Military surplus engines?

[hoffy30]

I am new to the site and wondered if anyone has some info on crated military surplus engines I have seen on a government liquidation site ? Little info is available from the sites although many of the engines look to be like new. Any thoughts on buying a complete low mileage military truck or Blazer to get the running gear? Any help would be appreciated.

[painthorsman]

Hi,
I was in the Marine Corps for many years and was a mechanic in the Motor Pool and know from experience that may of these "surplus" engines are new replacements and some are engines pulled from vehicles and replaced for a variety of reasons... some as simple as needing an injection pump or a lifter went bad or crankshaft seal etc. If the parts wern't on the warehouse shelf and they needed the truck ASAP... if there was a new engine on the shelf... it got the complete new engine and the "old" one, went in the container box and sent back to supply depot...thats how some of these engines wind up as "surplus" And yes, some of them look "new" as they may not have more than just a few hours on them. My advice is try to inspect before you buy... turn the engine over, check compression, look for missing parts like IJ pump, lines, etc.

[Peter J. Bierman]

I have a surplus blazer, they are sold here by people who buy large numbers from the US army in germany. They are low miles but are still 15 years or older.
Mine started to be leaky after a while.
The gaskets and seals are old had te be replaced.
After a tear down and rebuild with only new gaskets and timing chain it's a fine engine.
So be prepaired to reseal the engine.
No further complaints beside the truck has NO options so don't look for comfort on these trucks.
Any way I'm still happy I bought it

Peter