Would you sell your old ranger if you had to rebuild your engine?

[fastpakr]

It's always going to be cheaper to fix the truck the way it was built (unless you have a 01 mazda 2300 with that fancy 2.3 in, it then your looking at 850 bucks for a engine with 130k on it with no warranty lol).

Fancy 2.3?

 

[racsan]

maybe he means the newer 2.3 thats a mazda engine and not the “old” pinto motor. I test drove one 2 years ago, 2wd reg cab shortbed manual transmission with 3.73s , I wasn’t impressed. had only 20K miles and they wanted 11K for it. as a joke I offered my ‘94 as trade, told them it was the johnny cash edition. (many different years of parts) the sales kid had no clue what I meant. (and they didnt even consider it as a trade, I wasn’t surprised)

 

[wildbill23c]

Here is the million dollar question, how much does he love this truck? Unless he has some sort of sentimental attachment to this truck then factory fix it or scrap and get something else you always wanted have. It's always going to be cheaper to fix the truck the way it was built (unless you have a 01 mazda 2300 with that fancy 2.3 in, it then your looking at 850 bucks for a engine with 130k on it with no warranty lol) I know I wont make any friends saying this on here but If I could find a Diesel Hilux I would get one of those. Just because they are good trucks as much as I hate Toyota in the American market.

That's exactly it, how much do you like it and if you plan on keeping it for a long time it would be worth the effort to replace the engine or rebuild it or have it rebuilt...if you have to pay a shop a drop in replacement engine is the way to go, I got a 3 year 36,000 mile warranty with the replacement engine for my Bronco 2, having an engine rebuilt you may have a 30 day warranty on parts/labor, maybe if you are lucky but the labor to rebuild an engine just outweighs the labor to just have one removed and a new one (rebuilt one) installed.

The engine that I had put in my 88 Bronco 2 is from Promar: https://www.promarengine.com/ I had a shop do it, and it was like $5,000 altogether that was with the engine and labor. I am keeping my Bronco 2 though, so I feel as though it was worth it to keep it going, I'm enjoying it, its my daily driver, and weekend project vehicle when I get extra funds to do stuff on it...next up will be a repaint. If it were something I wasn't keeping I'd have got rid of it and not bothered with an engine and transmission. I went with having the transmission rebuilt as they put better parts in it than what I would have gotten if I would have bought an off the shelf rebuild online. So far so good, its been almost a year since the rebuild on the engine, and no issues, other than a minor oil leak on the valve cover gaskets which I'm correcting myself with Felpro's here soon, they seem to have gone cheap on those, others are fine but they used some junk gaskets on the valve covers for some reason. Transmission was rebuilt right after I bought it in July 2016 and its been doing great.

 

[Tunnermann]

how are the rust problems in Brazil?
in parts of the U.S. rust is what dooms many vehicles before the mechanicals have time to wear out.

I'm preparing to replace the engine in my 2005, it has 356,000 miles and is due for a "few" parts.

It depends where abouts... if you live on the coast it probably has lots of it. But mine is fairly good.

 

[Tunnermann]

If this guy is in Brazil he probably has access to plenty of diesel engines that we have never had in the states, why not grab one from a tractor or volvo car, probably car use the transmission I think Volvo made rwd diesel cars.

Put a tractor engine in it The laws here are pretty shitty regarding engine swaps and tuning...

I like acceleration and torque... dunno if it would work. Top speed is not that relevant for as long as it is not that slow.

 

[Tunnermann]

If I were to put a newer engine 2.3 or even a diesel engine... it would be cheaper for me to sell it as is and put the extra money towards the newer truck. I like the truck for no apparent reason... I just don't like to give up on projects... I kind of feel like I failed the project.

I guess the system has a vacuum leak (dunno where yet) and there's some oil leaks. I'm thinking of taking off the covers and using 999 grey silicone to make a new gasket on the heads and oil pan. There's some oil at the front of the engine where the fan is attached, and at the rear next to the transmission. I dunno if it is oil that ran down from the head covers or leaked from that exact point. So I plan to clean the engine with kerosene and once it is clean see where the leaks are coming from. If it is an "take out engine" job I'll take it to a mechanic cuz I'd probably screw it up. But if it's just a gasket job then I'll do it myself.

Play around cars is kind of my hobby, even though I don't know much about it. But the more I play around it, the more I learn. And I'm a tight fist guy ?

 

[Ramcharger90]

Put a tractor engine in it The laws here are pretty shitty regarding engine swaps and tuning...

I like acceleration and torque... dunno if it would work. Top speed is not that relevant for as long as it is not that slow.

Its all about the gearing most small diesel engines dont rev past 2500 rpm stock. I guess you mean shitty like really strict? I figured since Brazil (greenhouse gases/fuel consumption are unregulated) they would allow anything on the road in terms of engines. I guess I was wrong with what I was reading on your laws and regulations.

 

[Tunnermann]

Its all about the gearing most small diesel engines dont rev past 2500 rpm stock. I guess you mean shitty like really strict? I figured since Brazil (greenhouse gases/fuel consumption are unregulated) they would allow anything on the road in terms of engines. I guess I was wrong with what I was reading on your laws and regulations.

Yeah, we don't have to pay for gas emissions like in some european countries. But yeah, shitty like restrictive.
It also depends on the state.

E.g. here if I want tonswap engines I can only change to a up to10% higher hp engine.

If my car came out non-turbo, legally I can't turbo it.

But I can lower and lift it...

I was even considering sending my car to a mechanic interstate to put a v8 in it and then send it back. It's not prohibited to drive (e.g.) a v8 ranger... You just can't register one in my state...

 

[Ramcharger90]

Yeah, we don't have to pay for gas emissions like in some european countries. But yeah, shitty like restrictive.
It also depends on the state.

E.g. here if I want tonswap engines I can only change to a up to10% higher hp engine.

If my car came out non-turbo, legally I can't turbo it.

But I can lower and lift it...

I was even considering sending my car to a mechanic interstate to put a v8 in it and then send it back. It's not prohibited to drive (e.g.) a v8 ranger... You just can't register one in my state...

Cuz thats not confusing

 

[G8orFord]

Is that why there are so many Central and South Americans coming to the U.S.? To escape ridiculous vehicle registration laws? No wait, that can't be it, because a lot of them are going to California.

^^ It's a joke, don't get all bent out of shape and political.

 

[Tunnermann]

Is that why there are so many Central and South Americans coming to the U.S.? To escape ridiculous vehicle registration laws? No wait, that can't be it, because a lot of them are going to California.

^^ It's a joke, don't get all bent out of shape and political.

It's not really that... it's cuz with 1 hour of your minimal wage labor you can buy a few gallons of petrol, hence you can afford a v8... Over here 1 hour of minimal wage labour you can afford half a gallon... hence most people drive 1.0L engine cars ???

 

[Biggfoot44]

Compared to buying an actual NEW vehicle, virtually anything done to an existing paid for vehicle comes out ahead . The more relevant comparison is what you would put into existing vehicle vs replacing with a different used vehicle that is younger or has fewer miles, and hopefully is in decent shape without need of significant repairs in near future .

To somewhat reshape a previous response , do you have time and space to do work on a vehicles ? If no , move on to next option .

If you are a " car guy " , and enjoy projects , then take this as opportunity to step up . Rough rule of thumb - getting all the necessary tools will cost in same neighborhood as the labor to get it done once . BUT you will then have the tools and equipment to do lots of future repairs/ improvements/ projects . Remove & replacement of a complete engine of the same type for the first time can seem intimidating , but not actually that complex . Get a good service manual , consult the internet , be careful and pay attention , and label and take digital pictures of everything you take apart . A good learning experience , and it will seem easy the second time you do this .

 

[Tunnermann]

Compared to buying an actual NEW vehicle, virtually anything done to an existing paid for vehicle comes out ahead . The more relevant comparison is what you would put into existing vehicle vs replacing with a different used vehicle that is younger or has fewer miles, and hopefully is in decent shape without need of significant repairs in near future .

To somewhat reshape a previous response , do you have time and space to do work on a vehicles ? If no , move on to next option .

If you are a " car guy " , and enjoy projects , then take this as opportunity to step up . Rough rule of thumb - getting all the necessary tools will cost in same neighborhood as the labor to get it done once . BUT you will then have the tools and equipment to do lots of future repairs/ improvements/ projects . Remove & replacement of a complete engine of the same type for the first time can seem intimidating , but not actually that complex . Get a good service manual , consult the internet , be careful and pay attention , and label and take digital pictures of everything you take apart . A good learning experience , and it will seem easy the second time you do this .

Yeah, I quite enjoy doing it. I don't really have the space yet... But I think I will gondown that road. I've got a fair bit of tools already, but I don't have a hoist yet, and I haven't seen any for rent around here.

But it's all good.

 

[racsan]

watch “letgo” or craigslist for a hoist. I was occasionally looking and saw they were running about $200 for a 2-ton lift, new they seemed to be 3 to 4 hundred. The other day I saw one I had been watching drop from 150 to 100. And it came with a leveler ($40 value) and a extra hydraulic cylinder ( was only a 1 ton ram , but still a $50 value, and it works) the cylinder on the lift is rated at 8 ton. works well, the only bad part was it was in southrrn ohio. took the car and had to listen to all the loose parts rattle around for the 2 hour drive home. dont use a lift much, but very useful when I do need it.

 

[Ramcharger90]

watch “letgo” or craigslist for a hoist. I was occasionally looking and saw they were running about $200 for a 2-ton lift, new they seemed to be 3 to 4 hundred. The other day I saw one I had been watching drop from 150 to 100. And it came with a leveler ($40 value) and a extra hydraulic cylinder ( was only a 1 ton ram , but still a $50 value, and it works) the cylinder on the lift is rated at 8 ton. works well, the only bad part was it was in southrrn ohio. took the car and had to listen to all the loose parts rattle around for the 2 hour drive home. dont use a lift much, but very useful when I do need it.

Harbor freight...... my Pittsburgh pulled a 7.3 it was sketchy but it survived.