Repair shop found a working engine, but won't guarantee it...

[ilyafish]

Thank you guys for all of your input.

I am not questioning John....i fully trust him and his judgement.  Its just that there is no history on the engine.  If he had said it has 100k on it, and knew the maintenance history on it and stuff, i would be completely comfortable with that.  So honestly, it almost has absolutely nothing to do with John.  It has to do with an engine that he has no knowledge about (which is not his fault obviously).  Its all about how much risk I am willing to take, and i would like as minimal risk as possible.  No matter how great he is at what he does, there is no way he can tell what is on the inside by looking at what is on the outside, at least not without more $$$$.  Here is the position i am in,

1. I am 22 years old.  Unlike most people, i cant afford to spend 7k and if something goes wrong in 3 weeks just say 'oh well, i'll suck it up'.  Because that just puts me in the position I am now, and 7k poorer.  Thats not a wise move and i will not do that.  I am a bus nut with very shallow pockets, which makes things alot harder, but it always ends up working out.

2. John has a 102A3 for sale for 10k with a fresh rebuild, starts right up, beautiful coach....i would have to redo my conversion but that is a good deal....i am only about 2k into my conversion.

3. I am paying $75 a month for storage, which is not much.  I would rather pass up this deal, and wait longer until he gets something in that he knows the history of.  Honestly, it's almost not the warranty that i want.  I want to know that at least what i have is going to last me a little bit.

Again, this is nothing personal against John.  He is a great guy and is trying to help me as much as I can, which is awesome.  But in this situation its just one of those things where he doesnt know much, and neither do i, and to expect him to find out what he cant and put his word behind something that he doesnt know much history about is high expectations.  I was just more so curious as if it was standard procedure to warranty pulled engines, thats all.

Kyle, the big man says be patient and wise and when the right opportunity comes up i will know, and not have doubt and know that it is all from Him.  This just doesnt seem like the opportunity.

NJT, honestly all i know is 2 things happened to the old engine....it ran REALLY low on motor oil (though john said that would not cause it to overheat), and our turbo was shot.  Those are the only things i know were wrong and somehow resulted in me having a cracked block.  Anyone have any ideas?

So yeah, again, John seems to be a very respected and knowledgable guy....and nothing against him, i just dont think that this particular engine with no history known about it is a wise choice.

[gyrocrasher]

1. I am 22 years old.  Unlike most people, i cant afford to spend 7k and if something goes wrong in 3 weeks just say 'oh well, i'll suck it up'. 
.

'Scuse me? I can barely support my Geritol habit.

[wayne]

The 102A3 sounds good. It sseems like John will guide you through this OK.

[gus]

If I were doing it I would pay John a few more bucks and have him inspect the engine before having it installed. Then we both would have a good idea of the condition of the engine.

If it is good he would probably give you a limited warranty, all you can expect with any used assembly.

It may be that he won't give you a warranty under any condition because of your WVO.

It is only reasonable that he won't warranty the engine. If he did he would have to charge you extra to cover himself, only what you can reasonably expect.

Used engines are total unknowns.

[Busted Knuckle]

OK first off if I were in the business of making my living selling used parts, or if I regularly did so, then by all means I would be offering a warranty. But since I'm not (and neither is John) I just can not any way possible see warranting something that I have no history on especially if it were not mine to begin with!

Now as far as paying John extra to inspect it B4 buying it and installing it, I think I suggested that!   BK 

[JohnEd]

Ilya,

Any info on the internal condition of your engine would be of interest to many.  Me included!  You mentioned the turbo having failed.  Was it terrible coked up or did it have foreign object damage such as would be expected by a piston shedding parts/edges?  Not asking you to tear the thing down for us/me but if you come by info I, at least, am really curious.

As I recall, you had a good WVO system installed.  It had heated fuel lines and a heated filter block.  Did it have a heated tank?  What I read today is that the oil must be at 195 degrees at the injection point/injector.  I am also informed that the oil MUST be dewatered before it is used.  I seem to recall you pumping it out of a rest. container directly into your tank for use.  If the water was not removed or the oil was not hot enuf , my info is that you would have a short(er) lived engine.  you should also see evidence of the problem on the inside of the engine.  I hope this all works out for you...really I do.  I am getting together the processor equip I need to maker BioD and any info you can provide will find application.

Thanks for you help and good luck with your engine.  You said one thing that caught my eye: you said you might want to wait for an engine that John knew and was willing to warranty.  If he is willing to warranty "other" engines then I would reject this one if only because others are saying he is very honest.  Flags are set.

John