Questions, answered properly
The things people actually ring up and ask, written out in full. If your question isn't here, send it to us on WhatsApp and we'll answer it — and probably add it to this page.
Buying an engine
- How much does a reconditioned van engine cost?
- A reconditioned van engine from RefurbishedEngine.co.uk costs between £1,800 and £2,000 plus VAT on an exchange basis. The 1.5 and 1.6 litre units (DV5 BlueHDi, R9M dCi) start at £1,800 +VAT. The 2.0, 2.2 and 2.3 litre units (DW10 BlueHDi, DW12 HDi, Ford EcoBlue, Renault M9T, IVECO F1A) start at £2,000 +VAT. Recovery with fitting is £3,200 to £3,300 +VAT all-in. Supply and fit is quoted per vehicle because labour varies between vans.
- What is the difference between a reconditioned and a remanufactured engine?
- A reconditioned engine is stripped, measured and rebuilt with new wearing parts, reusing components only where they still fall inside original tolerance. A remanufactured engine is rebuilt to a published factory standard in which a defined list of parts is replaced every time, regardless of measured wear. What we supply is reconditioned to OE specification: stripped to bare block, crankshaft reground and magna-fluxed, block honed to OE bore, cylinder head skimmed and pressure tested, with new pistons, rings, bearings, oil and water pumps, timing kit, seals and gaskets.
- Is a reconditioned engine as good as a new one?
- A properly reconditioned engine is rebuilt back to the original manufacturer's tolerances, so wear surfaces, clearances and sealing are equivalent to a new unit. It is not identical to a new engine: the block and cylinder head are original castings that have been machined back to specification rather than newly cast. For a van that is otherwise sound, it is the most cost-effective way to get another full service life out of the vehicle at roughly a third of the cost of a brand-new factory engine.
- Do I have to return my old engine?
- Yes. All our prices are quoted on an exchange basis, which means your old engine (the core) comes back to us within 14 days of delivery. The old unit must be complete and drained. If you cannot return the core, tell us before ordering and we will quote a surcharge for an outright sale instead.
Engines and fitment
- Where do I find my van's engine code?
- The engine code is stamped on the engine block itself, usually on a machined pad near the gearbox mating face or on the front face of the block. It also appears on your V5C logbook in section D.2. If you cannot locate it, send us your vehicle registration number on WhatsApp and we will identify the exact unit for you.
- Why does the engine code matter so much?
- Within a single engine family the variants are not interchangeable. Single-turbo and bi-turbo units differ, and front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive units differ in block, sump, mountings and ancillaries. Ordering on the vehicle model alone is the most common and most expensive mistake in engine replacement, which is why we confirm the code or VIN before anything is dispatched.
- What is replaced during the rebuild?
- Every engine is stripped to bare block. New pistons, piston rings, main bearings and big-end bearings go in. The crankshaft is reground and magna-fluxed, the block is honed to OE bore, the cylinder head is pressure tested and skimmed to OE flatness. New valve stem seals, camshaft bearings, an OE multi-layer steel head gasket, a new oil pump, water pump, timing chain or belt kit, front and rear seals and all gaskets are fitted. Every unit is inspected before dispatch.
- Should I replace or repair my van engine?
- Repair usually makes sense for a single failed component on an engine that is otherwise healthy and has reasonable compression across all cylinders. Replacement makes more sense where there is bottom-end damage, a cracked block or head, scored bores, coolant in the oil, or where the repair cost approaches half the price of a reconditioned unit. A reconditioned engine also resets the wear on every major component at once, rather than leaving the remaining original parts to fail next.
Warranty and timescales
- What does the warranty cover?
- Engines fitted by us carry a 12-month warranty. Supply-only engines carry a 6-month warranty and must be installed by a qualified mechanic. The warranty covers failure of the internal components we rebuilt. It does not cover damage caused by incorrect installation, overheating, oil starvation, contaminated fuel, or failure of ancillary parts that were not part of the rebuild. Full terms are on our warranty page.
- How long does an engine replacement take?
- Supply-only orders are normally dispatched within two to three working days once the engine code is confirmed. Fitting in our workshop is typically a two to three day job depending on the van. Recovery jobs begin with collection, usually within 24 hours for vehicles inside our 60-mile radius of Swanscombe, Kent.
Delivery and coverage
- Do you deliver, and how much does it cost?
- Reconditioned engines are delivered on a pallet to mainland UK addresses, included in the exchange price. Someone needs to be available to receive the pallet, and ideally you should have a means of unloading it. Offshore and Highlands deliveries are quoted separately — send us your postcode and we will confirm.
- Do you cover my area?
- Supply-only exchange engines are sent anywhere in mainland UK. Supply and fit, and recovery with fitting, operate from our Swanscombe workshop in Kent, covering roughly a 60-mile radius — which includes Kent, south and east London, Essex across the Dartford Crossing, and parts of Surrey and Sussex. Outside that radius we can still supply the engine for your own mechanic to fit.
Still stuck?
The quickest route to an answer is a WhatsApp message with your registration number. We can identify the exact engine, tell you what it costs and say whether we can do it this week. The warranty terms are set out in full on their own page, and every engine we hold is listed on the reconditioned van engines page.