What's an unknown condition L94 worth?

[blindsquirrel]

2013 Escalade L94 with 145K miles, complete drop-out with intake manifold, front brackets, AC compressor, exhaust manifolds, doesn't look all salt-rotted in the photos. The only description is:

"Dead cylinder, motor spins freely. For parts only. Sold as is."

That's it. Seller doesn't know if it was just a misfire or no compression, or if it was no compression whether it was something trivial like a collapsed intake lifter or something terminal like a broken conrod or holes in the cylinder wall & head.

"Dead cylinder, motor spins freely. For parts only. Sold as is."

What's the max you would be willing to pay for a total mystery like that that could very well turn out to be good for nothing but the external accessories?

[5FDP]

If the block isn't damaged on that dead engine, maybe like $300-400 depending on how complete the engine is. If it's a full engine with oil pan, intake, coil packs, injectors etc etc, it's worth more in my eyes because all those little things cost a lot of money to buy.

I see good GEN 3 engines for $300-500 on marketplace all day long, GEN 4 engines are $800-1500 depending on what it came from and GEN 5 engines are even more.

[blindsquirrel]

(L94 is essentially a LS3 but with a truck intake and AFM/VVT)

It's complete, missing only alternator and I think PS pump. Not sure about starter. Flexplate is there. Coils & wires. Harness was disconnected from all the things but not cut. They are asking $1800 + $300 freight but will take offers, my gut says it would probably be worth that if it turns out to be a lifter. If it's completely blown up it would be worth less than the $300 freight charge.

The thing about cores is if you're buying a hundred of them the condition of each individual one doesn't matter much, but if you're buying just one it matters a lot.

I assume by marketplace you mean some Facebook thing?

[04silverado6.0]

The heads alone should be worth 300+. Those engines running are 2k+ around here. Id say 600 is fair assuming the block is good and doesnt need more than a hone.

[04silverado6.0]

That is average pricing in kentucky. Not the over inflated "bowtie boneyard" pricing.

[5FDP]

Yeah, marketplace is facebook. I only have it for marketplace to find deals or buy used cars to flip.

Engines just seem to vary so much, I know it's a toss up on non running engines or known problems on whether it's worth the cost. No way I'd pay that much for that engine but that is just me.

No idea what they are selling for on car-part.com in my area, I only know that many GEN 3 V8 engines are still in that $400-800 from local junkyards.

[blindsquirrel]

General online listings from 'legit' yards is in the $3000-3500 range, though generally higher mileage than this one (200K or a little more). 100K would be more like $4000.

I dunno about betting on even both heads being any good, I've seen shrapnel that started in one hole go through every single cylinder yet still 'motor spins freely'. I need the bottom end more than the top end or any external stuff (though more complete is more better). Bottom end must be good to go or just need rings/bearings/etc or it does me no good (no local machine shops anymore, this isn't North Carolina).

[blindsquirrel]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/187114674591

This is a mistake, right? Has to be, I don't think you can ship an engine anywhere for much less than that. Although when they leave out any description of the thing for sale but always always make sure to paste in the 37 pages of Terms & Conditions boilerplate, you can never really tell.

[blindsquirrel]

L94 short block (with front/rear covers, balancer, no flexplate or pan) for $1400-1500 or maybe less? Unknown mileage but the truck was crashed in the front so it was at least running up until then. It's also within driving distance, I can just go get the thing.

[04silverado6.0]

I have learned that junkyard engine miles is meaningless. 50k miles in a plow truck vs 200k miles in a daily tahoe that has hopefully been serviced decently. Its all a crap shoot. Ive had some high miles junkyard 6.0s not do well on the dyno, ive had some do excellent.

[04silverado6.0]

What usually is making the most power are rebuilds from a good machine shop with good, high quality components. Crank machined, bearings checked for clearance, rods checked for straightness and no egg shaping on the crankshaft end. Dont forget the magic hone of the gods.