Engine Rebuilders....Opinions?

[MSHardeman]

As you may have read in another thread, my VX is going to need a new engine. The shop that I took the VX to to have the cylinder leak test done quoted me close to $9,500 to replace the engine. Granted, he was looking with only his "trusted" vendors, and only looked for like five minutes. He said that they usually don't install parts that customers bring in themselves, because they have no idea how good the parts are, or where they have been, but he said that in this case he would work with me if I could find an engine for the VX.

I think my best bet would be to go with a remanufactured/rebuilt engine. If I get a used engine I would have no idea how well it was cared for before I got it, and it may still have the same oil burning issue that my engine currently has. Hopefully, with a rebuilt engine, the oil burning issue will be taken care of due to the new rings and pistons that they use to rebuild it.

SO, for those of you who have had your engine rebuilt, or have bought rebuilt engines, let me have your opinions on shops to start looking at. I've done some poking around on the internets and have come up with a few places:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/140629962192...84.m1423.l2648

http://www.123engine.com/isuzu1.php

http://www.powertrainproducts.net/IS...ENGINE-p/9.htm

http://www.gearheadengines.com/CrateEngines

So far I'm liking Powertrain Products and Gearhead Engines because they are offering four year/million mile and three year/unlimited mile warranties respectively. Sounds like they are confident in their work.

Let me know if you have anyone else I should look at, or if you have any opinions/experience with any of the companies above.

Thanks y'all!!

[MSHardeman]

TTT....Anyone?

Also wanted to let y'all know that I just talked to Merlin at St. Charles and he said that the Isuzu warehouse is showing 22 new 3.5L 6VE1 engines in stock. With our 10% (or is it 15%?) discount the price is $6490 with free shipping.

WOOHOO!!! Free shipping!! I'm ordering two right now.






Not really....

[djvx]

TTT....Anyone?

Also wanted to let y'all know that I just talked to Merlin at St. Charles and he said that the Isuzu warehouse is showing 22 new 3.5L 6VE1 engines in stock. With our 10% (or is it 15%?) discount the price is $6490 with free shipping.

WOOHOO!!! Free shipping!! I'm ordering two right now.






Not really....

Not Really $6490?

[atilla_the_fun]

So,
What you should do is buy a 1997-1999 Rav-4 for about 4k in decent shape and use that as a daily driver. Then look for 2001 troopers or Acura SLXs on CL and the like that are around 1k-2k. Use their engine and part out the rest to recoup the cost.
Sell the Rav-4 for about 4k (because Toyotas retain their values very very well).

I can't see the logic in installing a brand new engine in a 10 year old car, especially since even the new engine will leave you with the same "will I suddenly run dry of oil" feeling as the original one. It seems like your issue wasn't oil related, but it is something that worries every VX driver.

OR: 6K buys you a used VX. Part it out but keep the engine, reduce your loss that way.

[atilla_the_fun]

Actually, if you bring it to the shop in MD that did that V8 conversion - I bet they could bring the price down, given they would know exactly what to do a second time around.

[evillecutter]

for $6500 just buy another vx and sell (or use) yours for parts - could prob make a sizable chunk of your money back

[MSHardeman]

Not Really $6490?

No it's really $6490. Not really ordering two.....or even one for that matter.

[MSHardeman]

Due to the price, and the possible oil burning issues, I am not going to go with a new engine from Isuzu. After talking to Merlin, he said that these are new engines that were built when all of the other ones were built so they could have the same issues as our engines have. I know some of our engines don't burn a drop of oil, but others, like mine, burn a LOT of oil. Even though I stayed on top of the oil consumption I was always looking over my shoulder, so to speak, just waiting for the day that the engine would let go.

I have thought about buying a daily driver while I wait for the VX to get fixed, but any money that I use to buy the daily driver would take away from the money that I would be able to spend replacing the engine in the VX, so she would just sit around, broken, and what good would that do me.

I've also thought about buying another VX and either using it's engine, or using it as mine, but I just can't see driving another VX. I know it sounds crazy, but this VX is MINE and I don't want another one unless it's a second one in addition to mine. Getting a VX and using it's engine, or any used engine, seems iffy to me. I would have no idea how well that engine was taken care of and who knows if it would have the same oil burning issues that mine has. A used engine might have sat in a salvage yard for a while, and goodness knows what it has been through.

A remanufactured engine seems, to me, to be the best way to go because it has been stripped down, all of the surfaces have been checked and re-machined, and new pistons, rings, rods, bearings, etc. have been used to re-build it. The new pistons and rings would, hopefully, take care of the oil burning issue, and most of the good remanufactured engines come with a three year (or more) unlimited milage warranty.

atilla, I really have thought long and hard about the issue that you bring up; why put a new engine in a twelve year old car? Is it really worth it? I keep coming back to, yes, it's worth it to me. The rest of the VX is well taken care of. I've replaced/repacked bearings on a regular basis, replaced brake pads, rotors and flex lines, replaced shocks, and have generally babied it. There isn't any structural rust anywhere, and the rust bubble that I can see are up on the roof under the roof rails, but that can be easily taken care of. The only iffy mechanical issue (after the engine) would be the transmission, but it has never even sneezed in over 130,000 miles. Maybe that means it's due to have a major mechanical, but others have gone longer and been harder on their original transmissions with no problems.

I really can't imagine driving anything else, although I know that day will have to come eventually. Right now, though, I still enjoy driving the VX and even after eight years of ownership I still get a big smile on my face everytime I see it.

[DrewsiferxXx]

9,500? were they going to fabricate the entire engine from scratch?


an engine removal and re-install shouldn't run much over a grand. (in fact that is a little high IMO)

I would look else where. (or do what I would actually do and do the r/r myself, but that's not for everybody)

[MSHardeman]

Most of that $9,500 was the engine. I think the mechanic was looking at new engines because the price he quoted for the engine was just about the same as the price that Merlin quoted me for the new Isuzu engine.

I think he had +/-$1700 to do the engine swap, but said that he had added $500 to that for any unforseen issues that he might run into, so hopefully the swap wouldn't cost that much. I know that still sounds high, and this is sort of a lame excuse, but I do live in the Aspen valley where EVERYTHING costs more than it should for no real reason other than it's Aspen.

I was actually thrilled to find a local mechanic that would be willing to do the swap because I thought that I was going to go two to three hours to another city to have it done.

As much as I would like to do the swap myself, I think that it is just outside of my abilities and available tools. Hopefully the mechanic will let me get in there with him because I would love to get my hands dirty and see how an engine swap is done.

[circmand]

Used engine from VX $2700. All their prices seem high but they will dicker. They wanted $4500 for the whole non-running wrecked VX

[DrewsiferxXx]

1200 isn't that bad for the job.
try www.car-part.com for engines.
not sure how hard it is to source an engine for such a rare beast...

won't a honda passport or isuzu axiom engine fit? or something similar?

edit
and after looking I see how pricey the engines are.
wow

[atilla_the_fun]

Actually, the 3.2L from the rodeo has been shown to fit (on this forum) and does not have the same oil burning issues as the Trooper/SLX/VX 3.5L.

You could do a quick search on that engine. Even with the slight loss of power, its almost worth it given the lack of oil consumption on the 3.2L.

[MSHardeman]

DrewsiferxXx, we do share an engine with the Rodeo, Trooper, Honda Passport, Acura SLX, and an '02-'03 Isuzu Axiom. They are all the 6VE1 engine block, and I have found a bunch of used ones online. I'm just leary of used engines because you never know how they were taken care of or what they have been through. I figure if I'm going to do this then I might as well go with a rebuilt/remanufactured engine because it will have been gone through by a shop and rebuilt with new parts. The theory is that some of our engines burn oil because of the rings that Isuzu used. I've also heard some noise about the oil drain holes (I think) in the pistons being too small and too few. Hopefully, the rings and pistons that they would use to rebuild the engine would take care of the oil burning issue.

atilla_the_fun, the 3.2L is an option and has been shown to drop right into the VX. I think the rest of the world's VX's have the 3.2L and from what I understand, our 3.5L is just a stroked version of the 3.2L. Heck, right now being down a cylinder I am running a 2.9L engine and she still has some get up and go. Living in the mountains, and with the VX being so heavy, I think I'm going to stick with the 3.5L because I would never make it up and over some of the mountain passes without it. As stated above, I think (or is it I'm hopeful) that a rebuilt engine would also take care of the oil burning issue due to the use of better rings and pistons. If I'm way off base on that assumption please let me know.

Thanks for all of the opinions and suggestions so far.

[rsteinmetz70112]

There was a company selling new short blocks on ebay for $1500, there is a listing right now for a long block reman for $2,000.