Pulling an Engine From a Junkyard

New engines are a necessary part of vehicle ownership, and there will likely come a day in the future when you need to invest in a new engine. However, this is something that can be expensive for a lot of people, and this is why many of us out there actually prefer pulling an engine from the junkyard. Believe it or not, junkyards can be goldmines for the more attentive among us, and this is something that a lot of people can make use of.

Buying used parts from a junkyard can save you thousands, and will help you to learn a lot about the vehicle you are working on as well. This is why it’s so important to make sure you look at the best ways of being able to pull an engine at the junkyard. Plus there are arguments why rebuilding an engine is better then buying a new one. There are a few things that you need to keep in mind if you’re looking to pull a junkyard trophy, and these are some of the considerations you need to be making. 

Find the Right Junk Yard

The first thing you need to do is to find the right junkyard to source your motor from in the first place. Of course, if there is a local self-service junkyard near to you, then this is something you can use, but it needs to have the right kind of setup, and there needs to be a decent selection of engines to choose from. Also worth noting is that many junkyards are closed on the weekends, but you may find some with truncated Saturday hours.

Making sure you come up with ideas that will help you to find the right junkyard is so important, and this is one of the key early steps in the process that can help you to achieve success when it comes to finding the best possible engine or motor to pull. Perhaps taking a trip to your local yard would be a good idea, and you can ask about the state of play regarding pulling a motor and getting the engine you want.  

How Much Does an Engine Cost at a Junkyard?

You should be aware of the costs involved as well, and this is something that you need to keep in mind moving forward right now. There are a lot of things that play a role in helping you find the right kind of motor to pull, but it is always worth finding out about the costs.

This is really important, and there are a lot of things that play a part in this moving forward. The average cost for pulling a junkyard motor is between $50 and $500, which is significantly less than you would pay for a brand new engine. This is a thrifty way of securing the motor you need, and helping the environment in the process too

Selecting an Engine

Next up you need to actually select the engine you want to pull, and you are sort of limited here by what is available. There are a few things you need to consider with this, and the key elements here are to check the condition of the engine, test the engine to see how well it works, and check the fluid. These are all things you can do there and then as long as you have the right equipment with you to make these tests happen. 

Is Pulling an Engine Hard?

Pulling an engine is something that can be tough for those who haven’t done it before, and it is vitally important that you have the right equipment to help you pull the engine. This is something that you need to make sure you plan for in advance to make sure you have the right stuff on the day. With the proper tools this is a process that can be relatively straightforward, even for beginners. And having a buddy with you to lend a hand is going to help even more as well. 

Safety First

As with anything involving machinery or machine parts, you need to be safe and careful. There should be no problems when pulling a motor, and the health and safety risks are minimal. However, that doesn’t mean that you can simply ignore it and not take any measures to protect safety at all. You have to make sure you do the best you can to make this a safe and pleasant process, and there are a few things you can do to work on improving this. Make sure things are properly secure when you are trying to move or lift them, don’t get under anything too heavy. Make sure you avoid hazardous and toxic fumes, wearing a mask would be a good move.  

Pull the Motor 

Now, you also need to think about the process of actually pulling the motor, and what this entails moving forward. This is something that needs to be done safely and securely and you have to make sure you take the right steps to ensure a safe pull that leaves the engine completely intact as much as possible. So, that means you need to think about things like draining the engine before you attempt to move it. This makes it lighter and safer to try to transport.

Removing the accessories and unbolting the mounts also play an integral role in this process too, and they help in so many ways to make for a smoother pull. Once you’ve unbolted the engine you need to hoist it, and this is something that should be done slowly and delicately, and you need to make sure you are gentle with it as much as you can be. If there is a problem with moving it, or resistance, you need to reassess what should be done, and check the engine over again.

Conclusion

These are some of the key things that you need to keep in mind when you are looking to make the right kinds of improvements that will help you to achieve success and find the perfect motor to suit your needs. The fact is that you don’t have to spend thousands on a brand new motor, when there is often the perfect replacement in the local junkyard.

James

James is an avid junkyarder and mechanic. He has visited Junkyards in every US state and has restored over 30 makes and models of vehicles. He has several automotive and recycling related blogs that generate over 150K views a month.