check out my blown engine

[pabloconrad]

Looks like a piston laying sideways. Hmmm.

Dealer recourse is hard to get. You have to prove fault by the dealer. That would mean a complete tear down to diagnose the problem by several independant mechanics and show dealer fault.

It may just be cheaper to get another engine, rebuild it and toss it in.

Wow. Had one of those on an old Nova with a 350. They suck, thrown rods, I mean.

 

[highhilleer]

When I taught at ASU, I had bad experience w/ Earnhart. Took my Dakota all the way across town for dealer service items under warranty. For work that I was paying for I always used Salem Brothers, pricey but HONEST.
I like the idea of hooking up with someone from a local XJ group.
Good luck.

 

[xjfrancis]

Well my parents are stepping in and they want to replace it with another stock engine. They want this problem to get fixed as fast as possible and don't want me to put anything in that will change the performance specs too much because it will put unwanted stress on the transmission and such. So I guess that narrows my options. No stroker or anything. I don't really know what I'm going to do now. Since mom and dad are going to be paying for it, I guess a 4.0 swap won't be too bad, it gets me back on my feet. it is a disappointment that they don't see things my way though(or the offroader's way). Wasted opportunity.

 

[Dr. Dyno]

Not necessarily. Get another stock 4.0 so that you're up and running again, and keep the old engine to use as a core for a stroker build-up later on. Throw away the parts that are trashed and keep the good ones. As you work and save some money, you can gradually buy the parts for a stroker as your budget allows.

 

[burntkat]

It is just frustrating to know that I took it in and they put some sh!t in my car that I probably didn't need and didn't fix the problem and if they knew what they were doing I might have been able to prevent this mess.

"if they knew what they were doing...."

if you knew what you were doing, you could have easily replaced the tstat and hoses. Would you then have blamed yourself for the blown engine when it blew anyway?

Sorry-- there's NOTHING they could have done in such a case, to make the engine blow. It's simply bad timing- bad luck. Excrement occurs, see.

 

[xjcrawlr]

Absolute Offroad, 27 Ave/ Indian School Rd., 602-248-8949.
Tell Joe that Jason L told ya to call him, you wont be disapointed.

 

[Spudboy]

I feel a sudden drop in IQ around here........

I resemble that remark. :dunce: Not one of my brighter moments, especially considering the years I wrenched for a living. For most of that time, I was convinced that it was the ubiquitous piston slap that the early '90s engines are famous for. Nothing to get too excited about. Oil was clean and did not sound like a rod knock. The last 50-100 miles (two days) before it blew, my son was driving it while we did a clutch job in his truck. I noticed it was seriously hammering when he drove away from the house that afternoon. I concluded that the damage was done at that point so I let him go - he got about 6 miles.

I can still be somewhat philosophical about the whole episode. I bought the rig at a bargain basement price knowing that the engine was marginal and I would need to work on it eventually. Pressing my luck, I got 10K out of it and ultimately ended up finding a low mile engine for less than the cost of parts for a proper rebuild. So I had to do what I expected to do anyway, just not on a convenient time schedule.

 

[xjfrancis]

Absolute Offroad, 27 Ave/ Indian School Rd., 602-248-8949.
Tell Joe that Jason L told ya to call him, you wont be disapointed.

I just talked to him and he said he typically doesn't do engine or transmission replacement, but thanks anyway.
Craig

 

[xjfrancis]

"if they knew what they were doing...."

if you knew what you were doing, you could have easily replaced the tstat and hoses. Would you then have blamed yourself for the blown engine when it blew anyway?

Sorry-- there's NOTHING they could have done in such a case, to make the engine blow. It's simply bad timing- bad luck. Excrement occurs, see.

I'm sorry I retract that statement. When I wrote that I was still a little upset over the whole thing and was acting on emotion.

It is a little hard to replace a tstat and hoses when you have no tools and no place to install them (college). I guess it would have been better to not take it in at all, then I wouldn't have droped all the cash on a trashed engine.