How to pick a JDM engine seller

I bought from a dealer in Florida. The engine was not what I saw pictured, it had sand in the grooves between intake ports and some aluminum corrosion on the external surfaces. Also the water outlet on the top right side was different than pictured and different than the gen4 Prius motor.

After looking at motor diagrams for the Japanese makes on Yoshi parts(?) I realized the JDM uses a different water outlet with an additional electronically controlled valve. Since I didn’t have a plug for that valve, I deleted the Japanese extras with a US version water outlet.

The engine held compression and the cylinders and piston head looked clean and even new. The testing and prep work were lengthy to get off the corrosion (probably from transport overseas) and WD40 ended up being the best product for that.

I have over 25k miles on that gen4 JDM, and it consumes no oil whatsoever! Now I’m swapping out the brake booster and accumulator that went out, still hoping for another 50-80k miles!

 

I got mine from Sunshine JDM on EBay from Florida. See my previous post for more info. It turned out ok for me.