Rep Power: 0

Whats going on people? Yep you read correctly, originally my motor got flooded in a flash flood back in April. The car bent a rod and blew the valves. My mechanic (which is now under my he sucks category) swapped my motor with one from an 02 with 60k miles and "rebuilt" the engine, so he says.

Any who, everything was good, no check engine lights or anything, just 4days ago I started hearing a tick, (not a knock) at about 3500 rpm sounded like a valve so I took it back and he tells me he can fix it over the weekend, (which would be this weekend) so I was on my way. I figured I wouldn't push the car too hard. Oil is always checked and no burning or leaking was going on.

Well on Wednesday I was driving to work no prob and then started hearing the noise a little louder. I figured it wasn't good as it got worse, temp started going up so I started to pull over and YUP, I believe it blew, since it sounded like it seized and started smoking, left my *** out on the highway. Popped the hood and there was oil in the bay and on the bottom frame of the car. Not looking good man. I towed it to the shop and the dude that worked on it isnt there, so I don't want anyone working on the car, until he gets back. I have to go back tomorrow to see what he has to say.

This really sucks, I didnt put any funds on the side since I didnt really think this was going to happen. My money situation is tight so can't blow it on the car at the moment. If the mechanic insist on charging me again, I really don't want to deal with him. So wanted an opinion. Do you think selling the car as is would be a good idea? Or should I just put it away in a garage til I get the funds up?

Thanks for reading and your opinions.

 
Rep Power: 304

i say if worse comes to worse, put it away til you have the funds to fix it. since our motors are so cheap, it wouldnt be worth it to sell the car. thats just my opinion.

 
Rep Power: 229

How would you get around with no car? IMO...get the car fixed. No point in selling it.

 
Rep Power: 424

"Rebuilt" engines tend to have warranties. Sounds like the motor spun a bearing.
If this was done reciently, then I'd make them fix it. You didn't source the motor, they did, and who ever sold it as "rebuilt" should cover the replacement.

 
Rep Power: 281

Keep it in the garage until you get the funds. D17 engines are not crazy money if you need to buy a new one. You're mechanic seems sketchy though but perhaps that motor you swapped in was not a healthy one to begin with. I'm sorry to hear about your problems though. We have all had some catastrophe at one point or another.

 
Rep Power: 0

New engine about 700 bucks

 
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You all made valid points.
Da1lyDr1ver, Boilermaker1 and ronaldo9 I think I'm going to go with what you said. Garage it and get the funds together.

miami_em2, no other car at this moment. So guess I'll be hitching a ride or public transportation for now, yea I know, sucks.

 
Rep Power: 331

i vote for keeping the car until you can scrap up the money for a new low milage used D.

 
Rep Power: 328

Keep it and fix it. There are always D's for sale on here.
May even be time for a swap. Just a suggestion.

 
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I'll start searching for a used one. If the mechanic wants to be a dick, I'll do my best to get part of the money back. I'll have someone else do the build for me.
Thanks guys, hope I get it going before winter hits.

 
Rep Power: 811

tell them to fix it, then sell the car and get something else.

 
Rep Power: 321

have them fix it

 
Rep Power: 229

Yea. I say make them fix it. They got the motor. I man it should have some type of warranty or something. I've seen D's on ebay for $250-$700 w/out shipping. Just gotta search. Good luck with it

 
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i say make em fix it. how long has it been since they did the install, im sure theres at least a few thousand mile warranty on it at the LEAST. to cover work anyway.

 
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Thats true, it was done in May, so it ran good for 4 months. I'm headed to the shop tomorrow. I just called and they said he'll be in. Wish me luck, hopefully he won't be a ***** about it. If so, he'll be losing a lot of business, cuz I'll make a big deal about it.

 
Rep Power: 424

Figure out what happened first. If you have the ability to get the car home and into a garage, drop the oil pan, see whats in it. If there's metallic stuff in it, take the pump pickup and main girdle off and take a look at the crank and bearings. If you spun one and it damaged the crank badly, junk the motor. If it spun a bearing and didnt do too much damage, you might be able to rebuild it.

You can find D17s in the $300 range, they're cheap as hell.

 
Rep Power: 0

Thanks for the info Boilermaker1, my neighbor does a lot of engine work, currently doing a custom turbo install on an accord. He said, if the mechanic doesn't do it, he'll take a look at it, and if needed he'll help me locate a used motor between $275-$500, and put it together for me. Talk about luck..lol, I'll let you guys know what happens. Lets say I need to get another motor, I have an LX, can I drop in an EX? If so, would I just need the EX ecu?
Thanks for the info. Im starting to feel better already.

 
Rep Power: 811

yeah just need ex ecu and make sure the new motor has the vtec solenoid and you have to run a wire from the solenoid to the ecu for vtec to work since lx does not have the harness wire. also you need the key that goes with the new ecu, or else honda needs to reprogram your old one (meaning car must be towed to dealer).

 
Rep Power: 424

You'd just need the ECU and preferrably a full harness for it. If not, then you can just pin VTEC in.
I have an 01-03 EX ECU if you need it.
If it just turns out that you trashed a rod or something, I've got a set of pistons and rods too.

 
Rep Power: 229

you've got everything boiler....lol

 
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ok I'll be sure to let you know if those parts are needed I'll get back to you about them. Thanks a lot.

 
Rep Power: 424

I only have about half of a car in extra parts. I'm trying to get rid of it so I can buy another whole car.

 
Rep Power: 229

Like what parts........

 
Rep Power: 424

Click sig link

 
Rep Power: 272

That happened the same way to me. =(
that sucks mang I'd beat his *** lol

 
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I got an update yesterday. The rod is bent and piston needs to be changed. He will start working on it on Monday. Said he will check everything else and get it fixed. So far he didnt mention anything about charging me, I reminded him that he did the rebuild, so don't see why I would need to pay again. If he did it right the first time, I would not be having this problem.
If I had extra cash I'd build it up in hopes to boost later. But thats not top priority for me right now. Wish me luck..

 
Rep Power: 0

I got the results today. Mechanic said motor is gone, he said it cant be rebuilt. He asked if I wanted him to order another motor. I said fukc no, I'll find one myself and work with my neighbor on dropping it in. I'll finally get a chance to work along side and become more familiar.
How much I wish I had k20 funds, I'd do it in a heart beat. Since I'll be swapping the motor, I think I'll be looking for an ex motor. Wish me luck, I'll post some updates when I get started.

 
Rep Power: 811

good luck try and find a cheap ex motor on ebay, they cant be more than $600 max.

 
Rep Power: 0

Thanks, I'm still in the process and I think I found one source which is 2hrs away. I'll be calling them later today. I'll keep searching.

 
Rep Power: 0

Just out of sheer curiousity- why aren't you asking for your money back or for him to cover the cost of your rebuild?

Every mechanic I've ever gone to that has done a rebuild has been pretty good with saying that if anything goes wrong within x miles or x months, they'd fix it for free. I'd at least make him cover the cost of the replacement motor.