Salvaged Engine

There is a RV for sale in which the owner put a salvaged engine. The owner who is not an A&P replaced several of the parts in the top of the engine. There are no records for the engine prior to this owner.
He has put close to 400 hours on it in 11 years.

I have asked a few people about this and some are well respected and I have gotten basically two different answers:
1. Run away.
2. Have it inspected it could be OK.

I wanted to open my aperture a little to get a few more opinions.

Would you consider a RV with a salvaged engine?

What type of inspection needs to be done on it? How much will that cost?

Anyone overhauled an 0-360 lately, if so what is that cost?

Thank you

So if you trust the guy... I'd do it. Basically if you think he regularly flies this engine and compression and oil consumption are good, why not?

There's nothing sacred about any engine, they all have a chance they need 5-20k after the next flight. So many engine have sat for months at some point, that's the worst thing you can do to an engine. I trust a regularly running 2400hr engine twice as much as a low-time hangar queen.

There's no rule that says you have to have an A&P do any maintenance, that goes for airplane or engine. But unless you hold the repairman's certificate, you need an A&P to sign the conditional inspection. As for inspection, make sure ADs are complied with. That still applies, even if the guy Frankenstein'd it.


I'd start an oil analysis regiment to see trending and only because it's a lot cheaper than an overhaul.

I think I would consider the engine a "core", and, if the airframe is nice, maybe make an offer based on having to overhaul the engine. Also, it might be a good idea to run the exact engine model and serial number by an engine shop to try and get an idea how old it is. Some of the older engines have parts that need to be updated or modified to work with current replacement parts (connecting rods, lifter bodies, etc.) which might drive the overhaul cost upward a little. If it has no data plate, well, I don't think I would consider it. Might be an airboat engine...

Costs for DIY overhaul

If you want to do the work yourself with a tad of help, take lots of pix as you tear it down.

You will need a Lycoming overhaul and parts manuals for your engine. Read Lycoming service bulletins.

Send all your parts out for overhaul and bringing up to snuff:

About $900 for rear accessory case and engine case inspect, repair, yellow tag
About $4-6000 for all steel parts inspected and ground if needed, new bearings and bushings, yellow tag

Call most shops in Oklahoma and they will send you boxes designed for aircraft engines

About $100-150 for a gaskets and seals
About a grand apiece+ for new cylinders, valves, pistons
Shipping and insurance
Paint
Sealants and lubricants-$100
Plus inspect/repair your ignition
Plus inspect/repair your fuel system
Plus inspect/repair your starter /alternator

Probably take you a weekend to tear down and 3-4 to rebuild

Buy overhaul manuals and videos, watch lots of You Tube, talk to A&Ps

If you have a big part that will not overhaul, get out the checkbook.

Bought one

I bought an engine out of a R22 helicopters. This engine was sent to a mechanic and reviewed and repaired as necessary and returned to service. Not flying yet I have full confidence in the engine. Check for log books and history. If those aren't there buy as cheap core and rebuild with AME as needed.

In general, the lack of log book history has a negative affect on its value when sold. Due diligence is all you can do but you should expect a good deal due to the lack of history. Same when you eventually sell it to another, unless you go through the OH process and start its history anew.

Depends upon your mission, available funds and level of acceptable risk.

I would be wanting to positively establish exactly what happened that caused the engine to be salvaged and what inspections were carried out.

Having done 4-5 of these things I might not consider it a huge issue as long as the seller gave me a guarantee on the case and crank being reusable. It could be worth more than a core if you can establish the hours on expensive parts such a cylinders. This guy started with a salvaged engine so it doesn't owe him a lot anyway.

Others will fly it like nothing ever happened. However, prop strike damage can take 100's of hours to become a problem.

You can do the work yourself and save the labour, but once you get these things apart the costs in machining and parts start to add up.

How nice is the airframe?

I built my kit, overhauled the engine, and repaired damage that I caused. Dealing with bad quality workmanship, damage, heavy use, outdated panel, corrosion, peeling paint, etc. is harder to contend with than opening up the engine and having the components checked by a certified station for return to service. It will cost money even if you do all the wrenching, but you will know what you have. You can remove the engine and take it home, but doing airframe repairs and painting in a rented unheated hanger is difficult. If the airframe is sound and in good condition then I'd still consider the package as a purchase prospect. The salvaged engine is certainly leverage to negotiate the price down. Airframe work involves many skills and is time consuming.
Again, how nice is the airframe?

My engine was bought from a well know salvage company. It was sold at core value, no logs, it did not have a prop strike. it then sat on the stand for a couple of years. I pulled the pan and acc case to check the oil pump ad and have a good look at it. It's been running great for 13 years now.

Yes the price should be lower because of no logs, but it is not a death sentence. Even new engines fail, but most engines give notice that they are not happy. A high time or no log engine can be a great value.

Bob burns
Rv4 n82rb

My thoughts go along with a lot of these posts. I'd run it, pull the filter and look for metal, send a sample to Blackstone or other oil analysis company, then run it some more. As in my recent post of my oil analysis, the frequency of use makes a huge difference in microscopic metals.

All in all, these engines are amazingly tough. As others have said, the price needs to reflect the lack of history and having been sitting, and possibly at least a portion of the color an overhaul. As I mentioned to you before, a $10,000 IRAN inspection should let you know what you have, and if it becomes more expensive, it's because the inspection found parts that were likely to fail soon. At the same time, a series of oil analysis from every 10-15 hours for a while is a lot cheaper than that.

Are the compressions good? Is it making metal? Oil analysis? What do you see when you look in a jug with a borescope? It it hada prop strike any damage would have shown up after 400 hrs.

Mike Busche runs his engines to 2 times tbo and more if they show no symptoms but he watches all those things carefully. The engine might be ok. If you have it overhauled you introduce other risks. It will be more likely to fail in the first 50 hrs than an engine with a lot of time that is running well.

You are looking for the right answer but there isn't one.

My question would be "Why was the engine a salvage engine?". Maybe it was removed from an airplane that was "done". That wouldn't be a problem.

Maybe it was removed from an airplane that had a hangar fall on it. Might not be a problem.

Maybe it was recovered from from an airplane that crashed in a swamp and was pulled out after 6 months. That would be bad.

The circumstances around the salvage would be of interest to me if that information is available.

Some more thoughts...

I'm in a similar scenario. My engine came from a 172 that had been written off due to hail damage. I do have the logs though, and I know an engine shop tore it down and inspected everything, new bearings, cam, ovh cylinders, mags, carb and more. It appears to have been basically 0-timed. Hasnt run for quite a while, but it has been in warm dry storage ever since. I plan on running it and keeping a very close eye on compressions, oil analysis, oil consumption, etc. I cant give you a go/no-go but maybe sharing my plan would help a little?

I feel the nice thing about not having a 0 time engine is it allows more ground run time to get your systems sorted out and start getting a feel for engine condition. All the piston engines Ive broken in I have been instructed to minimize ground time...

Alex