Meeting people as a mechanic.

[4king]

Sorry I'll be more specific.

Typicallly 8 hours labor to remove and replace the engine. So $600-$800 in labor plus the price of the junk yard motor. If it's a 2.5 I would imagine $600 for a lower mileage unit

$12000-$1400 but I would reccomend using that in a down payment on a new car for them

[Cooter]

In that situation, what about just taking it to a different mechanic. Once the first mechanic puts it all back together, but he can't get it running. Just take it to another mechanic and say "Hey! My car doesn't run! Fix it!!" And have him start from scratch diagnosing the problem. There would be something, somewhere, keeping it from running, and a good diagnosis would put an end to that.

no mechanic wants to follow another... you have to start the diag all over, and you have no idea what stupid little mistake was made. You can spend 10hrs diag time and finally give up and have to completely disassemble everything to find a galley plug was left out or whatever, and then you're paying for another complete overhaul's worth of labor plus the diag.

just saying

[4king]

If I recall correctly the 2.5 had a timing chain and there's no reason it should have just lost compression unless it over heated or spun a bearing.

[Gasser64]

Sounds like its junkyard engine time then. But man, I've never liked the idea. I've never liked that you have to basically just trust the junkyard, that they knew what they were doing, or that they aren't just lying, or incompetent, or insert failure here.

Cause when you buy a used $400 engine off their shelf, you may have their warranty that the engine will work, but of course you never get any kind of warranty on the labor. So they can sell you an engine that doesn't work. You have your mechanic put it in, and lo and behold its just like the halfway rebuilt engine, and he can't get it to run. But he did all that labor, and you have to pay for it. So you take it back to the junkyard, and they give you another one. This one runs, but you had to pay for the labor twice. That's pretty uncool.

Same thing with transmissions. I once helped a buddy with his Acura. Had one of the gears die, so he bought a junkyard transmission that we put in. The gear that died, wasn't dead in the new transmission. But it had no reverse. So we got to do the job twice, and all the junkyard guy said was "oh, sorry about that". I was a little irritated, but I would have been quite pissed if it was my car, and I had taken it somewhere and had to pay labor twice. I'm sure this has happened to tons of people, with no real recourse against the junkyard that should have made sure their shit worked before they sold it to someone as working.

Sorry I'll be more specific.

Typicallly 8 hours labor to remove and replace the engine. So $600-$800 in labor plus the price of the junk yard motor. If it's a 2.5 I would imagine $600 for a lower mileage unit

$1200-$1400 but I would reccomend using that in a down payment on a new car for them

What should become of the Nissan car then? Just sell it for parts, or haul it to the junkyard? Someone will make some money off of it, cause like I said its a very clean, old lady car. Just needs an engine.

[JC316]

Sounds like its junkyard engine time then. But man, I've never liked the idea. I've never liked that you have to basically just trust the junkyard, that they knew what they were doing, or that they aren't just lying, or incompetent, or insert failure here.

Cause when you buy a used $400 engine off their shelf, you may have their warranty that the engine will work, but of course you never get any kind of warranty on the labor. So they can sell you an engine that doesn't work. You have your mechanic put it in, and lo and behold its just like the halfway rebuilt engine, and he can't get it to run. But he did all that labor, and you have to pay for it. So you take it back to the junkyard, and they give you another one. This one runs, but you had to pay for the labor twice. That's pretty uncool.

That's always the junkyard dilemma. It's why I have a list of guys that I trust and if I go to someone new, I research them online before buying.

[LaserSVT]

I will look it up in the morning to be sure but I am pretty sure book on the V6 for R&R plus transfer of parts is 12 hours. Thats $900 at my shop or 1200-1400 everywhere else. I may be wrong, may be less but I will let ya know.

As for the engine thats there, I wouldnt touch it. Dont know a shop in town other than MAYBE Luikarts that would but it would be about $5000. We have taken on partially assembled motors before but never again. Each one I had to eat over 12 hours of labor tracking down parts or buying bolts and redoing things that were wrong.

As for a JY motor there are only two places I would buy from. LKQ or Anderson. Yeah its more but you get a guaranteed working engine. As an alternative I have a supplier that could get me a new one with 3yr/36k warranty for a couple grand.

Keep in mind you also need a couple hundred in fluids and gaskets. I would also wager engine mounts are toast plus you need new hoses and belts also due to age.

That being said, expect $2000 for it to be done right and somewhat reliable(still a used motor). $3500ish for it to be like new with a warranty or $1400-$1600 for a crap shoot.

[JC316]

As for a JY motor there are only two places I would buy from. LKQ or Anderson. Yeah its more but you get a guaranteed working engine. As an alternative I have a supplier that could get me a new one with 3yr/36k warranty for a couple grand.

LKQ has nice stuff, but man do they know it. I trust the following guys.

Highway 6 auto salvage
Ennis Auto Recyclers
AAA auto recyclers
Chris Auto Recyclers
Auto City Salvage
Meyers Auto Salvage

I've been buying from all of these guys for years and I've never had an issue. Ennis Auto is by far the most reliable, I've never even heard of someone that has gotten screwed by them.

Meyers is out in Canton, but they are worth the drive. They usually run a little higher than anyone else, but it's worth it. All of their pulled parts are tested, they pressure wash them before you get the part and they rarely have a core charge.

[Forever_frost]

I got my truck back from Ford on the AC issue. I have never had a dealership tell me that it's not worth fixing. Evidently the AC compressor exploded and shredded everything in the system. They said "We can fix it of course but to be honest, it wouldn't be worth it to you."

They fixed the power steering leak, told me the engine tapping was a lifter and not to worry and told me about the compressor saying I'd need that to start as well as pretty much everything else. Total cost? $140 plus tax. That was the diagnostic fees.

[Gasser64]

Well thanks for the advice everyone. I'm saving that list of reliable junkyards on a microsoft word document. I also like LKQ, but why are they so high? Do they only take in low mileage engines or something?

I'll have to ask her what she wants to do with the car, given these options.

But I still find something you guys are saying just a little... odd.

I know you guys are mechanics, not engine builders. But to me, it seems like you all agree that you just wouldn't touch an engine that was messed with. But that would seem to suggest, that there was something wrong, that couldn't be solved. Well any problem with an engine can be fixed, one way or another. So I guess I'm just a little confused on why you wouldn't touch it. Is it because of the diagnostic time that it could end up taking? Is that the main reason? Because eventually, I think you'd find out what the problem was. Given enough time.

Lastly, you guys do take in stuff that has been messed with, all the time. Many of the cars you guys work on, there is no way you're the only mechanic that's ever touched it. And thus, who knows what all could be going wrong. Granted, these cars are usually running. But what happens when they pay you to fix a badly running car, (or insert random problem here) and you do. But then a few weeks goes by, and it seems to be happening again, but its actually something the previous mechanic screwed up. What do you tell them? To me it doesn't seem like most customers (who don't know much about cars) are going to be very understanding. They're going to think you're somehow trying to rook them. I know there are several posts in this thread about this very problem, but in some cases it would seem to be a valid concern. "Its hard to find a good mechanic" comes to mind.

[Cooter]

yes, any problem can be solved, but not with a magic wand

there's a lot of labor involved in disassembling everything to verify that it's good and then reassemble it.

a good mechanic doesn't want to follow somebody and work on something unknown, even with an informed customer, because when it all goes to shit, they (the mechanic) ends up looking like the asshole anyhow

[Cooter]

yes, any problem can be solved, but not with a magic wand

there's a lot of labor involved in disassembling everything to verify that it's good and then reassemble it.

a good mechanic doesn't want to follow somebody and work on something unknown, even with an informed customer, because when it all goes to shit, they (the mechanic) ends up looking like the asshole anyhow

[Jimbo]

yes, any problem can be solved, but not with a magic wand

there's a lot of labor involved in disassembling everything to verify that it's good and then reassemble it.

a good mechanic doesn't want to follow somebody and work on something unknown, even with an informed customer, because when it all goes to shit, they (the mechanic) ends up looking like the asshole anyhow

This.

It isn't worth the hassle. Even when a customer profusely states that they are understanding about the situation, it bites you in the ass 90% of the time.

It is always more difficult starting out behind and being expected to do more for less, simply because the customer only views it as the outcome being the same.

[JC316]

But I still find something you guys are saying just a little... odd.

I know you guys are mechanics, not engine builders. But to me, it seems like you all agree that you just wouldn't touch an engine that was messed with. But that would seem to suggest, that there was something wrong, that couldn't be solved. Well any problem with an engine can be fixed, one way or another. So I guess I'm just a little confused on why you wouldn't touch it. Is it because of the diagnostic time that it could end up taking? Is that the main reason? Because eventually, I think you'd find out what the problem was. Given enough time.

Lastly, you guys do take in stuff that has been messed with, all the time. Many of the cars you guys work on, there is no way you're the only mechanic that's ever touched it. And thus, who knows what all could be going wrong. Granted, these cars are usually running. But what happens when they pay you to fix a badly running car, (or insert random problem here) and you do. But then a few weeks goes by, and it seems to be happening again, but its actually something the previous mechanic screwed up. What do you tell them? To me it doesn't seem like most customers (who don't know much about cars) are going to be very understanding. They're going to think you're somehow trying to rook them. I know there are several posts in this thread about this very problem, but in some cases it would seem to be a valid concern. "Its hard to find a good mechanic" comes to mind.

I know my own work, I know what I checked for, etc. If I finish what someone else did and it's broke, the guy that originally worked on it is going to say that it's my fault.

At best, I am looking at a lot of labor just to find where all the damned bolts are/go, at worst I am in a pissing match if it's broke.

[LaserSVT]

yes, any problem can be solved, but not with a magic wand

there's a lot of labor involved in disassembling everything to verify that it's good and then reassemble it.

a good mechanic doesn't want to follow somebody and work on something unknown, even with an informed customer, because when it all goes to shit, they (the mechanic) ends up looking like the asshole anyhow

Thats exactly it as well as what I had said.

Okay, say its missing intake bolts but I am told they are there. I spend an hour plus looking for them. I then notice all the water pump bolts are different size so now I have to feed them in and see which one bottoms out where. This is assuming all those bolts were labeled in the first place. There is more time spent that I dont get to charge for. Now we go get the whole engine together and fire it up only to see a missfire due to a breach in the head gasket because the aluminum block and heads were not plained.

Sure someone can go in behind and put it together. Its just bolts and specs. But if I were to do one again it would be book time plus any time I spend looking for parts.

That reminds me, one shop in town charged a customer 2 hours labor to look for the wheel lock key. LOL Thats ballsy.

[Gasser64]

Hell maybe I'll try to do it myself. Its a little intimidating to me, because I'm only a mid level mechanic most of the time. I like to turn my own wrenches as a hobby, and obviously as a member of this site, I'm an automobile enthusiast.

But I've never set the timing on an overhead cam engine (its the 4 cylinder 2.5). But, there are little markers on the gears and the timing chain has little yellow links to line it up with, so how hard can it be. Might give it a shot. Save her a pretty penny if I could pull it off. As for the bolts, they're all in bags and labeled. So I've got that going for me at least.