engine replacement question

[equalXlength]

Hey guys, havent been on in a while. Today i bought a 1989 bronco ii very cheap because #1 cylinger has low compression. I was lucky enough to find shortly after that a complete 2.9 with 90,000 miles on it so i picked that up. The engine in the car has alot of new parts on it such as cyl. heads. My question is this, should i take the new parts off the engine in the truck and put them on my 90,000 mile motor? Are there any other things you would do to the 90,000 mile motor before dropping it in? Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Psychopete]

So let me get this strait -

You have a Bronco II with new heads and a bunch of other stuff that has low compression.

And you picked up an engine with 90K that's completely stock, but doesn't have any known or apparent problems and runs.

If it were me, I would leak down test the truck engine, note the findings, pull it/set it off to the side for parts, and drop in the 90K motor and run it till it needs something replaced.

 

[equalXlength]

my thoughts were the same, just wanted to see what everyone else thought.

 

[Psychopete]

Really just depends on what you want to do. A head cracking and coolant getting into the oil is really hard on the bearings. But do you want to spend the money on head gaskets, bolts, intake gasket, etc for the insurance? The heads may crack, they may never crack, it's a crap shoot . And it's another crap shoot if it will smoke a bearing if it does happen and it's not caught in time.

Mine starting showing signs probably around 95K and it was done at around 98K because I continued to drive it with coolant in the oil. On top of that the low compression could be a value sealing issue too, heads would need reworked - this is why I would be tempted to build a poor man leak down and listen at TDC on each cylinder where the compression is escaping to figure out the low compression issue.

Make sure the radiator is nice and clean, get any immeadiate leaks after the swap resolved, and keep an eye on the coolant level and oil if you go that route. Might be a good idea to flush everything with the garden hose while everything is apart. But be sure to use 50/50 mix or distilled water if you mix your own coolant. Tap water will rust out the system.

Pete