How to check a used engine before you pay
You are buying across a border from photographs. This is what those photographs need to show you, what a supplier's check can and cannot prove, and what to ask when the evidence is thin.
Wholesale onlyRegular orders are one full container — 90 engines in a 20-ft or 130 in a 40-ft, or with gearboxes 45 + 45 / 65 + 65. New customers can make their first purchase from 10 engines (10, 20, 30 or 40), with gearboxes and consolidated shipping, at list price, with no first-order surcharge (LCL freight quoted separately): first-order offer. A second order can start from 45 engines, also at list price. We do not sell single units.
More modelsBeyond the models on this page we hold many more — 488 engine and gearbox families in our warehouse list, always subject to inventory changes. Tell us how many units you need so we can give you the best price: full stock list.
What a usable photo set contains
Photographs from every side, not three shots from one angle. Both sides of the block, the head, the sump, the mounting points, the timing cover and the accessories that are fitted. If the photos are all taken from the same angle in the same light, you are looking at a catalogue, not at your engine.
Every image should be of the specific unit you are buying, with a per-unit reference that ties it to your order — for example a photo file organised Engine 1, Engine 2, Engine 3… — and, where visible, the engine code or identification plate in the frame. That is the difference between evidence and decoration.
Petrol engines: what matters
If you want a number, compression across all cylinders is the headline one — measured by an inspector with a gauge, and with the caveat that a bench reading is not a road test. Beyond that, photographs can show coolant staining around the head gasket line, oil residue that suggests a leaking seal, and damage to the mounting lugs that hints at a heavy impact.
Ask what accessories come fitted. Alternator, starter, intake plumbing and sensors have real value, and 'engine only' means very different things to different suppliers.
Diesel engines: three things decide the value
Turbocharger, injectors and cylinder head. A common-rail diesel with a tired turbo or worn injectors can look perfect in photographs and still cost you more to commission than you paid for it.
If diesel is a large part of your order, turbo shaft play, injector condition and any evidence of overheating on the head are the points to have looked at. Leak-down and borescope inspections exist for exactly this; they are not part of our check, and no measuring equipment is available at the warehouse.
The grade is a promise — check what backs it
Grades only mean something if they are defined in writing. Across the market you will meet Grade A, B, C and core units; ours is simpler: we supply Grade A only, and we do not hold or sell B, C or core stock in any form.
What backs it, stated plainly: each engine is cleaned, handled and looked over, and its crankshaft is turned by hand with a tool to confirm that the mechanism rotates. It is then photographed from every side. What the check covers: a manual crankshaft rotation check and an individual photo record. It is not a compression, leak-down, bench or running test, so on its own it does not prove how an engine will run once installed.
Whoever you buy from, get the definitions and the scope of the check in writing before payment. If a dispute happens later, that document is the only thing that will settle it.
Questions worth asking before you transfer
Where is the engine physically right now, and when will I see it? How is each unit identified in the photos? What exactly is fitted? What is the grade and what check backs it? And what, if anything, is offered if a unit arrives in poor condition — get that answer in writing, whatever it is.
The answers matter less than whether they are given plainly. A supplier who answers all five in writing is a supplier you can work with.
Price a container yourself
Build the mix you want in the online quoter — 90 engines in a 20-ft or 130 in a 40-ft, or 45 + 45 / 65 + 65 with gearboxes — and the FOB total reaches your inbox the same minute, at our published per-unit prices, every engine Grade A. Prefer to ask? Tell us the destination country and the models you need and we reply within one business day, usually within hours.
New customer? Your first order can start with 10, 20, 30 or 40 engines, with gearboxes and consolidated shipping available — first purchase only, at list price, with no first-order surcharge. See the first-order offer →
Frequently asked
Can compression be tested on every used engine?
Not always — some units cannot be turned safely or lack the accessories a test needs. Either way, an engine whose compression was never measured should not be described as tested. ENGICOR's own check is a manual crankshaft rotation check plus photographs, not a compression test; no measuring equipment is available at the warehouse.
Is a video better than photos?
It is a useful addition, not a replacement. A video of the lot shows the engines are there and how they are stored; photographs from every side show detail you can zoom into and compare against what arrives.
What if the engines that arrive do not match the photos?
That is what per-unit photo references are for. With each engine documented in the order photo file (Engine 1, Engine 2…), you have a specific point of comparison; without it you have an argument. At ENGICOR, if the photos of a unit show a problem, tell us before the balance and we replace it with another unit of the same model, with new photos.