -Slave cylinder -Scavenge pumps What kind of engine do you need?

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@Prelude Guy Thanks for the good suggestions. I'm going to replace the installed muffler bypass exhaust with some Agency Power cans at when the engine comes out, so exhaust hardware will be a must. I've got a '99, so I need a 3.4 with a cable throttle control.

o2 sensors if yours are original Vacuum lines Y-cable IMS Solution should be a do it once and forget it. The others have to be replaced every 60-75K MILES if I recall. Are you keeping the car or flipping it?

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@808Bill Thanks for the suggestions. Is the Y-cable the starter/alternator electrical cable? I�m not intending to flip the car immediately, but I don�t intend to keep it forever. I�ll only put a couple thousand miles a year on it, so 60-75k miles is a lot of year 30+ years away.

Depending on the year, you could add spark plug tubes and o-rings. Look the specific donor over carefully, many jobs are much easier with the engine out. Scrutinize for any oily deposits and leaks, reseal as necessary. Sometimes an inexpensive o-ring changed in minutes with the engine out avoids a painful slow job when the engine is back in place. @808Bill might recommend making sure any fasteners you remove (like throttle body worm drive clamps) are oriented so they will be accessible with the engine installed. Likewise, install the muffler mount bolts head down so the mufflers can be removed without taking off the brackets. When doing the IMS bearing, don�t forget all of the aluminum sealing washers (tensioners), cam cover caps, and little things that will slow you down if you don�t have them handy. Plus the variety of sealants that aren�t super common (wicking green, etc.) Replace the flywheel and pressure plate hardware with new bolts (they are one time use and inexpensive to replace). I also like to do the transmission input seal and upgrade the clutch actuating arm, release bearing, and related (pivot/clip) parts while I�m there. (Lubricate the proper pivot points to avoid future squeaks.)Not expensive, but it takes a lot of labor to get back in there. It�s a good opportunity to throw on a LN engineering magnetic drain plug and spin on filter adapter. If it doesn�t already have one, a engine skid plate is a nice addition to protect the underside.

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Not necessary true. You need to swap over your throttle body and engine harness, but the early e-gas motors will swap into your cable throttle chassis just fine. @Porschetech3 may have more specific guidance.

I would also replace the oil cooler O-rings. Just seems like a good time to do that.

Has anyone mentioned pulleys and belt? Easy to do with engine in but a failure while driving could cause bad things to happen. Also, get new injectors, not rebuilt. Scope bores for scoring too. I would make a condition before purchase (like a PPI) When I did my engine swap, I was losing my empty warehouse space and could not take the time to do all that I wanted/should have done while the engine was sitting on the stand. Take notes of all the suggestions made above and just do it right the first time (if you can) as the little things turn into big things later. I thought about this thread while in bed last night and am trying to give you all I can of the top of my head...But my head hurts, lol Good luck! What's the history of the motor you're looking at? I was fortunate to have some on mine but wish I had more.

Might be worth changing the vario cam chain pads in the cam box by taking off the valve covers, and get a new flywheel and clutch kit in there while it's out, also replace chain tensioners !

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cds72911 you are correct, the 99C4 and all 2000 2001 3.4 use e-gas and can be swapped into a 99C2 if you change the throttle body and engine harness. As a "while its out" addition, I would install a new set of vario-cam pads to the engine.

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. This is a great list, although it's starting sound expensive I should have clarified that I'm not doing the work myself. I wish I could, but even if I had the time, I just don't have the space for a job this size. I'll be working with a shop and they will help me inspect the engine and prioritize what needs to be updated. I just wanted to have a list of "must-haves" and a list of "maybe-if-its-worn-out" items to start with. To that end: Must haves: Spark plugs IMS bearing (probably LN retrofit for dual row) Clutch kit AOS RMS Water pump Thermostat Coolant tank Fuel filter Things to consider or inspect and replace if needed: Spark plug tubes and o-rings Engine mounts Trans mount Coil packs Slave cylinder o2 sensors if yours are original Vacuum lines Y-cable oil cooler O-rings flywheel accessory belt and pulleys fuel injectors These items sound like they require some engine disassembly. Not sure I want to get into that, but will have to investigate. Scavenge pumps cam chains and ramps In terms of sourcing the engine, I've talked to Sharper Edge engines, who seem to have access to a rolling supply of the engine I'm looking for. They say the engines are bore scoped, leakdown and compression tested, and come with a 1yr warranty. Prices for engines with 50-60k miles seem to be in the $6-8k range. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do, but I wanted to get this priced out for a fair comparison against a rebuild.

Looks like a good list. If it is a 3.4 it has plastic spark plug tubes (2002+ 3.6 has design changed and metal tubes). They suffer with heat and age personally, I�d move them to the must do list if you are doing plugs When they are doing spark plugs, they are right there, and can replace these inexpensive parts easily.

Recognizing that some of the items that have been listed can be replaced with the engine in the car, I would inspect these items, but not necessarily replace. As part of the inspection, I would drop the sump and have a close look for any particulates and borescope the bottom of the cylinders for evidence of scoring. If it all looks good, I would replace the following: 1. IMSB, even if it is the dual row. Installing the Solution would be ideal, but it is more expensive. 2. Variocam tensioner pads as Porschetech3 suggests. 3. Flywheel bolts since you will need to remove the flywheel (DMF) to get to the IMSB. 4. RMS since you are "in there" and the part is not expensive. If the intake plenum is clean (little to no oil in intake plenum), I would not spend the money to replace the AOS. I would remove the bolts an put a dab of never-seez on them to make future removal easier. Once you have the engine installed and running, you can perform the vacuum test to validate. I am one of the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" people. I don't mind going back into the car later to do maintenance when something eventually fails.

I, on the other hand, would put on a new air oil separator. In my mind, the cost of the part is negligible compared to the labor (cost in your case, time in my case) of dealing with it later. The AOS in particular is a great example of a part that is a huge hassle to do with the engine in and laughably easy with the engine out. I�d rather spend a few bucks doing preventative maintenance than deal with breakdowns and emergency repairs. Having the engine out is a perfect opportunity to do many of these tasks. Doing it the other way is �penny wise, pound foolish�, IMO.

X2 on the AOS. You do not want to do this with the engine (I'm doing mine as I type) in. The part cost $150.00 (OEM) and takes 15 minutes with the engine out vs at 5-10 (for me) labor with the motor in.

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Fair enough. I see your logic on doing the AOS. However, I don't think the term "penny wise, pound foolish" is applicable in this case! If the OP performed all the additional preventative maintenance items listed in this thread, it would cost two to three thousand dollars just for parts. Hardly "pennies". It's one of those lessons I have learned in my 50+ years on this Earth. I have spent thousands in repairs and upgrades on cars and houses, only to have them damaged or destroyed where the repairs and upgrades ended up having little to no return on investment. The money and time were wasted.

Agreed. I wasn�t saying to do that whole optional list. I wouldn�t replace all of that stuff either. I wouldn�t bother with some of the things from the first list (like coils, unless they are bad) either. Re: penny wise, I was specifically thinking to the AOS, since in place replacement is very time consuming and frustrating (or expensive, if you don�t do your own work).

Yeah, I'm balancing cost vs precaution. My car is far from perfect to begin with, which is why I'm considering a used engine instead of rebuild. I'm already going to be into this car for more than it's worth, but I also don't want to miss the opportunity to fix a few things that are much cheaper to replace with the engine out. Also, since I'm investing in the motor and I might only keep the car a few years, I want to hit the checklist a buyer will have, and that's going to be IMSB, AOS, RMS, water pump, and maybe coolant tank. Since that's all the things the buyer's guides say to look out for.

I know I'll probably regret bringing up the topic, but speaking of IMS bearings, what's the best budget option? I know the IMS Solution is the best, and anyone who loves their car, God, and the German flag should choose it. However, at $1,800+ installation, it is more than I can justify in this scenario. Plus, I've got the dual row bearing motor, and inspecting the filter after a very long oil change interval at 70k miles, there was no glitter. There is something to be said for the LN brand at resale, so I was thinking of using the $795 IMS Retrofit, but I'm wondering what other options I should consider. On the low end, Pelican has a $190 replacement https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_In...m?pn=PEL-IMS-1 . It seems to replace the dual-row bearing with a single and has no info about the internals. There's also the "Eternal IMS solution" roller bearing for $580 https://www.europeanpartssolution.co...004-m96-engine which sounds good, but I don't know much about it.

Pelican is single row only. Uses a spacer with the dual row engines. Not worth bothering if your starting with a dual row IMHO. I went with the dual row LN. As you said, there's value for resale in the name brand and combined with the risk reduction made it the right price/value combo for me. I'll add my 1+ for the Variocam actuator pads. My motor was swapped and it has 43k on it. The original pads were shot and cam deviation on bank 1 was >9deg. Any good PPI will find this and burn you on the sale. The job will be much cheaper with the engine out.

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The "Solution" is a one time replacement, the others need to be done again eventually. I hate seeing cars for sale and claim the bearing has already been replaced but it's up for renewal again...Pick your poison!

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A quality bearing like the IMS Retrofit is supposed to go at least 75k miles. For a weekender, that's several decades of service - the bearing might outlive me! Plus, the next owner is going to need to do the clutch again at that point anyway.

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There's actually a time limit 75K or x amount of years, whichever comes first if I recall.

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Yes, LN site says 75k or 6 years recommended service interval, but I'm not quite sure how age would wear a bearing unless the material degrades over time? Regardless, it likely doesn't affect my decision if I go the used engine route.

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I totally understand as I was in your shoes six months ago when I bought my roller. Get the best you can afford and enjoy.

@808Bill @cds72911 and other folks who have purchased used engines: how did you source it? There a a few places online that specialize in used engine and transmission sales. I don't think there's any way to perform a PPI on one of those, but they offer a 1 or 5 year warranty. I see some motors for sale in the marketplace here, but how do you assess them? Even if they were local, how do you do the PPI - send a mechanic onsite with the equipment to inspect it? I can't imagine a seller schlepping an engine over to shop for inspection. Maybe I'm wrong about that.

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I was fortunate to have a member contact me as he was about to part his car out. I got to see and hear videos of it running and driving, got compression test done. It's a roll of the dice but I felt comfortable knowing the history and seeing it run. Factory replacement from an 05 with 50K on it.

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Absolutely. If - as suggested in the prior post - the test comes back indicating a problem, now you're in for a lot more pain and payment. Do the AOS while the engine is out.

Doing an AOS on a 996.1 6MT in the car is not that hard, it requires some finesse especially for the "bellows" and clamp, but can be done fairly easily on a lift. Doing an AOS on 996.1 Tip is much more difficult since the trans is bigger and has hoses that are in the way making access much more difficult. Doing AOS on a 986.1 or 986.2 in the car is not that difficult since you can gain access to the top from the engine cover. Doing an AOS in the car on a 996.2 is a whole nother story. Since it bolts down from the top ( with no top access) you have to remove the bank 1 intake (in the car), which is a pain in itself. All of these are of course easier to do with engine out, but the 996.2 and 996.1 Tip are the ones I would definitely replace"while the engine was out".

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I purchased my engine from Quality Porsche Parts aka Parts Society. I had photos of the donor, video of the engine running, and I researched the history of the car using the VIN, carfax, and online search engines, so I felt good about the purchase.

I sure hope my new 10mm ratcheting box wrench helps me put it back together a bit easier today!

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I'll take your word on the 996.1 w/MT. With my temporary fix holding strong, I will wait until an engine drop becomes necessary. Hopefully, a long way down the road...