How To Track Vehicle Number?

Is there any way to track/trace a junkyard engine/motor?

• didn't know i had a junkyard engine in my car until the engine blew recently and i have to replace it. 2 shops have independently verified that the engine is in fact a junkyard engine, due to the yellow digits scrawled on it that would identify it as such. will i be able to track where that engine came from? or if i'm not "privvy" to that information because i'm joe-nobody, would a government group (ie: DMV etc) be able to do that? i know i can probably take the serial number off the old engine and at least find out some history that way, through the auto manufacturer. i know that will take a lot of time though but i have to do something. oh and FYI, i have done a carfax report on it and there is a 4-year gap of no vehicle history reported, but 65,000 miles accumulated. the services i've had done to it are on there - purchase, title transfer, emissions etc. a bit odd? thank you.

• Answer:

  Not odd. The car probably had nothing to report. The previous owner did his own work. As far as engine the best you could hope for is identifing what year car the engine came from.