Kind of a stupid question. I want to know what some of you're opinions are on leaving an engine sit over a a few months, without starting, is? Lets make it 4-5 months to be exact.

I'm planning on buying a perfectly good, running engine, and was considering not swapping it into my car until the winter has passed. My problem with doing this is by letting the engine sit too long, not running at all, may cause the engines condition to deteriorate over time. It's always been my opinion that allowing an engine to sit too long would be bad for the seals, specifically the piston rings. Just wanted to hear what some other people's thoughts were on this with reasons to support them. Thanks.

Oh yea, and I searched with no real answers...

 

4-5 months shouldnt be an issue at all, just make sure to prime the engine a little bit before starting, and it never hurts to have an oil pressure gauge, just so you can make sure the oilpump isnt cavitating after startup. seals do dry up paticulary ones that are around shafts (cam and crank), but it takes about 10 minutes to change them before you install the engine.

Piston rings will be fine, just remove the plugs, and shoot a little oil down in the cylinder and turn it over by hand a few times and replace the plugs before storing. Place rags over any opening and duck tape it on. I dont like to use plastic because it traps moisture.

 

Some really good advice there. Thanks a lot man.

Would you say that the valve seals could possibly deteriorate over time? The engine that I'm purchasing just had an upper end touch up, including new valve seals about 10,000 miles ago at the most.

 

not in 4-5 months, you could leave that thing outside uncovered for 4-5 months and not have any issues

 

Seals should be OK for 4-5 months but like was said before, it does not take long to change them when the engine is out of the car.

 

I'll take that into consideration. I was kind of planning on changing the easy seals anyways (cams, crank, etc...) but I really didn't want to have to worry about the piston rings going bad and then when I go to start the car up after dropping it in have it smoke badly. As of right now it doesn't smoke at all, runs as clean as a whistle and doesn't have the mileage on it to make me want to go through replacing the rings. I didn't want to ruin that by letting the motor sit for too long. Thanks for all of the input guys. Anyone here think it's a bad idea to let it sit for that long, with reasons to support it?

 

Man, I was in need of a d series engine for a car I had purchased. I ended up buying a motor that my friend had in his garage. It had been sitting for the better part of 7 years in the same location lol. It was like time stopped for it. Anyways got the motor in the car on the first try in started tight up no smoke or anything. So motors can stand the test of time if they are stored in a dried environment.

 

Wow, that is crazy. That story is pretty reassuring. I wouldn't expect it to not smoke at all after siting for so long. Did you have any idea of the mileage on it? D's are like tanks.

 

If I remember correctly it was alittle over 100,000. It was a vtec e motor from a 95 Vx. I remember the motor cause I was the one that pulled it out in late 2000 or early 2001 lol. He then moved out and left the motor at his moms house where it sat until early 2008. Thats when I got it.

 

yea had a fully built b18a1 sitting in the garage for about 3 years. When we dropped it in it smoked a bit but that went away quick. No problems since.

 

well, think of it this way. when you buy a jdm b16a they were built from 88-91, wich is 20 years ago, and they have low miles(soposedly) so those engines have sat atleast 50% of there lives considering you can find 2008 models that have more miles than the old b16's...