I believe the only way the insurance will cover is if the incident was if it was a defect. But if it were neglegence by the owner, then no. Very hard to prove either way. By that time, the bb would be worth less than the engine and trans that they would total it.

 

Unless you made an major upgrade to the engine that you want covered, I don't think it makes any difference whether you inform the insurance or not.
And I've not heard of anyone doing so after near identical engine swap.

As for oil changes, I was doing cheapest possible oil changes (usually $20 or less) every 3,000 to 5,000 miles for several years at Walmart and other places when I temporarily stopped working on cars due to busy life. Also, I didn't expect Corolla to go much further than 150K miles at the time. But once it got past 180K miles or so, I was convinced that this is going to last a long time. At the same time, I regained time to work on cars again regularly. So I started doing oil changes at home with Mobile 1 synthetic oil with Toyota oil filters every 5,000 miles. And with other tune up and more care I put into it, I would say the engine is running as good as it did back when I bought it at 90K miles 11 years ago.

 

To the Op's question, not all insurance companies will assist payment for a replacement engine. The manufacturer has to acknowledge there is an issue.

For example, in the 2006-2008 Honda Civic 1.8 liter engines, the cylinder wall thickness isn't adequate that the coolant will enter the engine when it cracks. It is known to Honda, but if the vehicle has a salvage title or rebuilt title, Honda will not honor the recall warranty.

 

If you are concerned about the replacement engine, I would suggest you invest the time into rebuilding the motor and use a borescope on the cylinder walls for scoring. It's insurance for you and less issues down the road. Mileage isn't a good rule of thumb when evaluating engine health.

 

I see, I might try getting a bluetooth OBDII reader that can measure other things like fuel usage to make sure I haven't got any leaks or similar conditions. Thanks for the info everyone!

 

I see, I might try getting a bluetooth OBDII reader that can measure other things like fuel usage to make sure I haven't got any leaks or similar conditions. Thanks for the info everyone!

OBD readers are horribly inaccurate on fuel usage reading.

They'll get you in the ballpark, which can be nice for comparison purposes to spot trends, but even after calibrating them, a change in ethanol levels or temperature will throw the calibration off.

The best formula that I have used to calculate mpg has been mentioned on this forum in the past.

Mileage driven (use trip meter a or b to keep track)/gallons purchased. This will be more accurate than a obd reader. Computer based devices need to be used for sometime so that it can learn driving habits.

 

Wow this has been really helpful, although I have been getting oil really cheap I think going longer between changes will save me some labour. Thanks for all the tips!

 

Lol... Most people don't work on their cars so in their eyes anyone under their car in the driveway is at least sort of a hillbilly.

Does your oil have to be synthetic to do a 7.5k OCI? Do you use a specific oil filter meant to last longer for synthetic? My oil is conventional and really the cheapest I can find that still has the API certification, 5000K OCI is still recommended for that?

 

Mobil-1, in your case 5w30 or 5w20 in a cooler climate, and the Toyota OEM filters.
You can get a box of 10 filters online from a dealer for $40-$50.

The original engine failing on 5k oil changes, there was definitely something else going on. Either a junk filter was used that did not clean the oil OR blocked flow, a failed oil pump, or it was run low on oil

Toyota has built a LOT of engines that end to burn oil, and installing K&N air filters compounds the problem by failing to clean the incoming air. My wife's '04 Rav4 would burn a quart every 3,000 miles, while my '08 Tacoma would go 7500 without using anything measurable.


An intake leak would generally cause an engine to run lean, which can overheat and damage valves and pistons, in addition to causing it to run hot, but modern EFI systems will compensate and richen the mixture.

 

Thanks for the replies! I had wondered whether insurance would deny coverage in case of an accident if they found out that the original had been swapped out with a replacement and the change was not disclosed. There are composite car laws where I live in the U.S and I believe also laws against putting a older engine in a newer car(mine was 05 2ZZ-GE to 06 corolla xrs). Hopefully they let it slide if something happens since the replacement engine was a 2ZZ-GE and not a JDM one at that.


As far as oil changes are concerned 2000 is quite an aggressive time interval for changing oil. I might bump it up to three while checking oil color and level ever now and then. Do engines like the 2ZZ-GE(yamaha designed) last upwards of 300K or 400K miles if taken care of? Working on an 06 corolla is so easy that the way I figure, as long as the c60 trans doesn't crap out and the engine works keeping the car for a loooong time is a real possibility

 

I wouldn't worry about the older engine thing; somebody can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that applies to the same engine but different year. Those laws are really to prevent some hillbilly from dropping an early-70's 454 into his LT1 F-Body.

As has been mentioned, that's an extremely aggressive OCI. E.g., all my cars have an OCI of at least 7.5K with full synthetic and a good filter. None of them are exclusively city-driven, they all warm up properly, no oil burning, and I check color as best I can every 1k. I'd go at least 5k if I were you.

 

Just my $0.02:

The difference between good synthetic (or even WalMart) oil and OK filter may be less than a 6 pack of beer, if you're changing yourself. Why not go with good. And unless you are carrying comprehensive or collision on a "salvage" title, agree with keeping mum.
YMMV.

 

I have never heard of anybody having to tell their insurance company they have an 'engine swap', let alone someone who swaps in a totally different engine. This assuming it's a car that is paid off and something you own.

Unless you have some kind of mechanical insurance, I don't think it would matter.

2K OCI is pretty aggressive. Unless you are trying to clear out sludge or running some kind of oil treatment to clean something out, it's a bit excessive but it is your call.. I run about a 3K but thats just because by then the cars that I do those OCI is already getting low. Otherwise, 4-5K is what I do on synthetic which is about 6months since I spread across several cars.

 

Unless you're planning on making a claim for something, or they're dropping by to inspect your vehicle due to coverage changes...don't say jack. Ever.

 

First of all I don't understand the 2000 mile oil changes. 5000 miles or every 6 months is fine. The insurance company doesn't care about your engine swap. If you sell or trade all that is going to be verified is title vin matches plate on the car. Nothing to worry about.

 

I am a little bit worried about the older engine having excessive blowback or some similar condition that dilutes and dirties the engine oil sooner then it normally would in a newer car. My old engine had 5000 mile oil changes and although I didn't do them myself back then, I was very surprised to have the engine spin a rod bearing.(didn't even mis-shift) Is there any way an engine can run with too much fuel being injected? Will a vacuum leak or exhaust leak at the exhaust manifold cause such a condition?

Also I haven't changed the VIN of the engine swapped in to match the VIN of the car yet since I think the engine may have been an 05 2ZZ-GE. Will the DMV pick up on this? What happens if I don't get it done?

 

2,000 miles is a waste of money and natural resources.
5,000 is perfectly fine, use the OEM Toyota filter. They're less than $5


Why would you inform Progressive?
All they care about is cosmetic, safety related issues, or issues that impact the value of the vehicle. They don't even care about cosmetic or "value" if you only carry liability and medical.
The engine swap has not changed the value of the vehicle. As long as you've done whatever needs to be done through your DMV to get the engine serial number recorded to match the VIN, you're fine.