Iceman00

When I bought my 2000 V6 Roush Stage 1 in 2011, the previous owner said he had the motor swapped. He couldn't find his paperwork by the time we were supposed to meet up. I liked the car and was still going to buy it based off of the mileage on the odometer anyways so I told him I'd proceed with the sale.

It has come time to sell my car and I don't want to advertise it as having a swapped motor if that isn't the case. There are 155,600 miles on the clock. If I go off of the mileage the previous owner told me the new motor had when I bought the car, it currently has 84,600 miles.

How can I determine if this is a 156k mile motor or one 85k? I don't have a lot of mechanical skill so doing anything really technical isn't really an option. I've seen on another forum that there should be a stamp on the engine block. Any idea where it is located? I appreciate the help!

jthorn9

Unfortunately, there isn't a sure fire way to know for 100% sure it's been swapped. It would be in your best interest not to mention a motor swap and advertise the car as is with the millage on the chassis. That's what it needs to be sold as anyways.

The only way to "maybe" tell is to look for signs around the bottom of the engine bay that could maybe point to a swap. Such as scratches/dings around the motor mounts, back of the engine bay, etc. The factory car itself would not of been scratched or damaged in any way. So unless the motor was pulled, and or somebody did engine work, there would be no scratches inside the engine bay.

Yes it's possible to pull a motor without scratching or dinging the engine bay, but I'll tell you it's pretty darn hard not to do so, especially with area around the motor mounts.

bluebeastsrt

Your car has a book value of that of any other 155k car.

Daehawk

Doesn't the motor have a number on it near the valve covers or front of the block that matches the door or radiator area numbers?...I thought all cars had these numbers.

TfcCDR

You say that as if you think it makes a difference.

Instead of wasting your time trying to find out if that's the original engine, spend a few minutes doing compression checks, send an oil sample to the lab, and then you will be able to tell potential buyers the actual condition of the engine.

Iceman00

That's what I figured I'd end up doing. Like you said, checking for scratches and dings in the engine bay would only result in "maybe." I don't want to misrepresent the vehicle. I'll be sticking with the mileage on the chasis.

I'm not sure. This is what I was hoping to find.

My mechanical capabilities are limited so I wasn't aware of this kind of thing. I'll look into it. Thanks for the tip.

TfcCDR

You can't learn any younger, so now is a great time to learn about compression checks. I do them every time I change spark plugs on everything I own. It's easy, the tester isn't expensive (especially at Harbor Freight), and it tells you how your engine is aging.

Oil sample checks are something that I do the first time I change oil, and every 50,000 miles (at the appropriate oil change), for the same reason.

I think in the ad, I would say "I was told that the engine was changed, but I don't know for sure." You might as well get whatever Brownie points that might bring.

BabyGT

I would advertise the car as the chassis mileage and not mention the possible motor swap, when I see "I was told the motor was swapped", or "fresh rebuild/low mileage motor swap" I automatically assume it was due to the engine dying from being beat on or not properly maintained. Which leaves me to suspect that the trans and anything else is just as beat on and going out anytime soon. Those are cars I avoid like the plague.

TfcCDR

Good point.