Urgent...need advice about my engine...

[Huskerman]

My wife's 2001 Chrysler Town and Country went TU. Local shop says its the Rod bearings.



61,000 miles. 3. 8 L V-6



They offered me 3 solutions.



1) Crank Kit: $1600. Although this will fix the motor, they won't warranty anything but against leaking. He said he is hesitant to do that because he has concerns about whether or not all the rod bearing parts have been removed and if they aren't I will have another rod bearing problem at some point. They mechanic (who I have used for years) said that he's had good luck with this procedure when he was working with fleet vehicles. He also said that he did that because the risk wasn't nearly as steep when compared to a family vehicle. Meaning that if the Rod bearings went out again, no worries, it was a fleet rig.



2) Replace the motor with a wrecking yard motor: $3700



3) Rebuild the motor in it: $4200.



I will say first off that this is my fault. I have been busy and haven't paid attention to the maintenance on my wife's van. My bad so no need to rip me for being stupid.



I am leaning towards option 1 because my motor head buddy thinks that it would be ok because the oil should go from the crank to the filter and then on to the engine. I would like to have the van for another 5 years but no longer than that. It's paid for so I don't want to jump into another payment.



If I go with the other option, I would likely pass on option 2 and spend the extra $500 for a rebuild of my engine. I know the engine already and it would come with a 2 or 3 year (24k or 36k) warranty.



ADVICE? What is the smartest thing to do at this point?



Thanks in advance,



Huskerman

 

[MMeier]

Depending on how bad it is chewed up now, all that metal went somewhere(lifters, rockers, sitting up in the lifter valley area. ) I think i would off it as soon as possible and get something else myself. My . 02

 

[CLamb]

Be sure to check the NADA on the thing before you make your decision. As long as it didn't go dry the worn material should be flushed away into the filter. I would feel OK about #1 if that were the case. If running dry was the reason then you need to go with the new motor unless its not worth and it you just do #1 and trade it in.

 

[Huskerman]

(lifters, rockers, sitting up in the lifter valley area. )

One of my local buddies thinks that the pieces shouldn't have gotten that far because from the crank area it goes to filter next. Thoughts?

As long as it didn't go dry the worn material should be flushed away into the filter. I would feel OK about #1 if that were the case.

No, it didn't go dry but when it started making noise, I checked the oil and it was low. Almost 3 quarts low. Thoughts?



Thanks again for the replies!!



Huskerman

 

[staarma]

Well... if you still have the oil that came out of it you could do a sample on it to see what's in there. If you don't have the oil then do option one, run it awhile and then do a sample. If it's not good then go with plan B and get rid of it with known problems. If it's good then drive the wheels off of it.

 

[B.G. Smith]

If the engine didn't run without oil, it surely came very close. How much oil does it hold on change? I would not even consider putting $1600. 00 into the engine without going through the top end. It evidently has problems or you wouldn't have been low on oil in the first place. You may have a sludged up engine and if so, the crank job won't last long. In my area I would look for a decent mileage junkyard engine and another mechanic who would swap out the engine without refinancing the farm. bg

 

[Huskerman]

Well, it no longer matters. The owner of the shop said he would not feel comfortable from a "stand behind it" perspective of just doing the crank kit. So, my choices are either rebuild the current motor, install a crate motor or install a motor from a wrecking yard.



Crate motors were unbelievably expensive from Jasper so I am going to pass on that.



I don't like the idea of putting a motor from another vehicle (no matter the miles on it) in the van so I am probably just going to do a rebuild. Then I know what I have.



Thanks for all the advice, it did help.



Huskerman