Pull-A-Part salvage yard Question

I am wanting to drive to Winston-Salem today to buy an engine that may or may not be in their inventory (you never know untill you go there) , I was wondering , does anyone around the area know of any phone numbers (other than the one on the website) to contact these people? I know by their inventory section on their website that they have plenty of vehicles that match my cars description , but , I would like to know if theirs a engine before I drive all the way to NC , and the phone number just walks you thru a maze of teleprompters and you never really get to talk to a real human being , any help is greatly appreciated...

 

Most automated systems are set up so that if you keep pressing "0" you will get a live person. Or at least the phone will ring on the desk of a live person. Maybe try that.

 

Just tried it , no dice , keeps sayin "number "0" not valid option" ...

 

Things may be different back there, but around here my experiences with such places is that even if you got a live person the odds that they'd know (or be willing to find out) what's in any particular car in their lot is pretty thin.

Good luck.

 

My pull and pay only has the listing of the "body" in the inventory. I've called to ask about motor/trans in stock and they wont give any information on that end

 

Even if the motor's there, it's a gamble if it's good or complete. You just have to go there.

 

Around here, we also look for stickers that say the engine has been made inoperable-Cash for Clunkers deal. Sometimes find the sodium silicate bottle under the hood. Don't know if anyone has tried to rebuild one of those or not.
RB

 

I had never heard of sodium silicate before so I did a quick google search and found this article below about using it to kill engines. I would think these engines could be rebuilt if there were thoroughly cleaned and probably machined, but any 'revolving and reciprocating' parts that oil lubricates would be damaged and need to be replaced:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124934376942503053.html

and also this:

"VRTC concluded that the sodium silicate method was the best option. The other methods all had significant problems related to their effectiveness, practical limitations based on vehicle variations, and/or safety risks for workers involved. Sodium Silicate solution is a mixture of water and sodium silicate solids.
When, after draining the oil, it is introduced into the engine oil system, the oil pump is able to distribute the solution throughout the engine oiling system. The heat of the operating engine then dehydrates the solution leaving solid sodium silicate distributed throughout the engine’s oiled surfaces and moving parts. These solids quickly abrade the bearings causing the engine to seize while damaging the moving parts of the engine and coating all of the oil passages.
Only a small amount of sodium silicate remains in solution after completion of the process. Many of the engine parts will be unaffected by this process such as: intake and exhaust manifolds, bolt-on components, and fuel system components."

 

My one friend that works at a local yard is trained when asked about a certain car with a certain part on to say that car was sold as a unit yesterday and is gone. Yep, you call on the phone and they will tell you they got one there and then when you show up and ask about it, they ask "Mark" where that car is.

That yard theory is, if they tell you no then you don't show up and you buy nothing, but if they say yes, you come down and find it is gone, they still have a chance to sell something else to you that catches your eye while you are there.