I was driving my brother's car on the way to Vegas and going up the hill, and suddenly smoke starting coming out of the hood. I pulled over and apparently a seal had burst and it was motor oil on the exhaust causing it to smoke. I had it towed and the little asian mechanic started the engine and it made a knocking sound. Without looking at it at all he immediately said the engine was shot and it needs another one. He quoted me a price of 1275 for a used engine and that included labor. He gave a 3k mile warranty, but could not give me the amount of miles the engine would have on it. He said that he would take a look at the engine that came in and he could tell if it was good or not. I don't feel this is enough assurance, what do you guys think?

 

anything on this? I need to call the mechanic back asap to let him know my decision

 

1275 sounds reasonable for a D series engine and labor. Assuming he's charging you for about 12 hours at $50/hour, plus $500-600 for the engine, plus tax, that seems about right, or even a little low from what most places would charge you.

Around here, everyone would tell you to buy an engine for $300 and swap it yourself, but not everyone is able to do that.

Did he say what caused it to blow? It's pretty rare for a stock Honda engine that's been taken care of to just blow up like that. Maybe oil pump I guess, but was it run low on oil?

 

Sounds like rod knock which means you already spun a bearing.

Really all you would need is a bottom end which is about $150 but the labor is usaully what gets you if you cant do it yourself.

Guys our here do swaps for like 4-500...but in your case its just finding a good condition bottom end and a shop that can just swap it out for you.

D16Z6 should be 4-500 for full swap plus labor and 500 labor plus tax is roughly what he is charging you so its not like he is raping you or anything. When my clutch went out in Palm Desert the Honda dealership wanted like 6-700 for LABOR to change just the clutch...my mechanic only charges $150 for the same job...

If he doesnt keep your motor its a good deal...you can part out your head and recoup some money.

 

1275 really doesnt sound to bad, but i can be done for less, if you know or your friends can do it.

 

I could do it if I had time but I have too much on my plate and don't have the time to do it. He said the engine costs about 700 and his labor is 500 then the rest is for gaskets. So my main concern on this is that I don't know how much mileage the engine would have. Should I buy an engine myself that I know how much mileage it has and have him install that one?

 

Where do you live, have someone local from HT help you do it for some beer. A D series motor shouldn't run more than $400 for one in excellent condition.

 

There really isnt any way to know for sure...its a Honda motor though so generally they last a LONG time when taken care.

As others have said it can be done cheaper but generally for someone who cant do it themselves and doesnt have mechanical friends....its gonna cost retail which for retail this isnt that bad at all really.

 

I wouldn't do it through him though. He should have known better than to start it up after it blew oil everywhere

 

where are you at?

 

I'm in Glendora...bout 20 miles away from downtown LA

 

is the car with you?

 

Na it's sitting in the parking lot of the mechanic waiting for my decision

 

offer beer and money in your regional forum for someone to help you swap it, should take like half a day if they know what theyre doing

 

MAN ILL FIND YOU A D SERIES ENGINE FOR LIKE 400 AND ILL PIT IT IN FOR 300 AND A 6 PACK LET MEKNOW