Repair or Salvage???

[marriedmanw]

My trusty 93 Pontiac Grand AM with the Quad4 2.3L engine has developed a rather loud knock which will get louder with the rpms. Some buddies of mine have looked at it and advised it's rod knock or a spun bearing, and advised that the only repair is a new engine or rebuild engine. I'm taking it to my mechanic on Monday morning for his evaluation and if his findings are the same is it worth my time to repair? The blue book value is $755, and we have had this car for 14 years and it's been maintained on regular schedule. The car only has 130K on the clock.
I hate to part with this car since it's been so reliable for us over the years, but I don't want to sink $1500 in a rebuild or junk yard motor.
What do you'll think?

 

[COPPERHEAD85]

if it looks like $1500 will fix it you gotta ask yourself if you can replace it for that.
$1500 really good cars and trucks are hard to come by these days,and you know the history of this car as far as maintenence goes......brakes ,tranny and so on.

i never have been a fan of the quad 4 motor thou......

 

[OldJunk]

Cut your losses, for less than 1,500 you can buy a nice used car...time to move on.

 

[almostclueless]

Hard choice. As you said, you know this car's history.....if EVERYTHING else was good and the engine didn't smoke, I might be tempted to throw a crank kit and a new timing belt in it and run it for a while.

 

[Ozwynn]

well hold on. you can't replace it for $1500. you know the history........ but its 16 years old and other things will start failing. you need to weigh potential repairs against against the cost of something else, however if you buy another used car it is a crap shoot.


I would buy a used engine and replace the transmission (if its an auto)

 

[Mark_88]

Yep, tough call...but if the body is in decent shape, and you've recently done any other work to it such as brakes, bearings, front end parts, or exhaust then I'd say invest the money in the car you have...

I'm sorta in the same situation now, but I've got more invested in my Ranger than my Zuki...(well, not really if you count the purchase price)...

But I'd also recommend the motor/tranny swap if you can find someone to do it for less than $1500 and get it working right...it is definitely a crap shoot sometimes so hope this works out for you...

 

[marriedmanw]

Thanks for the replies. After a week of the car sitting at the shop, the mechanic called and advised he can't find the exact source of the knocking but believes it's a rod in the bottom end. He checked local salvage yards and didn't find the Quad 4 engine that it has. Auto store has reman engine for $2,250, and mechanic quoted $1,000 for labor.
That is way to much for me to put into the car right now, so it's going to remained parked in yard till I figure out what to do with it. When we got this car it only had 15K miles, so we definatly know the history well. I had just had the timing chain, guides, and water pump replaced not to long ago so that kinda sucks.
Does $1000 sound right for a engine installation? I wish I had more knowledge in mechanics when it came to these type of projects.
Thanks again for the help, and I guess the Ranger will become the daily driver now.

 

[Mark_88]

When my Ranger 2.0 engine crapped out in early 2004 I had a mechanic install a new clutch and slave cylinder with the short block of a 2.3...he charged me just over $1,000 including parts...so I'd say it's a good price...depending on what his shop charges per hour...I'd say it should only take three to four hours out and in, but I've never done that type of engine (or any others come to think of it)...a 2.3 can take as little as a few hours to install though...so I thought my price was high...but I'd never done a clutch before so I was happy to pay it...

You can try shopping around and go by the book rate...but most times it can be done under the stated rate...and if you're even remotely mechanically inclined you can do some of the work yourself...like on mine...I installed the head, intake, exhaust, rad, and all the other parts...but they're pretty much like leggo on a 2.3...line up the holes and snap it in...

 

[rangerbum]

You know, you could probably get alot more than $755 if you part it out online. Just throwing that out there.