Need advice, what do I do?

[monteray7]

This was my previous post:

"I have a 2002 Jeep Liberty that has systematically broken down every 2-3 months. It currently has a problem I am unable to fix, however. My wife took it one day and it stalled and had a rough idle. In my quest to fix it, I have replaced all 6 ignition coils and spark plugs, the cam and crank sensors, and put in a new battery and intake air control valve. I have checked to see if a rocker arm is off and it does not seem to have those symptoms. My only other guess is a cracked head gasket? I don't know what to do but part of me wants to burn it to the ground at this point"

After talking to people here I gave in and took it to a mechanic. It started and I drove half a mile to a mechanic with decent reviews. While driving it, it rode rough but got there fine. I hit one stop light and kept my foot on the brake and barely pressed the gas to keep it at 1000 rpms to prevent it from stalling. The mechanic said he will look at it the next day. Well the next day I get a call saying that the engine is seized, they tried to start it manually and couldn't and that I need a new engine. I am baffled. Am I getting ripped off? It original had a code for a misfire in cylinder 5 and that was it. I checked fluid levels, oil was a little low but not bad. I topped it off. Coolant was fine. WHAT DO I DO???

 

[Jbergun]

Hard to say i had a similar code and changed the spark plug and i was fine. It had gotten wet from a coolant reservoir leak. If you drove it too long with a misfire it could have done more damage. Weigh your costs. How much did you pay? How much have you sunk into it? How much will this cost? How much would you spend on a car payment each month? If you go used who is to say you dont run into problems with it then your in the same boat with more money gone. If it was me i would get a used known to be good junkyard motor clean her up and swap it. I have an 02 with 182,000 miles. I just spent over $1500 on a brand new fully remanufactured transmission and did the work myself. That was at 180k miles.

 

[mrlavalamp]

IME, when a mechanic tells you "you need a new engine", they are often making a judgement call to try and spare you some expense. Worst case, they are really busy or lazy and don't want to bother with diagnosing the internals. My b.i.l. is a mechanic and was telling me his boss pushes him to "slap a junkyard motor in and get it back on the road", takes the shop less time/resources, and there is less of a chance they can be blamed for issues down the road.

Internal engine work is expensive to do right. The parts are usually fairly cheap in comparison to the cost of a junkyard motor, but what gets you is the labor.

If it were my Jeep, I would get it back from the mechanic and verify that it truly is seized. If you have a bad headgasket, while it sat it may have filled a cylinder with oil/coolant, causing a hydrolock. You could clear this out by removing spark plugs, and turn the engine over with them removed. It will make a mess, but it will help you get the engine spinning again, and if you see oil/coolant come out of the spark-plug hole you probably have some sort of top-end problem (headgasket, valve seal).

Worst case, take it to another mechanic and see if they agree or what the difference in their diagnosis/prices for repair are.

 

[Conundrum2006]

It could have seized, especially if it had a headgasket problem in the past. The main bearings keep getting worse, harder to turn.
May be why you had to keep the gas on it to keep it running.


If it is seized I don't know how feasible it is to shop it around to another mechanic.

Maybe ask them to show you it's locked up, a socket and breaker bar are all they need to turn it. If it is locked up it's done. You'd be better off with a used engine or sorry to say getting rid of the jeep.
The way I am about cars I hate to get rid of them if I think it can be fixed but family has to come first.

You can shop around the prices you're not stuck with the shop you have now but you likely to get the same kind of pricing if they are competitive.


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