FrankU
Full Access Member
Congrats on your find ! Post up a few pics when your done.
let dead dogs lie.
let dead dogs lie.
Don't always trust your mechanic, fixed my "blown" engine for $7.
- Thread starter 73TA
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Sorry to say, but that engine is not fine. That fouled plug is not normal wear and tear, that thing has some serious oil consumption. It will do it again. Not next week but it will do it again. I’ve seen many plugs with 200k+ miles on them that don’t look like that. If you’re fine to just put new plugs in it every time it fouls and keep it full of oil then it’ll probably keep driving for another 100k miles. But from a customer stand point who knows nothing about cars, that won’t do.
Most people on this forum don’t understand what it’s like to be a shop. If they would have “fixed it” with a new spark plug that would have just been kicking the can down the road. At 200k, from a shop standpoint to guarantee the repair that truck needs an engine. When you band aid something yourself, you know what you’ve done and can only get mad at yourself if it goes wrong. If a shop does it the customer comes back and demands it for free.
Most people on this forum don’t understand what it’s like to be a shop. If they would have “fixed it” with a new spark plug that would have just been kicking the can down the road. At 200k, from a shop standpoint to guarantee the repair that truck needs an engine. When you band aid something yourself, you know what you’ve done and can only get mad at yourself if it goes wrong. If a shop does it the customer comes back and demands it for free.
While I agree with this and said the same about the oil fouled plug earlier in the thread, I believe she was told she needs an engine for a complete and thorough fix that they could stand behind with a warranty and I would bet she was not given other options. They may have given options like valve job or re-ring the engine or both but those options are also very expensive and don't address the age and mileage as well as a new engine would with a longer warranty. Maybe the shop did give options but in her mind she heard, "needs an engine" and only remembered/thought of that. If I was running that shop, she would have been given the option of a compression test, wet and dry, and cylinder leak down test and then given the options I just mentioned. I would have also told her that as we disassemble for whatever repair she decides on, that the ancillary items removed for access would be inspected and replaced as needed. Items like, water pump, egr valve, plug wires, coils.....etc.
iamdub
Full Access Member
BlaineBug
Full Access Member
It's possible that a shop can give the customer the options. They could say hey, this isn't normal, but a new fuse and a new spark plug will have you up and running for a certain amount of time, could be awhile, could not, but at least she'd have a vehicle to drive rather than nothing at all.
It's the same way with HVAC technicians or any other repair guy. Some only want to sell you brand new equipment but others will give you honest options to get you by so as long as it's safe and isn't spewing carbon monoxide into your home.
4-5 years ago I would do brake jobs and oil changes out of my garage for side moneys, advertised on Craigslist and Facebook. A guy I did an oil change for called me a few months later about a noisy blower motor in his Lexus. I showed him that it was full of paper since it was open to the glovebox, removed it all and it was silent. He ended up seeing a car I was selling later that year, called me up and bought it, and his words were "you're honest so I can trust what you're selling here." Of course I'm not a shop so I don't have the huge liability nor overhead costs that they do, but I don't think that stops a shop from NOT warranting a repair so as long as the customer signs off on it, knowing that this may or may not be a temporary fix to get them by. We're not talking about patching brake lines with compression couplings here. It's unlikely replacing spark plugs has the potential to kill anyone even if they were to get fouled up again in 10,000 miles or more.
To me, telling someone they need a new engine when they don't right away either sounds like tech incompetence or a larger scam. I highly doubt the woman would pay a shop the thousands required to put a motor in an older vehicle anyway so I'm not quite sure if scamming her was their prerogative. Perhaps just a lazy or incompetent technician?
Not everyone is Eric O. from South Main Auto with their severe in-depth diagnostics and analysis.
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Sure but we have no idea what actually transpired between the shop and customer because we weren’t there. Maybe they gave her options but maybe they didn’t. It happens lot just as PNW said, they hear engine and stop listening. Many people are just looking for any problem to get rid of a vehicle after 100k miles so certainly not many are going to spend much money on a 200k mile vehicle. Especially if they don’t understand cars and have no clue what they’re being told.
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BlaineBug
Full Access Member
Could be. Maybe it just has dirty valves that need a big cleaning? Common with direct injection especially with DOD/AFM isn't it? LegitStreetCars just did a tutorial about a quick valve cleaning on his Wife's 2015 Escalade.
BlaineBug
Full Access Member
Got it.
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