Rebuild practical?

[mmc757]

05 3.7l, 200k+, 18 year old girls vehicle
The Jeep is burning about a quart of oil every 1000 miles right now, and she drives a LOT of miles.
If it were my vehicle, I wouldnt be too worried about it, but I am in the Navy and currently spend a good deal of time away from home so I am really worried that she is going to run it dry and blow up her engine while I'm away.
As hard as I try, I cant get her to check her oil regularly, or even just add oil periodically.
I know, I know, somebody is going to say let her blow it up to teach her a lesson but it would be a huge problem for us if that happened, and would be a far bigger punishment for me than for her so thats not an option.

So the question is, is it practical for me to rebuild this engine? I can take a couple days off and take it out of service if I need to. I dont have a garage but I have an auto hobby shop on the base that I can use if I need to. The only problem with that is that I cant leave it overnight so anything I do there has to be done in one day.
I can use my own driveway, but its parallel along the road so it *****.

Money is always tight, so taking it to someone else to do the work is not an option. I'm a good mechanic so unless theres something unique that I dont know about, I'm not worried about skill level.
Anyone have any idea what the cost and time to re-ring one of these things might be?

 

[hectikart]

Might want to compare the price of replacing the engine if you can to do it yourself. You can get a remaned engine for probably around $1500.

Noticed you're in Norwich, another CT guy. I work in the industrial park in Norwich.

 

[tjkj2002]

Your not going to get your current engine pulled,rebuilt,then installed in 1 day.Best case would be at least 1-2 weeks depending on how busy the local machine shop is.

 

[belvedere]

Agree with the above posters. Buy a reman engine and swap it.

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

Another option is to find a low mileage used engine from an '05 to '07 Chrysler product - the most common being the Dodge Dakota.

You don't have to worry about swapping around the reluctor ring and cam sprocket from one to the other since the '05's and later all use the same computer timing system. If you got one from a Dakota you'd have to swap the oil pan as the configuration is different (drain is on the side on the Dakota) and the exhaust manifolds are slightly different.

But $40 for an oil pan gasket and $8 for an exhaust manifold gasket set is pretty cheap.

Comparatively speaking the '05 and later 3.7L engine is cheaper and easier to find than those from '02/'03 - probably less than $2000.

Check out Car-Part.com,an online used part site. Can find some really good deals there. For the gaskets, etc., use RockAuto.com - they're a sponsor here and offer 5% discounts on our orders. Check the stickies at the top of the General Discussion section here.

Bob

 

[dude1116]

If you're looking to replace/rebuild the engine, why don't you let her run it til it blows up anyway...? p:

 

[mmc757]

Noticed you're in Norwich, another CT guy. I work in the industrial park in Norwich.

Nice. I live right on Plain hill rd so pretty much right next door.

Your not going to get your current engine pulled,rebuilt,then installed in 1 day.Best case would be at least 1-2 weeks depending on how busy the local machine shop is.

Is any machining really necessary? I was kinda thinking just to replace all the software and rings and call it good...In a perfect world, I know I would have a valve job and balancing done, but what if I dont?

If you're looking to replace/rebuild the engine, why don't you let her run it til it blows up anyway...? p:

Ummm No.
Losing that vehicle unexpectedly would be a huge problem. If it blows while I'm out of town, it would be a REALLY huge problem.

 

[tjkj2002]

Is any machining really necessary? I was kinda thinking just to replace all the software and rings and call it good...In a perfect world, I know I would have a valve job and balancing done, but what if I dont?


.

Well if you want a halfa$$ed job that will most likely not be any better then what it is now then sure.That's alot of work to not do it correctly.

 

[sickrunners]

Why go through all the work pulling everything apart only to put in new gaskets and rings? If its burning a qt every 1k, you will probably need to have the cyl cut .030 over... New pistons, rings, etc. that's like replacing a trans and not replacing the clutch cause you think you got 10k left on it. Good used or full rebuild, IMHO, is the ONLY WAY to do this job properly. Just my $.02

 

[mmc757]

I get that, believe me, I do.
I hate half-assing a job as much as the next guy, but money is a big problem.
If I could spend $500 and cut her oil use down by half, and have it last another 30k I would call it a win.

 

[tjkj2002]

I get that, believe me, I do.
I hate half-assing a job as much as the next guy, but money is a big problem.
If I could spend $500 and cut her oil use down by half, and have it last another 30k I would call it a win.

Problem is most oil consumtion is from leaking valve guides/seals so head work would need to be done at least new valve seals and new valve guides pressed in.At that mileage your most likely going to have to bore the block,just honing and putting in new rings most likely will not solve anything since the cylinder bores may be out of spec by then and require machining and up-sizing the pistons.


Besides that it will take at least the better part of a day just to remove the engine anyways and unless you pull the trans(2wd or 4wd) and t-case(if 4wd) it won't be able to be moved.

 

[hectikart]

I get that, believe me, I do.
I hate half-assing a job as much as the next guy, but money is a big problem.
If I could spend $500 and cut her oil use down by half, and have it last another 30k I would call it a win.

I can understand not wanting to, or not having the means to invest the money into something with 200K+ on it, but it seems like putting a band-aid on it is basically flushing money down the toilet, a gamble at best...by not doing a complete re-build or engine replacement you are potentially spending money that won't fix the problem, or basically keeping it on life support until something catastrophic happens to the engine. Either way you end up with a problematic or non-running jeep, and have less cash in your pocket. The way I look at it, you have 3 decent options...

-get her to do regular maintenance and check the oil...tell her if she doesn't and the engine blows she'll be taking the bus with all the Norwich crazies they let out of the old state hospital..maybe that will motivate her lol. checking/adding oil is not hard, I'm sure she can handle it.

-sell it as is...craigslist, whatever...take what you can get and use that $ for a new car or a down payment...maybe see what you can get for a trade.

-remaned engine or full re-build...but idk if I would go that route if I were you either. Gotta think, you also have 200+ on the trans, and everything else. It should still last a while, but your at that constant maintenance level of the Jeeps life...only a matter of time till the next thing goes.

anyway, that's my spiel on the matter...

 

[doolop]

Man I feel for you. I have an 02 that is doing the something. I have finally got it to the point where the engine is tapping. Sure it could be a lifter or a rod who knows but I'm rebuilding this January because me wife and I have no option but to at this point. Current master rebuild kit on rock auto is around 900. I currently have saved 800 and will have the full amount next week. Merry Christmas to me.

Sent by using tin cans and string

 

[Dave]

I can understand not wanting to, or not having the means to invest the money into something with 200K+ on it, but it seems like putting a band-aid on it is basically flushing money down the toilet, a gamble at best...by not doing a complete re-build or engine replacement you are potentially spending money that won't fix the problem, or basically keeping it on life support until something catastrophic happens to the engine. Either way you end up with a problematic or non-running jeep, and have less cash in your pocket. The way I look at it, you have 3 decent options...

-get her to do regular maintenance and check the oil...tell her if she doesn't and the engine blows she'll be taking the bus with all the Norwich crazies they let out of the old state hospital..maybe that will motivate her lol. checking/adding oil is not hard, I'm sure she can handle it.

-sell it as is...craigslist, whatever...take what you can get and use that $ for a new car or a down payment...maybe see what you can get for a trade.

-remaned engine or full re-build...but idk if I would go that route if I were you either. Gotta think, you also have 200+ on the trans, and everything else. It should still last a while, but your at that constant maintenance level of the Jeeps life...only a matter of time till the next thing goes.

anyway, that's my spiel on the matter...

I am leaning toward this. Make up a schedule for checking the oil and hang it in her room and tell her it's the schedule or the bus. Jeeps don't grow on trees and neither does the money to buy another one.

I wonder if a thicker oil would do anything? I am thinking my owners manual says 5w-30 preferred but 10w-30 acceptable I think?

Dave

 

[yellocoyote]

She should check it each time she puts fuel in it. And carry one of those 5 qt. jugs in the vehicle with her all the time.