Used engine from Japan?

K

Kornbread

Greenie N00B Member
So unfortunately I’m in the market for a replacement engine. Bottom end is trashed. My 17 yr old son just bought it 3 months ago as his first car.
Just trying to get him back on the road.
I see a lot of used engines from different jdm sellers saying used from Japan with 55-65k miles. Anyone have any experience with these? Any tips on good sources for long blocks etc.?
Used seems to be around 2k, remain long blocks around 3-3500k while a semi-built motor closer to 5-6k.
Really just wanting it back to oem status at this point so he can enjoy having a car again. Thanks for any help!
 
How trashed? holes/cracks in the block? local machine shop could be the better option.

If your buying used online, do your research on the company and at the very least get them to provide you compression numbers.
 
It was a pos when he got it, of course we didn’t learn that until after the fact. Looks like the motor has been gone through by many people at many times. Rt now the rod bearings and crank are toast. Metal in the oil so I’m sure the oil pump and many other parts are damaged.

Yes I could pull the motor and tear it down and take it around to machine shops etc but I honestly would rather start over and throw this bad omen in the trash pile. I don’t have a shop or garage. Just a carport where my show car sits under cover, so I’m trying to limit the amount of work I have to do at home. That has me leaning more towards a swap out scenario.
They guarantee the engines and have good feedback, I was just seeing if I might catch someone on here that had a personal experience with them. I’ve never used ebay for a $2k purchase so I’m a little gun shy. So this is part of me researching.
 
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Understandable! Hopefully a member had gone the same route and can provide their experience. Those eBay listings do look enticing.
 
Oh no! I've been following your thread sorry the crank is toast as well. As for eBay listings I'm not sure. I know fattimotoworks is pretty legit so an engine from them would probably be okay they're state side
 
Awafrican said:
Oh no! I've been following your thread sorry the crank is toast as well. As for eBay listings I'm not sure. I know fattimotoworks is pretty legit so an engine from them would probably be okay they're state side
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Yeah man I slapped some rod bearings in and it ran absolutely perfect, but only for about 2 days. It never dawned on me and I feel stupid but now I’m sure the oil pump was prob full of metal or something crazy. So I have a hunch the oiling was compromised as well.
It’s not “knocking” yet but there’s a noise there. It’s been parked since. But we’re gonna get her going one way or another! I don’t give up easy.
 
Raider said:
Overspeed Motorsports is doing stock rebuilds that are affordable.
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Thanks! Certainly sounds like a good company to deal with. I checked out there reviews and fb page. Unfortunately it looks like he’s 2-3 months backed up. I’ll reach out to them on some pricing. I don’t suppose you know what the stock rebuilds are going for do you?
 
I mean upgrading piston and rods isn't too much more, andwand outlast the stocker, shit if stock engine blew on you it may be time for an upgrade...
 
I bought a used engine from jdm engine depot on eBay. Looked great but had a busted vvt. Sent back and got refund. So be careful. You can scope salvage yards on car-part.com. Asolutionsauto parts another seller that parts out like fattimotorworks on eBay/FB. Def looking at 2-3k on a swap. 5k from overspeed, 2-4K rebuild.
 
Got one from JDM New York. They shipped super fast and the engine was really clean. Consider it like a long block and check every part you are thinking about leaving on. I had to swap the water outlet/ egr housing because the new one didn't have the port for the line that goes to the throttle body. Had to swap the tensioner also as the one on the engine I received wouldn't bolt up with the axle shaft bracket of our Mazdaspeed 3. It is running great for now anyway.

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I def agree, but I’m pretty sure the motor was toast when we bought it. Only put a few hundred miles on it. So it’s hard to base it off what happened prior to us. It’s obvious it wasn’t taken care of.
Awafrican said:
I mean upgrading piston and rods isn't too much more, andwand outlast the stocker, shit if stock engine blew on you it may be time for an upgrade...
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I ended up getting a new oem long block. But I’m wondering can anyone tell me a way to verify it being a motor designated for the speed 3 and not the regular mazda 3? Or are they the same?
 
I thought Mazda no longer manufactured the 2.3 MZR DISI engine. If you got a new one through Mazda, you likely purchased a rebuilt long block.

I could be mistaken though.
 
Mazda has a stock of the OEM ones, it's my understanding that there may be only a handful of the non remanufactured left.

The blocks between the two are certainly not the same, similar I'm sure. Can't remember exactly where the turbo oil feed comes off, but that'd be a dead giveaway
 
Kornbread said:
I ended up getting a new oem long block. But I’m wondering can anyone tell me a way to verify it being a motor designated for the speed 3 and not the regular mazda 3? Or are they the same?
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The regular mazda 3 is port injection vs direct injection on the mazdaspeed engines.

You should see the ports for the injectors just under the intake ports on the head

Pic of a speed engine with the intake manifold off and showing the DI injector ports below
20200613_140557.jpg
 
Well it was a long road but he’s back in business! Brand new oem long block installed. New clutch and all the other stuff that made sense to change at the same time. Now he can finally enjoy it!


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If I could ask... What was the long block cost?
I know a rebuild is in order for me in long term Forged internals is a choice but NOS resonates if worth it.
 
Cfoldone said:
If I could ask... What was the long block cost?
I know a rebuild is in order for me in long term Forged internals is a choice but NOS resonates if worth it.
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I looked and looked and was seeing a lot of $4,000+ prices. After a month of looking non stop I found a ebay seller that purchases warehouse overstock or something like that. Anyway he had a brand new long block still in the factory mazda crate. Ended up paying $2600 including freight.


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