Does anyone know if there is an effective way of testing with a motor that is not in a car? Asking because of a used motor purchase, I'd like to get a general idea of the internal condition shy of tearing it down....thanks for any and all advice!

 

You could do a leak down test but to do a compression test, the engine has to spin over with the starter.

I'd ask that the pan be pulled off so you can visually see each cylinder and you could pull a main cap or 2.

 

Bore wear and resulting loss of ring seal are almost a thing of the past. The sequential injection with heated O2s has drastically shortened warmup resulting in a lot less cylinder washdown.

I tried a leakdown on a 227K mile engine out of a Roadmaster wagon and got like 5% and it still cranked 195ish psi.

I know those are they typical engine inspection tools but in my experience LT1s don't show that kind of wear. If I found a cylinder down I would sooner suspect a cracked ring land than bore wear.

Part of me wonders if a borescope is a better inspection tool these days, look at the chambers for anything amiss like a head gasket leak would clean a piston or heavy carbon or something, look in the crankcase for debris or sludge.

Valvecovers can be pulled without needing to replace gaskets so that would be an easy way to get a look.

 

Thanks for the tips guys!

 

What caused it?
Only time I have seen one read low like that the ring land was broke and you could have seen it. It was tuning damage.