Ok, a little background. I have an '03 with a fairly loud engine knock. No idea what caused it, but it's there. I'm not in the VIN range of oil pump failures, and I have installed an oil pressure gauge and have good pressure at all times. In the meantime, I found an '04 that was being parted out. I picked up the engine with about 80k miles on it. I'm getting ready to swap it over into my Disco. I've ordered new magnecors and have Bosch +4's ready to go. Is there anything else I should do to the new (used) engine before I drop it into the truck?

Bryan

 

make sure it doesnt need ANY gaskets. since you have the engine out it will be A LOT easier to work on it so this will be the BEST time to change head gaskets and anything else that will be difficult to replace once installed.

others will chime in and give their 2 cents

 

drop the pan and inspect. Clean out any sludge and the oil pickup if dirty.

 

New front and rear seals, front tranny seal, t/stat and any other gaskets.
I would install the engine and do a full ATF flush to clean out any old build up.

 

Hold on there!

No need to swap the engine. It is not like Every 2003 engine in the Vin range fails!! Just a small number.

Your 03 engine might not even fail, it probably won't. Just wait till it fails. No need wasting a good engine.

 

Good point but why wait, tear it down now and see if it is repairable before it blows.

 

See if the 04 is reparable? I would definitely fix up the 04 just to have it ready. 80K miles isn't bad. I just wouldn't swap it right away. Unless you can swap engines easily and cheaply.

 

Yeah, I was gonna say I will take your old engine.... Even if it is a bearing, they aren't too hard to swap, even with the engine in the truck. For sure cheaper and less work than swapping.