One of the cylinders in my Evo X has bad rings and so it seemed like the easiest thing to do was to find a replacement engine. I'm a little confused on used engines as I see many ones, but the compression test results are much higher, with some saying they test at 180 PSI or more. My understanding was on the Evo X the dry compression spec from the factory was 160 PSI. Am I missing something? Can I even use a JDM engine instead?

 

Comparing different testers is pointless, what matters is that all cylinders are within 20psi of each other.

 

What he said ^ Also, yes you can use a JDM engine, you can also use a ralliart 08-15 is the same 4B11T, just not the turbo/manifold.

 

Got it thanks. And regarding compression, some places were telling me the compression test was 180 - 220 PSI...which sounds really high. Would it be that high for a hot / wet test vs. cold?

I found one engine they say the compression is 141/139/142/140 - that sounds pretty healthy, yes?

 

The numbers being all close like that is a good sign. Do they offer any warranty? Some places will offer a 30 day warranty, if so, just swap it right away to make sure no issues.

 

They offer 30 day and I can pay to extend to 90 day. Any advice on thing I can have tested or inspected pre-install to confirm the condition of the engine? I was thinking leakdown and borescope for sure, and heard a compression test may depend on hooking up a starter. Does that sound right?

I'm planning on doing the swap myself despite never having done it before, but I'm relatively mechanically handy and have replaced the turbo and other parts before. I was quoted $2,500 - $4,000 for an engine swap, but these are generic mechanics...and I worry about them doing it correctly with attention to detail.

 

Cut the filter open and pull the oil pan and valve cover to look for bearing material/sludge.

Used engines are always a crap shoot. A NEW long block from mitsu is only about $8k, I would go that route for piece of mind.