# So I went out and bought a European Recall Engine :)



## GSE1 (May 8, 2010)

Being fortunate that I live in Southern California and have some good friends in the car tuning industry I managed to locate myself one of those mythical "european recall engines" 

There was another post from someone warning about not to buy any "recall" engines. 

However seeing how the dealer is selling these at $20k, I couldn't pass up the chance to roll the dice at $9k and change on this engine considering it came with everything even the front diff! 

Here's some pictures of the engine. This sucker is clean. I drained the oil already (it is spotless no signs of "soft" bearings) and took a scope to it - internals look good.

I haven't decided what to do with the engine yet - but more than likely it will probably get a Jun stroker kit, Darton sleeves, and shoot for the 1000HP club.  

The motor is currently in the capbable hands of Al (company removed) who I trust emphatically with my motor builds and who built me my last 2 900+ and 1000+HP Supra motors. 

I'll post more pictures as they get some time to tear it down.


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## GSE1 (May 8, 2010)

soryr didn't realize I couldn't post company links


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## Godders (Oct 7, 2009)

This story should be fun... you'll be changing the bearings then right? Looking forward to how it progresses with loads of photos of course.


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

I'm amazed that those engines ever made it past the crusher.

Of course it would be a horrendous waste, but they replaced those engines for a reason and to sell them on seems very dodgy.


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## sumo69 (Mar 31, 2008)

I wonder what warranty they come with????

I agree with DY - it is truly amazing that Nissan are selling these.

D


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## Steve (Sep 21, 2001)

Guys you know Nissan - Money Grabbing Stewards !!!

I would have thought that selling an eng known to be trouiblesome would end up in court battle ??


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## LiamGTR (Nov 26, 2006)

Steve said:


> Guys you know Nissan - Money Grabbing Stewards !!!
> 
> I would have thought that selling an eng known to be trouiblesome would end up in court battle ??


Aslong as he advertised it as "toublesome/recalled" then he is covered I think


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## GSE1 (May 8, 2010)

I just got a call from Al, he's half way through the disassembly, he says everything is looking good so far. I'm going to head over there after work to grab some pics.


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## GSE1 (May 8, 2010)

Intake Manifold Off









I got a spare front diff now 









Front cover off









Found some sealant crap in the oil pickup 









Oil pan off









Heads / Cams









Everything is looking very good!! Next up crankshaft and bearings!


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## GTaaaaaarrrrrr! (May 4, 2006)

Good on you mate. Excellent project :bowdown1::bowdown1:


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## Crispy Rice (Apr 28, 2009)

Loving this thread! $9k for a full engine is a bargin and as its going to be so comprehensively modifed theres no need to worry about the bearing. Keep us updated!


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## charles charlie (May 3, 2008)

Great thread GSE1...

Can I ask a favour as you rebuild?

Could you post which aftermarket parts you fit, and why you chose these over OEM and other tuners parts?

Thanks buddy!


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## GSE1 (May 8, 2010)

Hey guys, bearings, rods, cranks came out - they are in decent shape!! 


































The bearings might be "too soft" or bad, but they look and feel pretty good. Nothing worse than what your typical boosted motor bearings look like... We'll send it over to the machine shop for inspection.


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## GSE1 (May 8, 2010)

charles charlie said:


> Great thread GSE1...
> 
> Can I ask a favour as you rebuild?
> 
> ...



I most definitely will 

You know, my decision has become a lot harder. When I bought the motor I was thinking stroker crank, maybe JUN or Gruppe-S, but now that the crank came out in great shape, I'm thinking maybe sleeving, forged pistons, rods, and keeping the stock displacement and just boosting it to high heaven! Perhaps some GT30's would be a good fit :chuckle:


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

GSE1 said:


> Found some sealant crap in the oil pickup


Hard to tell from your photo, but could that ever be enough to have caused a problem down the line?

It looks like the mesh on the pick up is fine enough to prevent any pieces getting into the pipe and they're not large enough to cause a blockage.

Just trying to get a handle on whether this issue has been overblown or not.


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## KM BlackGTR (Mar 17, 2009)

Fair play to you mate for taking what looks to be a worthwhile risk on that
engine.
I'm liking this thread. A 35 owner who knows what the inside of an engine
looks like:thumbsup::bowdown1:


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## GSE1 (May 8, 2010)

David.Yu said:


> Hard to tell from your photo, but could that ever be enough to have caused a problem down the line?
> 
> It looks like the mesh on the pick up is fine enough to prevent any pieces getting into the pipe and they're not large enough to cause a blockage.
> 
> Just trying to get a handle on whether this issue has been overblown or not.


Given that the oil came out pretty clean and the engine obviously had very low miles on it, I'm thinking that it's possible this will cause a problem down the line. I've torn apart a good many of my motors (2JZ, EJ25, RB26, etc.) and never saw debris like this in a low mileage engine. I'd say it's definitely possible it's an issue down the road - keep in mind that this stuff was STUCK onto the filter, we had to take a pick to remove it.


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## markpriorgts-t (May 23, 2004)

awesome thread, that timing chain really is a work of art


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## GSE1 (May 8, 2010)

The VR38 really is a thing of beauty. We couldn't get over how big the intake ports are in the head!


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## GSE1 (May 8, 2010)

Woohoo UPS brought my forged rods today 

I decided to get the GruppeS forged rods with the ARP 2000 bolts. According to Eddy the owner of GruppeS these rods should be good for 1000HP. 


























Next up forged pistons


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## tyndago (Oct 24, 2002)

Nice. Spare engines are cool. Everyone needs a spare engine or two.


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## Perra (Jan 6, 2002)

Let´s just make one thing clear: It´s NOT Nissan who´s selling these engines.

I got an offer to buy two of these but turned it down. The price wasn´t too bad, but still a bit high since they didn´t cost a penny for those that sell them...

/P


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## Wildrover (Dec 16, 2008)

Mechanics eh?


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

Perra said:


> Let´s just make one thing clear: It´s NOT Nissan who´s selling these engines.
> 
> I got an offer to buy two of these but turned it down. The price wasn´t too bad, but still a bit high since they didn´t cost a penny for those that sell them...
> 
> /P


But how did Nissan allow them to be sold? If there was a dangerous component that had to be replaced by recall, would they have allowed those to reach the black market?


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## E5.UNICORN (Jul 17, 2009)

:thumbsup:


David.Yu said:


> But how did Nissan allow them to be sold? If there was a dangerous component that had to be replaced by recall, would they have allowed those to reach the black market?
> 
> David its done everyday. The the company I work for gets emails everyday for Core parts that are damaged, recalled or which can be rebuilt then sold on. The emails always come from holding companies and not the manufacturer or dealerships.The prices are amazing low 10% to 15% of the actual retail price so ist very hard to say no. The warranty obviously has to be sold with the parts from the re-manufacturers so we always to a good job.
> 
> ...


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## GSE1 (May 8, 2010)

David.Yu said:


> But how did Nissan allow them to be sold? If there was a dangerous component that had to be replaced by recall, would they have allowed those to reach the black market?


What dangerous components? There's no dangerous components.

We should be very respectful towards Nissan - I had an E46 M3. Blown motor, spun bearing. They told me to drive on it for a few weeks then come back. Had to fight with BMW just to get it warrantied even though it was obvious there was a serious mfg defect.

Nissan stepped up an took them back just for a minor bearing problem. It's a simple fix, Nissan just didn't want to waste their time to do it. The raw components of a VR38 engine probably costs Nissan $1.5k tops... After you own the tooling it's just raw aluminum cost and machining right?


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## GSE1 (May 8, 2010)

E5.UNICORN said:


> People might ask why dont Nissan do this themselfs. The GTR as you know when launched in Japan after six months with depreciation the car droped to 28,000 sterling so you can imagine how inexpensive these engines are when all the tooling is doneand the manufacturing qoutas are in. For Nissan to have all the logistics to get these repairs done inhouse (bearing is mind all time = money) it would easily work out more expensive to have this done, even disposal costs big money. The best idea is to sell to a 2nd party and to make sure they sell on to a 3rd who can do what they want with them whome sell them of to re-manufacturing companies.


Good points - I think another point to add is when does any OEM get into the remanufactured engine business? That's just something they don't do. They'd rather get it to their partners that will remanufacture these engines for them...


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## TAZZMAXX (Mar 9, 2010)

Another point to consider, imagine if Nissan had said at the start that all 300 engines would be sold on and available through the back door at about 10% of new cost? Chaos!! People would've been tripping over themselves to get one. GSE1 has got the right idea and is going for a full stripdown and re-build. Where's there going to be a problem with that?


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

The only problem would be if a recall engine was sold without full disclosure and you can't tell me that can't happen...


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## JKGTR (Apr 7, 2010)

just to clear things up, the recall was because of soft bearings?


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## GSE1 (May 8, 2010)

JKGTR said:


> just to clear things up, the recall was because of soft bearings?


So says Nissan <shrug>... The bearing seems to show some more wear than you'd expect for a very low mileage engine, but nothing seemed out of ordinary on the engine... Maybe I got lucky?


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## TAZZMAXX (Mar 9, 2010)

David.Yu said:


> The only problem would be if a recall engine was sold without full disclosure and you can't tell me that can't happen...


Yes, it would be an issue to someone thinking it was an A1 engine but the point I was making is that GSE1 brought it as a "donor" engine and never intended it as just a spare. In these cases, the people that do buy them will, no doubt, be aware of the engines history and will take corrective action before installing them.

Would anyone else buying a cheap engine of unknown origin not be slightly suspicious and do some homework? I think they would.


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## Perra (Jan 6, 2002)

David.Yu said:


> But how did Nissan allow them to be sold? If there was a dangerous component that had to be replaced by recall, would they have allowed those to reach the black market?


Who said Nissan is allowing them to be sold?? Come on David, it can´t be THAT hard to figure out what´s going on here. 

/P


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## gtrfun (Oct 22, 2013)

it good


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## TAZZMAXX (Mar 9, 2010)

gtrfun said:


> it good


I think you mean 'It's good'.


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## Grant Hay (Mar 10, 2012)

gtrfun said:


> it good




:chairshot:chairshot:chairshot


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## FRRACER (Jun 23, 2013)

:chuckle:


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## Cardiff R33 (Jan 16, 2004)

Interesting thread


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## MattGTR750 (Apr 26, 2012)

Nice read - end results/outcome? Any problems after the re build?


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## gtrfun (Oct 22, 2013)

and you ar very happy naw


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## WingedBeast1968 (Sep 18, 2009)

Lots more photos!!! I love shinny metal!!


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## CT17 (Mar 25, 2011)

Has anyone else other than me twigged that this thread was last updated over three years ago until it was spammed with a generic "good" comment?

Shame it never went all the way with more info and pics.


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## grahamc (Oct 1, 2006)

CT17 said:


> Has anyone else other than me twigged that this thread was last updated over three years ago until it was spammed with a generic "good" comment?
> 
> Shame it never went all the way with more info and pics.


Did wonder why I had never seen this... would be nice to get an update


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## TREG (May 20, 2004)

CT17 said:


> Has anyone else other than me twigged that this thread was last updated over three years ago until it was spammed with a generic "good" comment?
> 
> Shame it never went all the way with more info and pics.




Yes spotted that.

It good yes:chairshot


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