Question on pricing for 996 engine with full exhaust and accessories etc

Hi all, Does anyone know what I might be able to get for a complete 996 engine out of a 1999 c4 so it's got a dbw throttle body (throttle body isn't included but everything else is.) (its siezed) includes full exhaust. Wiring, ecu, ac compressor, power steering. Complete engine. Or is parting out the engine better to do? Im located in southern california. Thanks in advance.

The engine is dead? Unless you know exactly why it's dead and you get that by disassembling the engine down to the crank case, it would be hard to get more than $2,000 for it.

Quotes source post: 20571025

Engine is seized. Doesnt turn. I have the full exhaust with cats and 02 sensors also i am selling and the ecu and wiring harness. The dead long block maybe i'll pull it apart and see what happened to it.

Food for thought: Taking it apart robs you of the chance to get more for it from a buyer who is willing to take a gamble but it also avoids the risk of selling it too cheap. On the other hand, after full disassembly you and any prospective buyer can judge the condition by looking at the individual parts and get/pay fair market value. Your effort for disassembly and increased certainty typically isn't rewarded in price, though.

Quotes source post: 20571319

True probably not worth taking it all apart. I'll just sell it as a whole.

Quotes source post: 20571371

So, it won't turn over by the crank pulley, does it move at all ? is there intermix on the dip stick..? My opinion, if you're handy, know how to tear down an engine, have power tools to do it, then it takes a couple hours at most to rip it all apart. If it is really seized up at crank pulley, chances are the crank is no good, but you never know what is stopping engine from turning over, could be many things like a snapped/jammed chain, IMS, that might, maybe, leave you with a good crank. If crank looks ok, clean crank up, get it magnafluxed and run-out checked, for $75 or so at local auto machine shop. Polish it with a little crocus cloth, now its a reconditioned eBay crank worth $1500-2500 on eBay. Same for the rods, maybe even pistons, ims, all will get you a few $. Then you got 2 heads if cleaned up and in good condition, worth $1000-1500 each with valves, on eBay. Just the cam actuators alone are $1700 new, Throw in a $150 rebuild kit and sell them as rebuilt for $750 each. Might even get few bucks for the scavenge pumps and cams. The mufflers/exhaust are worth some cash also, as are all the other accessories like starter/alternator/ac comp/ cams, flywheel, etc. Even stuff like dme, fuel injectors&lines, manifolds, etc, will pull some decent cash on eBay. Seems to be a good market for 996.1 good used engine parts. Lots of shade tree mechanics doing backyard economy rebuilds not able to pay Porsche tax. Adds up fast, with a little luck you could pull $5000+ from all the parts sales if ya want to make the effort, its up to you. Any way you look at it, you'll get more cash selling engine parts than a whole seized/blown 996.1 engine. Or sell it as a blown engine /core for a fast couple bucks. Seen those go for $500-1500 on eBay. If you can get $1500 for a old seized 996.1 engine,,, great.... Thinking just for the heads, actuators, and a few other good parts, you'd get double that on eBay. But will take some effort/work/time.

Quotes source post: 20571751

awesome thanks!!

Just pulling the plugs and borescoping will show you if it through a rod vs a seized main. If it isn�t seized or internally corroded/full of water a bunch of stuff is probably saleable. You may find which head is buggered as well, if a chain failed. You could check all this in less than an hr and it�s very non-invasive. Even pulling a cam cover is a bit of a bother, start with a scope. There is a video of a wrecker pulling an m96 apart recently, he talks about what is saleable. The video is an hour but you could follow it to see how it comes apart and not to wreck anything, and just if it�s worth your time.

Quotes source post: 20572594

not full of water for sure. I'll look into doing the borescope. My friend has one i can borrow. Was it a YouTube video? I'll try and look for it. Thanks

A blown-up 3.4 will be lucky to bring $1500-$2000 if you find someone who wants it......$500 just to get it out of the way after a few years of in the way.. Engines don't just lock-up for no reason, if you want more $$ at least remove the Sump ( 13 screws) and have a look for metal debris and also in the oil filter ( spun rod bearings )...... Then remove the spark plugs to check for Hydrolock ( AOS failure) . and scope it for piston to valve contact.. ( broken timing chain ).. I assume you bought it like that and payed accordingly but doing just that inspection can tell you what happened and would give a potential buyer more confidence in what they are buying..

That video mentioned above is from "I do cars" and it is a M96 engine.

Engine's worth about $1.50/pound at the scrap yard for "irony aluminum". It might sell for more if someone needs parts.

I just bought a used M96 3.6L case (just the lower case, nothing else) and sent it to LNE for a 4.0L nikasil job to rebuild a 997S engine. The reason I bought the used case is to keep the 997S on the road while waiting on an unknown amount of time for the Nikasil job. It turns out to be 4+ months. The cost of the case? $800 and it was worth the 4 months of driving. The downside... is now I have an extra M97 case bore-scored collecting dust. Or waiting for the next engine. So the parts are worth something for the right persons with the right motivation. But you will have to wait for that person to show up and that can be long to never. Like PS3 said, after a couple years of walking over the engine, you will give it away for the cost of shipping.