Have you ever had to replace an engine in a car?

[CleanSump]

Early '70s Dodge Dart with a 225ci slant six. Mom's hand me down to younger teenage brother who would rev it in neutral and drop it in gear to burn rubber. He threw a rod through the block. Did a weekend swap with a motor from my favorite junkyard.
Bought an '89 Wrangler new. Got a new motor from the dealer under warranty when it threw a rod cruising on the highway at about 20k miles. Just went from fine to clack, clack, clack.
The rest were hot rodding swaps, so don't count as needed.

 

[antonmnster]

when I was a teen I was poor but wanted fun cars. Replaced the engine in a Saab 900 then later same deal with a Saab 9000, both bought from the same junkyard. So grateful my parents refused to co-sign any loan, so I learned to turn my own wrenches and make do for myself.

 

[Sedin26]

In 2007 I bought a 93 Tercel that had been neglected. It was burning a ton of oil and had other issues.

I rebuilt the motor as a learning project and also had a shop do the transmission. It was a challenge, as I didn’t know what I was doing and had no engine stand. I did the vast majority outside in February during rainy season. It’s still on the road today, though has been driven only about 8000km since 2017. 180,000km on the rebuild.

Back in 1997 I rebuilt a 240 from my 1965 Mercury half ton. That was not strictly necessary but was for the sake of learning. I knew very little about vehicles at that point but completed the job. I drove it about 100km and parked it. It’s still sitting there to this day.

 

[R18Civic]

I had botched a head gasket job that led to a coolant leak and sanding sponge particles making its way into my oil pan. Replaced the engine with a used one.

4 years later the LIM goes out on the new engine with less than 100k on it and that engine went to crap too. Didn't bother replacing it again.

Both 3800 series III V6's.

 

[michaelluscher]

The Jeep Grand Cherokee around 2001 can have two major engine issues with the 4.0. Cracked head with 0331 casting number. Cracked piston skirts.

I had the cracked piston skirts and the net was engine replacement.

The 4.7 H.O valve dropper wasn't much better
Not Jeep's best engine/transmission years
Cool looking tho

 

[michaelluscher]

sanding sponge particles making its way into my oil pan. Replaced the engine with a used one

GM warned us about aluminum oxide particles embedding themselves into bearings, wiping the engine out shortly after a repair
But some people on this forum dismissed it as a non issue
I don't hear about it very often, wonder if it's misdiagnosed

 

[Kira]

the "Vielen Ecke" bolts that were always pack with mud and oil.

This refers to post #29:
Are these the 12 point "triple square" bolt heads?

 

[R18Civic]

GM warned us about aluminum oxide particles embedding themselves into bearings, wiping the engine out shortly after a repair
But some people on this forum dismissed it as a non issue
I don't hear about it very often, wonder if it's misdiagnosed

Actually I think I got all the particles out of the engine. I put red high temp grease between all the pistons and cylinder walls before using the roloc pad. Afterwards I took my feeler gauge and scooped all the contaminated greas out from around the pistons and cylinder walls. The sanding sponge was a separate deal. It was a 3M red sanding sponge I saw a ford technician use on a 5.4 engine to get a mirror finish on the block. A piece of it made its way down into the oil pan and clogged up the oil pump pickup tube.

 

[redbone3]

This refers to post #29:
Are these the 12 point "triple square" bolt heads?

They are sold in the US as "spline bolts". My landlord in Germany called them "Vielen ecke" bolts. Literally may cornered bolts.

 

[Matt42]

First was a learning experience, a wretched 1971 Fiat 850 Spyder, in 1979. I paid $900 for the car. Vacuum gauge told me that a cylinder had zero compression. At 903 CC, the engine ran OK at high idle. I pulled the engine by hand and carried it into the back bedroom of the house my new wife and I had rented. (We are still married, BTW.) Taking the engine down, I found that a broken ring had scored the No. 3 cylinder wall. All this was with frequent long-distance phone calls for advice to my (now deceased) engineer brother who was a SCCA Class C amateur. I had that one cylinder rebored and bought a new piston with rings. The machine shop checked weight on all the pistons and they miraculously matched, even the .020" oversize one. I bought a full set of standard rings. By then, my brother was visiting. We reassembled the engine using a spring compressor for a lawnmower. Then I hand-carried the engine back to the car and shoved it back in. Bolted everything back and it fired right up. Sold the car a year later after a lot more work.

Second was in 1985. It was Jeep 360 out of a full size Cherokee with 138K miles on it. What everyone thought was bad lifter bridges was a broken center cam bearing. I did a full rebuild. The cylinders were still in factory spec for diameter and out-of-round, which was common for the AMC high nickel alloy used at the time. The crank still showed factory polish on all the journals but the MBs were just starting to spall. (It looked like the PO had lugged the engine.) I replaced the MBs and RBs with AMC numbered parts, and was able to get the oil clearances down to +/- 0.002 (I think). I used crocus cloth to polish the part number stampings on the back side of the bearing shells to dead flat. (Overkill, I know.) New cam and reassembly. When done, I could idle the engine to 400 RPM with a full glass of water on the dashboard. I miss that Jeep.

Third was about 1994, a 1980 Mazda GLC. The 1.4 liter engine only had 110K miles on it, but I cracked the head at 50K. The heliarc repair had looked really good, but the combustion chamber turned out too small. The compression just destroyed the head, piston, rings, cylinder & gasket. The clue was steam. New head, rebore, pistons, bearings, etc. The GLC got 30+ mpg on the highway, over 40 at altitude. I eventually swapped out the 4 speed for a 5 speed. I drove it two more years and then sold it to my supervisor's oldest daughter. She drove it another 160K miles and sold it to someone else that added another 100K miles. He turned it into a hockey puck on I-5 between Medford & Grants Pass on black ice. I miss that car.

Fourth was about 2000. It was a backwards job. An acquaintance wrecked his parents' `95 Saturn twin cam wagon. The engine & transaxle survived. I bought a `95 twin cam sedan for $500 that had thrown the legendary rod. Swapped the good engine/transaxle out of the wrecked car into the sedan, and he kept on going. (With some immense family issues.)

I still have the hoist, tools, micrometers and so on. But it doesn't look like there's a full engine R&R on the horizon ever again.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

I forgot the 1969 Ford Fairlane 500 sports roof tale. Duh.
This is around 1978. Car kept snapping motor mounts when you launched it hard. 428 Cobra Jet with a top loader and a 12 bolt. Well one day it started running lumpy and burning oil. Ignored that for a bit. Thought it was the distributor cap acting up. They loved to cross fire. Well it got worse. Decided to pull the heads and do a valve job as the car was getting near 80K miles.
Did the job in a unheater garage on sub freezing weather in the Winter. No fun. Jumping ahead, when the drivers side head came off, I was wiping out the cyls and then got to number 8. Uh-Oh. the cylinger wall was gouged up and down 90 degress from the load wall. Thought a ring broke, but when we pulled the piston the floater clip must of come off and the wrist pin slipped up against the cylinder. I could barely afford the 3 angle valve job. My buddy knew where there was a wrecked ford wagon with a 390, so he towed that to the garage and we pulled that motor. It was neglected and all sludged up. REALLY sludged up - like thick grey caulk kind of sludge. Must of lost a head gasket at some point. Cleaned that lump up, in the car it went then on went the CJ heads. They fit, they didn't leak. Car ran O.K. Sold the car to some Saudi Prince attending Phillips Academy. John-John Kennedy was also attending at the time. Saleh Kept coming around the McDonald's hangout in town and wanting to buy the Cobra-Jeet.

Sold it to him for 550 bucks. What's that worth now?!

Similar model, but mine was a greenish-blue colour

View attachment 142584

Values now? About starting from $45,000 these days to some out of control auto auction shoot out prices buyers have actually thrown out for three for $95,000 recently. Slightly different yet they have always looked to me like a purpose made full size Mustang!

O.M.G! Those , plus their similar "kin" bodied Mercury cars are some of my very favorite of all time 60s classics. Next to the Ford Talladegas the Mercury Cyclones and Spoiler IIs were the scourge of NASCAR tracks for such a time that even The King, Richard Petty jumped ship from Plymouths to Ford/Mercury. Those were some of the NASCAR aero war years and the main cars used when Ford/Mercury slugged it out with Plymouth/Dodge winged cars! The Plymouth SuperByrds and the Dodge Daytonas. All of those models ushered in the 200+ mph cars that caused so much concern for NASCAR they started making rules such as carb restrictor plates etc to slow them down for fear of killing drivers or cars ending up in the stands.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

I'm not saying you're wrong, but it's odd that it would have a GM diff in a Ford less than a decade after being built by the OEM.
What happened to the Ford 9" rear? Those are reknowned for their durability and longevity.

For many many years lots of builders / restorers of other brands would often go hunting for those Ford 9 rears prior to starting their next projects.

 

[Slow Car Sport Mode]

Yes.

 

[Olds394]

I replaced a 383 in my 67 Coronet with 3 2x4 studs, 3 cinder blocks, and a cable winch.
I had to deflate the front tires to clear the radiator support. Circa 1980

 

[AdditiveOCD]

I had a 2009 Jeep Liberty burn the same piston three times over 18 months. Jeep always replaced it under warranty and sent me on my way. After the 3rd one I traded it in for a wrangler.

 

[BrendanC]

2012 silverado 2500HD LY6
operator failed to come in for an oil change 3 times and ran it low on oil. swapped the motor in a day in flip flops.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

I replaced a 383 in my 67 Coronet with 3 2x4 studs, 3 cinder blocks, and a cable winch.
I had to deflate the front tires to clear the radiator support. Circa 1980

LOL.... U reminding me of "trying to get killed" around 1980 with one of my Chevelles jacked up on boards and cinder blocks to raise the front end high enough to clear the new headers we were putting on. How on earth (well I think JESUS protects us idiots) we did survive that without the car falling and crushing us! Drove it 5 miles with open headers to an exhaust shop to have resonators and pipes run out the back. Young and foolish.

 

[berniedd]

1988. My air cooled 1968 Beetle engine was simply worn out. The engine in it was a 1500 cc, not the original factory engine. The valves were rattling in their guides, and after disassembly main crank bearings were ok but there was appreciable clearance in at least one conn rod bearing. Machine shop did the crankshaft journals, .010" was a no go, 0.020" did it. So new 0.020" oversize conn rod bearings, stock size main bearings. The valve guides were pressed out and new bronze guides were installed. New valves were lapped in. New cam bearings, pistons and cylinder jugs too. Also new aftermarket oil pump with integrated oil filter mount I'd bought from Proformance in Orange county. (Stock VW engines had oil strainers only and did not have oil filters.) Reassembly took me 4 weeks bec of my regular work. Could do it only on weekends. After all this, it was practically a new engine that went back in.

Climate change and older age pressed me to have air conditioning installed in 1994. I drove that car till I sold it in 2008.

 

[Exhaustgases]

Lost count.

 

[Nyati]

Not with your mechanic skills but as a general failure or performance question.

We had to one time on an Olds 88 with a 3.8 engine. The intake gasket failed causing coolant into a cylinder hydrolocking it and throwing the rod thru the block.

How about you?

I put a Porsche Super 90 engine in a ‘67 Bug in HS. Does that count?

And I helped my next door neighbor put a Corvair engine in his Meyers Manx dune buggy.