[BCjetta]

So my 2001 died on me in a busy intersection on New Years Eve. Wouldn't start so we pushed it onto the sidewalk. Tried starting it but it would just crank. Hubby thought it sounded odd when cranking (he said like some cylinders had low compression?) It has over 300 000km's on it. Its been leaking a bit of antifreeze from somewhere near the front of the engine and apparently a bit of oil. Anyways, since it was New Years Eve, got it towed to my sister's house where we were headed (4 hours from home but were almost there). It sat all day on New Years Day and then I had it towed to a shop yesterday. They confirmed what hubby thought. Timing chain went and no compression in the engine. They told me not worth putting a new engine in that car, and not worth taking that engine apart. They suggested a used engine and thought it would be about $1600 for an engine and then about $2000 for labour to put it in. Hubby figures the car is only worth about $4000 now so is it worth it to fix it or not...and he's worried its only going to start getting other problems because of its age and mileage. A friend drove down with his truck and we loaded it onto a trailer and towed it home where it sadly sits in the driveway.

What are other people's opinions on this?

Hubby has done an engine swap on my old Toyota Tercel, and did one on his Ford Probe as well. He COULD do one on this car however is not keen on doing it in the winter seeing as our garage is freezing and water pools where my car sits...
If we do this, anyone know where to find decent used engines? I'm in Canada...

Thanks

 

[dejablue]

get another used engine truck has a lot life left. The donner needs to be same year.

 

[BCjetta]

How come it has to be same year? Did they change the engine?

 

[dejablue]

Lot of changes the 2002 is the worst.You might get by with 2000 .

 

[Rpd4192]

The same thing just happened to me. 2001 with 190,000 miles. Oil leak and blew the engine. Trying to decide what to do... Don't have the knowledge to change engine personally but MAY have a buddy that can do it if I talk him into it. Thought? Suggestions?

 

[netdobeiras]

I personally would'nt do any engine swap. Not unless a good trusty family member will do it for you. If it's a friend or a mechanic that you know then hell no. mechanics love doing two jobs: engine swaps and tranny/engine rebuild. Why? because those jobs are one of the most expensive in labour. They don't care if they do it right or not. As long as those wheels move forward and the engine idles then who cares they still get payed. Thats the way i see it, others may tell you different but i work at autozone and almost everyone i know with an engine swap or rebuilt engine has major problems with their cars at least a year afterwards and mechanics don't care. It's not worth it on a 4-7k value truck in my opinion unless you do it yourself but thats just me.

 

[BCjetta]

Found an engine...just need to get it removed from the dead one and shipped to us (found it a province over). Has 180 000km on it which is significantly less than mine. Hubby is going to swap the engine reluctantly. He's thinking replace timing belt and water pump right off the bat.

 

[ryan42]

Coolant and oil are bad on timing belts. Change all the front seals and the water pump and make sure the front of the engine is leak free. It's also possible that you don't have any valve damage on your engine, and all it needs is a new timing kit, water pump and seals.

 

[BCjetta]

Current engine has pretty much 0 compression...so valves probably all bent. Getting the replacement at the end of next week hopefully. Then need to figure out how to move car from beside the garage to inside the garage.

 

[cbxterra]

Three strong friends, case of beer? Pushed mine in garage solo once. Can be done . It's not easy but possible.

 

[BCjetta]

My dad said we could use his truck to push it in the garage (the driveway is sloped down away from the garage). I used the xterra several times in the past at our last house to push hubby's project cars up the steep driveway and into the garage. Old couch cushions work well to prevent scratches on the other car's bumper.

 

[cbxterra]

That'll work. I agree it would be hard to push up hill. An old tire might work as well as cushions too. One thing about pushing up hill, it won't roll away on you. Good luck with your project.change the plugs in the new engine,it's a lot easier out of the truck. Also your husband may have to change mounts etc between engines.

 

[BCjetta]

So old engine is finally out and the timing belt is not broken but a bunch of the teeth are worn off around the crankshaft. There are also other areas on the belt that the teeth are worn right off on one side but ok on the other.

Anyone have any clues as to what could cause the uneven wear on the belt?

 

[BadnewsMike]

Dry rot and age, that's how they always fail I've never seen one actually brake in 2.

I've gotten away with swapping new belts on 2 Xterras after the belts broke I personally would have tried that first but I am an optimist.





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[TJTJ]

Dry rot and age, that's how they always fail I've never seen one actually brake in 2.

I've gotten away with swapping new belts on 2 Xterras after the belts broke I personally would have tried that first but I am an optimist.





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If the belt rips its teeth, it can then mess up other stuff, and I've seen belts snap, and destroy the engine...and just strip some teeth and a simple belt change fixes it...it depends on the load/rpm when it happens, etc.


If you can manually crank the engine through all 360 degrees, the wrist pins, etc, might be OK. If it cranks less than 360 degrees and catches, then the innards are messed up.

 

[BCjetta]

I should mention that there was a bunch of coolant in where the timing belt was. There was a goo comprised of ripped off bits of timing belt and coolant all over the area where the belt is.

 

[dejablue]

I should mention that there was a bunch of coolant in where the timing belt was. There was a goo comprised of ripped off bits of timing belt and coolant all over the area where the belt is.

Coolant will destroy a timing belt.

 

[TJTJ]

I should mention that there was a bunch of coolant in where the timing belt was. There was a goo comprised of ripped off bits of timing belt and coolant all over the area where the belt is.

Water pump probably failed, taking out t-belt.


BTW - The t-belt is due to be changed every 105k miles...and if my math is right, 300k KM is ~ over 186k miles....so WAAAY over due.

So, if this is the first time its being changed, simply not maintaining it caused the failure.

If it WAS changed back at ~ 105k miles (~170 k -ish Km), it failed early (Should have made it closer to ~ 340 k km).

 

[netdobeiras]

I have seen water pumps leak through the bearings. Thats probably how coolant got in there.

 

[JLBinHSV]

I have seen water pumps leak through the bearings. Thats probably how coolant got in there.

As have I. The noise of grinding bearings usually gives you a heads up about what is happening though.