Take the engine out and rebuild it.

 

The cab companies around here typically buy Dodge Caravans with just over 100k miles on them for not much over $2k at auctions and put another 300k miles on them. The last cab ride from the airport, the driver told me that his last cab just died at 440k miles. So, a minivan is a real option. Families typically don't want them with over 100k miles so they go cheap.

 

I agree with mart. Even if you have to finance the cost of a rebuild (by a well known and well respected shop), you will end up with a better vehicle than buying another used truck. If you like the truck and the body and interior are in good shape, go for it.

 

We put one in my dad's Ford Many years ago. No problems but expensive and with today's engine's you're going to have to make sure that EVERY sensor and emissions and fuel systems component is the right one or something won't play. And if you're in state that requires emissions testing that could be fatal. It's not impossible to keep everything straight but will take a lot of attention to detail. What would a Re-man engine cost you? What would it cost to have you engine repaired OR completely rebuilt? It's sure any of those would be cheaper than buying another truck and I guarantee that if you buy another truck you're going to inherit other problems. Even if you buy a new one, you'll probably sink a bunch of money into to get it the way that you want. If your truck is GTG otherwise, I'd just repair it and keep it. It sounds like you have a case of New Car Fever. But you need to resist IMO.

I would NOT go with a used engine unless you can get it for a song. Too much trouble getting all the right sensors and related **** and there's too big a chance that it will have problems too. If not now then soon. Better to spend the money to fix or rebuild your own engine. At least you know that it is correct for your vehicle (and it's computer.)

IMO you shouldn't wait very long, your engine could give up at any time and then you could be forced to do something that you can't afford! Also you could be looking at a lot more expensive repair if you leave it and it does more damage.

 

We did it in a buddy's 427 Chevy once. He had a GOOD ear and heard it and we caught it early. Other bearings looked fine so we just replaced the one. In and out in one afternoon. It all depends of if the crank journal is damaged. If it is then you need to pull the crankshaft and have it turned. Pulling the crank may require pulling the engine. You SHOULD also look at other rod bearings while you're there. Unless something unusual happened to the one, then others probably are about ready to go as well. It's not much harder to replace all of them than it is to replace one and they come in sets anyway.

I don't know if you can drop the oil pan and get to the bearings with the engine still in your truck or not. Someone with more experience on that model should know.

What does your mechanic say?????


You shouldn't need to take you engine to a "machine shop" unless there's something BROKEN in it or you want to modify it. Any competent mechanic should be able to take it apart and replace the worn parts.

 

Rebuild it yourself and post the journey here. That way you can ask questions. Other than a machine shop charge for machining parts you can't do yourself and maybe renting the engine hoist and such the learning experience would be really cool.

 

I consider 150k as low mileage. You can blame high prices partly on cash for clunkers.

 

X2. If you don't have another car, spend $1000 and buy a clunker. Rebuild your engine for less than a grand if nothing major is wrong. Sell clunker when finished. Profit!

How long it will take will largely depend if have to pull the engine. For a full rebuild, pulling the engine might be required. Even if it's not required it might be easier. Again you need to talk to someone that's worked on these and find if the rod bearings can be replaced with the engine in the truck. Probably need to do that before deciding anything else. If you HAVE to pull the engine then it would probably be worthwhile to replace all bearings, rings and gaskets and anything else that's excessively worn. There are plenty of good books that will tell you what to do in general but DO buy a FACTORY SERVICE MANUAL (ebay has them); Haynes, Chilton, etc are CRAP! A lot of rebuilding an engine is just simple labor; taking apart, cleaning, measuring and inspecting, more cleaning, put back together with new needed parts, torque fasteners, attach sensors and accessories, more cleaning and reinstall and clean again (it's a messy business!). Time consuming but not rocket science.

PS I bought BOTH an engine puller and an engine stand for $75 from Craigslist. My parts washer came from a garage sale for $20. HF has very decent hand tools cheap. My US Made, Mil spec, Calibrated torque wrenches came from a government contractor via E-bay for $9.95 each! Local seller so I picked up in person and didn't even have to pay shipping.

 

There's always a STRONG demand for trucks. NICE new ones are approaching $60,000! Stripped entry level trucks are about $25,000. Trucks for the most part just seem to hold up better and last longer than cars AND for woods, off-road and farm use, even an old and ugly beat up one is perfectly useable. Consequently there's a lot more demand for used trucks than there is for used cars.

 

You could just take it to a shop that has a good rep and tell them to fix it. You'll have it back pdq and hopefully you will have a reliable truck. Engine payments are less than truck payments.

 

Thanks to everyone for the advice and ideas. It is really helping me narrow down my decision. Hopefully others can benefit from the comments and ideas as well.

I called a few more salvage yards and found some more reasonable prices. Also a good site:

Car-part.com

I think i can find a reasonable used engine for around $600 - $700 with approximately 100k miles. That works for me.

THE PLAN:
Before i buy anything, i am going to yank my engine out and closely examine the lower end to see if it is repairable. If so, repair and throw back in truck.

If not repairable, purchase a reasonable used engine, replace the lower intake and timing cover gaskets for good measure, then install in truck.

Are there any threads relating to what engine years are interchangeable for a 1997 4.2l? Some salvage yards said 1997-2000, while others said only 1997 and 1998 are interchangeable.

 

Back in 1968, my buddy bought a modified 55 chevy from a used car lot cheap. It had a wildly hopped up 283 V8. The reason he got it cheap was that it had a main bearing knock. He pulled the engine, put in a reground crank $25 and new bearings and reinstalled it. Worked great! It had a 4 speed manual and he shifted that thing at 7k rpm. Until he loaned it to a "friend" one weekend. It had a different knock afterwards. He pulled the engine again and found the crankshaft was cracked. Another reground crank and bearings and he was back in business again.

My point is that if your engine was in good shape except for the bearing knock, crank resurfacing and new bearings may be enough to last a long time. A machine shop will most likely want to rebuild the rod too.

 

With the crazy stuff that the factory have to add or change to make the engine pass emissions, it's likely that NONE of the engines are fully interchangeable unless it's an IDENTICAL model and built in the same factory and at CLOSE to the same time! When I say interchangeable that includes being able to pass emissions testing if you're in one those **** states! Frequently there are slightly different engines depending on if you have A/C or a manual or an automatic transmission, etc etc. I just bought an alternator for a Cadillac and I found that they use very different alternators depending on the type heater in them! I used to buy a LOT of engines, trannys and other parts from junk yards and I can tell you from experience that most of what they sell to individuals is CRAP! Don't believe me? Go ask for a money back guarantee and see what they say!

 

I would imagine that if the block part #'s are the same he could transplant all his sensors and components over to the new block and leave these issues behind?

 

I'm no 4.2 expert, but yes, generally all that stuff can be swapped over.

I have replaced the rod and crank bearings in the V10 in my F150 while the engine was in the truck.

The reason I had to do so was because I dented the oil pan and ran the engine with no oil pressure thinking it was an unplugged sensor since I had just replaced the transmission.