Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Edahall If I'm buying an engine or transmission, I usually like one out of a wrecked car. Why? Because I know that they had to work before the wreck. |
I went with that theory with my fuel pump and got burned. I figured it had to be running when the guy hit whatever it was he hit. But no, it was seized. Same can go for an engine or trans. Depends on how long they sit and where they sit. Engine blocks and transmission cases can be damaged by hard hits, too.
Your best bet, if possible, is to take a good look at what the parts are coming out of. If not, see if the yard is willing to offer a warranty. No warranty, no buy. Even a short warranty is better than none.
All the electronics in my flood resto '01 are out of a collision totaled '00 DTS. It had no windows and had been sitting in the yard for about a month. All the seats (which had been nice for a 72k mile car) were mildewed and the footwells were full of water. Even though the car was exposed to the elements, all of the electronics - including the instrument panel - function flawlessly. I had to shake the water out of the HVAC controls. A lot of electrical stuff will survive water exposure if it is dried quickly and is NOT powered up when they are exposed. Water conducts electricity and will bake an electronic module if it's still hot. The saving grace on this car was that the power was cut to it at the accident scene so when it was dragged to the salvage yard and got wet everything survived.
U-pull-it yards are the best because you can gauge how long the car has been there and what kind of trauma it was subjected to.
It's tough to find late-model parts in the u-pullits but you can find some good earlier stuff. I used to get depressed wandering around the yards and finding cars that people junked that were in better shape than what I was driving. People just get tired of them and have them hauled away.
Jim