Can i start a V6 out of the car?

[John Abbott]

Ok you modern day mechanics....I will be picking up a V6 with auto (vp) today and was wondering if any of you have ever started one of these motors out of the car. I know i will have to get a computer and some of the harness but what about the fuel supply? It would just be nice to see how it runs. It has been out of the wreck for about 12 months. 

[Rogue Trooper]

To be honest John the old cars are so cheap to pick up I don't think I'd bother with just a motor and gearbox. For all the hassle of picking up the other bits I'd just get a whole car and then you have everything in there that you need.

For example the car that I got cost me $700. Once I had finished stripping it of everything I needed I then sold the wheels for $180 so the whole thing only set me back $520. The engine was running and had a chance to drive it so also knew the trans was reasonable, got the driveshaft so I had the yoke for getting a new one for the van made up and also got all the wiring loom, computer etc, etc.

[John Abbott]

Yeah for sure Rogue...That is still my plan, but i am getting this motor and box for free so i'm going to grab this bargain while i can. Whoo
V6 power...

[Rogue Trooper]

Fair enough then. At least you'll have a couple of spare parts available.

Can't see any reason why you can't. The big hassles are going to be supplying power to the computer and various sensors and the fuel pressure required for the fuel rails. The other thing is that in order to run properly I think you have to have the trans wired up as the computer gets some of its information from there. You might want the cluster connected if you want to see any error codes that pop up via the engine check lamp.

Something else is the O2 sensor in the exhaust. Generally that has to be connected or it runs like a bag of crap. Does the engine come with it's exhaust system? I think this is rapidly going to the 'too hard' bin.

[Bedfordcrazy]

hey john, rogue, i paid $400 for my vp, I will be completely stripping and rebuilding every nut and bolt in mine. I would be doing that john, that should garrantee it runs, as long as the head is not warped. My 2nd gear is slipping in the box, so that is getting rebuilt, not cheap as i just found out. How do i know it was slipping, my mechanic had some fun b4 we pulled it all out. lol  The way you tell it rogue, i did not realise how complicated new motors are compared to the red we pulled out, now i know why my mechanic did'nt go to the vs and later.
george

[John Abbott]

Yep it is much easier with the old reds...

[BusyKiwi]

also if you start it on the floor be very careful with the drive shaft, take it out and it will leak oil, leave it in and risk it not being in park or netural and blam, a millisecond and it could be all over rover.

[Rogue Trooper]

hey john, rogue, i paid $400 for my vp, I will be completely stripping and rebuilding every nut and bolt in mine. I would be doing that john, that should garrantee it runs, as long as the head is not warped. My 2nd gear is slipping in the box, so that is getting rebuilt, not cheap as i just found out. How do i know it was slipping, my mechanic had some fun b4 we pulled it all out. lol  The way you tell it rogue, i did not realise how complicated new motors are compared to the red we pulled out, now i know why my mechanic did'nt go to the vs and later.
george

I'm not rebuilding a thing with mine. As far as I'm concerned there are so many of these out there that if it packs up I'll just get another block for nix. Same goes for the trans. A damn sight cheaper than rebuilding them. It was running well when I pulled it out of the car so it should go alright for a while in the van.

Actually I tell a lie. Once it's up and running I will replace the coil pack and leads etc but that's it.

Yes, unfortunately getting these ones going isn't quite as easy as hooking up a battery, gravity-feeding the fuel pump and touching the starter motor solenoid with a hot wire.

[ben]

is it going to cost you much for the wiring thou rouge trooper? i always like the idea of getting good running second hand stuff but i had the impression to get everything working well is a big job?

[Rogue Trooper]

I'm doing it myself so won't be all that expensive. I started off life as a Sparkie and have already rewired the van from scratch once so I'm not too bothered about it. Most of the dash componentry is Ford Falcon EB so I'm just going to adapt the dash wiring loom from the Falcon including the fusebox. The computer wiring loom for the engine and trans will remain as is and I'll just sort out stuff like lighting from the relay bank and interfacing the VN computer to the Falcon cluster as I go.

Yes it is a big job but the best thing to do is just get into it. Break it up into smaller chunks and it's a lot more manageable.