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99 6.5L and 91 6.2L complete take out running engines, 900 bucks/pair good or bad?

GM Guy

GM Guy

Manual Trans. 2WD Enthusiast
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Hey guys, I was wanting to get your opinion on a deal I ran onto:

this guy that works at a local JD dealer has a 99 C3500 that had a 6.5L and a 4L80E, and now it is cummins 5spd.

the reason that he decided to swap is the wastegate system took a dump, and he decided to spend the money on a cummins swap instead.

He pulls moderate loads (car trailer loads) and has a DD, so no town miles on it. the truck has over 200K, which he believes is also the miles of the motor. he said that even with the miles, it still carries 35-40 lbs of oil psi, and when towing, it will drink only about 1/2 quart of engine oil per 5-6K miles. he says it comes with a PMD cooler, which he has no idea who the mfgr. is, but says it was mounted in the bumper , and it has a black stanadyne PMD on it.
The only item not going with it is the alternator and the wiring harness for it, as he needs a tach signal for the cummins swap.

K47 was not even discussed, forgot about it completely.



the 6.2L is removed from a running 91 truck that the tranny took a dump, and he was in the process of swapping it into a 95, but it didnt wire up worth a darn, and it was going to be too much work, and they made a pickup box trailer out of the 95. he had ran the truck about 1K miles before the tranny took a dump, so not as much history.

air cleaner was off, it was sitting in a shed, with a mudflap over the intake and the valley. did not notice any egr of any sort, so I am lead to believe that this is a HD emissions engine, not LD emissions.

I have only seen the 6.2L, not the 6.5L yet, 6.2L was at his old mans place, and I was there with my boss.

so what do you guys think? doable, or no?
 
Guy can do a Cummins swap but can't swap the electronics from a 6.5 to a 6.2? I'd defineately want to drop the pan on the 6.5
 
x2 Sounds like an interesting deal, but the reasoning/back story does sound kinda odd. :skep: I'd think about offering half that. You can sell engine parts and easily recover your investment, just in case things aren't as they seem. ;)
 
Boost solenoid and vac hoses vs cummins swap just doesn't sound right. If he has nothing to hide a pan drop shouldn't be a problem. Oil analyisis on both engines would help prevent buying a pair of turds. Complete 6.2s around here are going for less than $350. A unsealed one is worth much less.
 
talked to some co-workers of his, and they say he is good with maintenance, and doesnt hot rod his vehicles..I do question the reasoning as well, but I would imagine the combine mechanic would like a combine (or tractor) engine in his truck!

and I believe he mentioned the 6.2L was ready to drop in, but he had no time, and I estimate from there his old man needed a trailer..this may have been pre 99 6.5L days, and the new truck may have filled the need the old one was going to? just estimating...

btw, how much does an oil analysis cost?
 
Wrecker or lubrication specialist would be able to set you up or answer questions. Amsoil has a analyisis service.
 
The oil analysis is about $25. I use this place . It will give you an indication and might tell you of any problems, but will not guarantee you a trouble free engine. I bought a "good" used 1997 506 block (guy took it out to install a Cummins, maybe a bad omen?). Sent in a oil sample from it. It came back good with no antifreeze contamination. Pulled the pan and checked for main web cracks, it looked good. Got it installed and it pressurized the cooling system. Turns out it had a cracked #8 cylinder. With these engines, you pay your money and take your chances. I'm not saying getting an oil sample is not a good idea, it will give you an idea what is going on, but not the whole story.

The original 1995 engine had 185,000 miles on it. Iron & chromium had been high the last 2 oil samples. Turns out it had a cracked main web, but the lab thought it had a broken piston ring. Actually the main web was completely broken all the way up to the cam bearings. It ran great with absolutely no indication of a problem. Having several oil samples dating back 7 years alerted me of an impending problem and probably saved me a big bang while driving it.

Guess I'm saying check it out as best you can. Hope for the best, be prepared for the worst. I was able to part out the bad 506 engine and got some of my money back. That would be an option should the engine turn out to be bad. I would look at what you think the parts value of the deal is should the block be unusable and offer accordingly. That way you wouldn't get hurt too bad should there be a problem.
 
The deal may be great.
The issue is that the bottom end of either or both these engines can be cracked all to rat crap and not worth a damn.

Any amount of $$$ spent on any of these engines needs to be precipitated by a drop of the pan and careful inspection of the center main webs.

The area all around both sides of the outer main bolts on the center 3 mains needs to be examined.

The decks around the head bolts can crack but this is far less common.

Good luck

Missy
 
thanks for the input guys, I think i will try and get convince the guy to let me or him pull the pan and check it out. 25 bucks isnt bad for oil analysis, might do it it as well, at least on the 6.5L that is here local.

also, search didnt help me much, so I will ask a stuipid question: where is the casting numbers?
 
Driver's side bellhousing flange or rear face of block passenger side
 

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ok, talked to him an hour ago:

he wanted the motor under cover, so he took it back to his parents farm, pulled intake and got alternator wiring, and had to get to work, so left it apart and his old man is to put it back on and drop a few bolts in.

It does include the K47 airbox, and two electronic throttle pedals.

I asked how much, and he says it is included as part of the 900 dollar deal.

he will also let me go through each junker truck (the 95 that never got the engine installed, and the 91 that the 6.2L came out of) and see if I need anything.

We also discussed pulling pans, he said that it would be no issue, as long as I am half serious about buying them. The only downside is that he doesnt have an engine stand, which I feel would be necessary to inspect it better. I am not too giddy about rolling it upside down sitting on wires & lines to pull the pan. there is of course front end loaders, but I dont see how One could hang it upside down w/o running the risk of damaging something...maybe chain to the manifolds???

What do you guys think I should do? go get the casting numbers, and if they are good numbers, go ahead and take the gamble? if they are bad numbers, devise a creative way to get the ol sow upside down and pop er open?

btw, thanks bk95td for the location of the casting numbers
 
I don't think there is actual bad casting numbers. The "599" is supposed to be good but I have 3 of them with major cracks. I think it;s more of a combo of luck and not overheating. Supposedly the 506 blocks have the highest failure rate but there are many of them with 300,000 miles or more.
I wouldn't roll them over without a stand.
 
surely with all the parts its worth a gamble, right? I dont have an engine stand, and I dont want to flop the engine over in a dirty shed.
 
Harvest came up, so i stalled him for a while till harvest was done, then We set a time, and I went up this past saturday, and I bought myself some stuff. He dropped to 700 for the pair about a week before i came up, and when I got there said he would take 650 for the two motors. (I think he was hurting for some $ to burn on the cummins' performance :) ) The motors turned out to be a 506 on the 99 and a 660 on the 6.2L. I also bought a lot of other stuff at scrap rate, as it was all getting crushed soon anyways.

The current local rate is 150 bucks a ton at the farm, so i bought stuff that i deemed worth more than scrap. so I bought the 2wd front clip from the 99, complete with the spendy one piece dually spacer hubs and rotor assy., both of which are good used. I also bought the 95 radiator support, a 929 6.5 that the neighbor gave to them that had sat outside (guy wired wg shut and popped one, possibly two HGs) , the 95 extended cab with tps still in, with a red interior, power buckets, deluxe cassette deck, and ac controls (IDK if they are operational) and the 91 rolling chassis (RCLB 6.2L auto 4wd, 8 lug, 9.5" SF14 bolt), which is missing the engine (that is the one that I bought) and whole front body work, as well as the bed, and right window. The reason the truck was disassembled was the auto went to shit and he needed the 6.2L for the 95, but that trucks was the one that was junked for the 4wd front end. but it has keys and a title, so i feel a 6.5L NV4500 mudding rig is in the future! other items contained fenders, some good, some bad, one with complete inner fender. got a decent hood and diesel bumper as well (both of which would be perfect, except each hade one good ding or crease to make it not as good)

anyways, two engines, plus 6200lbs of misc., all crammed on dads 92 and a trailer.
 
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:thumbsup::thumbsup: Sounds like you did pretty good. I've paid $200 and more for parts engines.
 
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