onthevirg

My neighbor recently had her '92(ish) Ford Explorer motor blow up on her. She took it to a local dealership who, of course, wanted to stick it to her to the tune of about $6-8K for a replacement (admittedly, a new one). So I told her I'd ask around to see if I could find out anything about getting a rebuild job done. Are there any auto mechanics out there familiar with doing this kind of work and have a guesstimate on what it might cost? Thanks guys.

socalrider

where are you located in the IE??

dddave

yea i need a new o2 sensor for my truck... hook me up.

WhiteCarbonDude

92 Explorer.
Find cliff.
Push over cliff.

Option 2:
Sell Explorer $500 as is.
Find used Explorer avg $3K

urbanknight

If the engine can be rebuilt, look up Gold Coast Motors. It will save you a lot, but I wonder if it's worthwhile for even half that.

Blastinbob

+1


How many miles are on the engine?

patric

don't do it. i work in a shop, and we deal with a lot of engine rebuild shops and dealers. sounds outragous.
she can honestly buy a newer explorer for 6-8k, a decent one too.
unless whoever has some attachment to that van.

rooftest

You'll have to be more specific than "motor blew up." You never want to get work on an older car done at a dealer - but definitely never spend $6,000 to fix a $2-3,000 truck.

Unless you drove it with no oil and the engine seized, there's no reason that you should ever have to buy an entire new engine.

prschaa

They have been prone to blowing spark plugs out of the aluminum block. There is a insert that someone with basic mechanical skills can do for $80 for a kit, $300 for a mech, to fix. But Blow up is too general to give adequate advice if it' anything else. Repair price quoted will buy you a used one that runs.

Dunwood

With the price of fuel, I'd dump the Explorer (and we have a 02 V6 Explorer).

Your other options are this website:
https://www.explorerforum.com/ perhaps the best Explorer forum around

or

buy a used engine and have it installed. However you are still looking at budgeting $2,000.
Say you bought the engine used for $700 or $800, the mechanic is going to get into the engine swap and he'll find stuff.....which will lead to other stuff. First it'll need a set of freeze plugs, then he'll say, ya know the engine is out, why not change the rear main seal? Even if you can find a guy out in the IE that will swap the engine for $750 you'll get hit with add on's. The only way I'd do this is find a very low mileage wrecked Explorer, pull the engine and sell off the balance for parts. Its a PIA.

or

Save your money, wait two years for this new 100+ MPG car coming from Europe. Darn right its a diesel. Pretty cool looking too!
https://editorial.autos.msn.com/artic...umentid=457882

jsigone

+2 million and 1

put it one craiglist or something and get something else, I wouldn't put a dime else into it if the motor already popped.

big john

The spark plugs are in the heads! A 92 Explorer with average miles would be close to 200K on the odo. Not really worth putting an engine in, even if it's clean for it's age. If you insist, go rebuilt. Any used engine that will fit that car will be old, as well.

onthevirg

Riverside

onthevirg

And to the other guys that agreed, I'm not saying I'd do anything different, but she's attached to the car and it is super clean. I think it has around 200K on it, but it's pretty nice and she said she'd be willing to spend some money to get it running again, just not that much. The dealership offered her $1500 for it, told her she'd be better off parting it out or selling private party.

I don't remember what she said exactly, but I think a couple of the pistons were hosed and she was getting piston slap + valve issues. I'd have to check w/ her again.


I think that's exactly what she was talking about, so I told her I'd ask around to find someone to do it, or at least get an estimate. I guess in the end I'm just trying to help her out and let her know if she should give up the ghost and just private party it to get it out of her driveway or tell her it's going to cost X to fix.

Brian Sorrell

I know the best mechanic / auto body / etc. guy around: our buddy Marcus. In fact, why the hell am I responding here when you live right down the street?? {shakes head}

dddave

c'mon.

big john

Shop around some shops that rebuild engines. Try to find one with a good reputation and good guarantee.
Anything used that will fit that truck will be at least 13 years old. If she wants to keep it and put some miles on it, go rebuilt. Then you will probably have to rebuild the transmission, front and rear ends, brakes, etc., unless that stuff has been done.

big john

Dude, go to the dealer and buy one, then put it in the truck.

Nachoman

Abracadabra.

DaveSANYYZ

Online! Online!

Dealer charges you MSRP! It cost me $500+ for an O2 sensor change at the dealer (Acura; parts and labor). The price of the part online is only about $100-$200 for my car (online discount). I think the MSRP (and what I paid at the dealership for the parts), is $350 or something. My friend's BMW got a bad O2 sensor a week after mine, and it cost him ~$150 (online parts); he did the swap himself.

This assumes you have a safe way of going beneath your car though.

alicestrong

Ditch the car, ride a bike...







sorry






*ask me how...

Sci-Fi

As mentioned by others, it's cheaper to buy another one at that price or save up a few more thousand and get a "new" Scion xB if she likes a box, but with better gas mileage. Doubt very much the dealership will order a crate motor (although at that price it better be a crate motor), but more likely it's a rebuilt engine...either a factory rebuilt or outsourced Ford approved engine rebuild. That's what the local Ford/Mercury dealer ordered when they replaced the engine in my car a few years ago. Plus the engine didn't have the same power or gas mileage as the original engine...in hindsight, what a waste of money and they didn't even recharge the a/c or put all the parts back on (dust covers, splash shields, etc). Went back to get the parts but they dumped it already and wanted to charge me to recharge/refill the a/c. Last Ford/Mercury I will ever buy.

JTGraphics

From what you mentioned sounds like timing belt went!. I just changed my timing belt and water pump on our honda last weekend spent $90 parts and 4 hr of my time saved me $300+ labor.
6-8k sounds a little excesive for a ford rebuild! when you say blew up just what has gone in the motor? But in any case find a good local shop that can replace the motor. You can pickup a rebuilt long block for around $1500 depending on the exact model. Check out this place for the exact price on the engine needed. I'm sure you can find a good shop on Riverside but if not I have a few friends out here in the South Bay area here at the end of the 91 fwy
Look up the needed motor here https://www.rockauto.com great prices on parts.

ddave look up your o2 sensor also.

tinrobot

I had a motor replaced once. The car never quite worked the same.

Not worth it. Get a new car.

big john

Don't blame Ford because you got shafted by a dealer, it's not Ford's fault. I have been working at car dealers for years and some are good, some not so good.
If an engine was replaced correctly, it should run as well as the original engine.
No dealer I have worked at would EVER install a rebuilt engine. G.M. used to have remanufactured engines, but no more. We only install new engines, and they do cost 5-6k.
BTW, a 92 Explorer doesn't have a timing belt.