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Post by flhuntress on Dec 13, 2003 11:01:41 GMT -5
last nite while gettin' ice for my hog (story in hog forum-pics to come) my truck started to freak...pulled up to the store and it died.
some nice man told me i blew my engine (white smoke,oil, and water coming out of my exhaust)
my ? is do y'all think i blew the whole motor or just warped a head or something.
i need to figure out if it's time for a new truck or just get a new motor for mine.
mine's a 94 ranger (pd. in full) good condition but has a 149,000 miles on it.
finances are tight so i need good advice.
thanks guys.
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Post by RedOak on Dec 13, 2003 17:18:14 GMT -5
Deffinitly sounds like a blown head gasket or cracked or warped head.
If it is just the head gasket I would replace it. However with 150K miles on the motor I wouldn't go much further than that as it is probably getting close to rebuild time.
So you have options of having it rebuilt, buying a new motor or a used motor. Lets look at those options.
1. Having the motor rebuilt. This can be tricky. Do you know someone or a shop you can trust to do it right. There is no sense in forking out the cash to have a motor go belly up after 20K miles or so. Plus this can be expensive. It depends on what condition the parts are in and how much has to be done.
2. New motor. Their are two routes here. A new motor in a crate or a remanufatured motor. New ones are pretty steep. Especially since you will probably need a long block since it sounds like your head is fried. Remanufatured is not a bad route these are rebuilt by a company that specializes in such. Basically a new motor for less dollars. Not a bad route to go I have had a few of these.
3. Used motor. This is the cheapest route but naturally involves the most risk. There are two routes with this one as well. Buying a motor from a salvage yard or buying a wrecked vehicle and pulling its motor. The first way isnt bad if you can find one from a reputable salvage yard. The second can be the cheapest sometimes. If you can find a wreck and buy it you get the motor plus whatever parts you can sell. I have parted out stuff and got more than the whole thing was worth when it ran.
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Post by NitroHunter on Dec 13, 2003 20:10:35 GMT -5
Sounds like the head to me. RedOak gave some pretty good advice.
After buying a used head for my wifes car just to have it bust again after 6 months, I bought a rebuilt motor like RedOak mentioned with a 18 month unlimited milage warranty.
It seems to be doing good, I've drove the fire out of it and nothing has went wrong yet.
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Post by flyfisher18 on Dec 13, 2003 20:20:08 GMT -5
I gotta go with the others...If you're gonna get it fixed vs. getting a new one, go with the "new" rebuilt/remanufactured engine. They will have a good warranty like has been said before. Just get someone good to put 'er in for ya.
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Post by deerslayer11 on Dec 13, 2003 22:34:08 GMT -5
Im all about a junkyard motor, the 302 I have in my blue bronco I paid $65 for and put it in.
Im most cases you can get a crate cheaper than you have one rebuilt too. And personally I dont trust alot of people to do a rebuild for me.
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Post by Biggie on Dec 13, 2003 23:43:42 GMT -5
I'd be all about a new truck but thats just my 2 cents.
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Post by flhuntress on Dec 14, 2003 11:52:12 GMT -5
i'm not mechanically inclined whatsoever so y'all bare with me.... is cracking a head the same as blowing up the entire motor? another ?- seems as though it blew up cause there was no water in it....what's bothering me is that i had been keeping an eye on my gauges (even though i didn't the nite it blew  ) the truck had been in for an oil change a couple days before,it was looked at by my brother n law,and it went to sears for a new battery....i'd think that SOMEONE would have been bright enough to check the fluids...at least the place that did the oil change...they are suposed to check fluids. IF they did what could have happened to make allllllllllllll the water go away without anyone noticing? only problems i had been having was that the heater wasn't blowin' hot air and it'd stall a few minutes after it was started but only the first time of each day and then it'd be fine...that lasted about a week. any help would be greatly appreciated....GREATLY!!! |
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Post by RedOak on Dec 14, 2003 16:51:38 GMT -5
The heater not blowing hot air means no water is going through the heater core. This is a small radiator that the coolant passes through. A leaking heator core or sometimes radiator can drain the coolant without producing steam like a busted radiator hose will. If this is what did happen running hot like that can do lots of bad things. It can blow a head gasket or crack a head. It can produce lots of wear on the bearings in the motor. Like I said above with 150K on the motor I would go no farther than replacing a head gasket. The only way to tell if it JUST the gasket is pull the head. If the head is warped it may be salvaged by having a machine shop surface it. With the money you would have to put out just to see if you needed to spend more money and with an engine that is realisticly due for a rebuild if the rest of the truck was in decent shape I would be shopping around for another motor.
Just to clarify too blowed up can mean about anything, from a blown head gasket, dropped valve, to a broke rod sticking out of the block. Some are more spectacular than others and sometimes a motor can be blown and still run.
An important lesson from this is to never depend on someone else to check your fluids. If they dont and something needed doing who is going to be walking? Not them. If I have one of those oil change places do one of my vehicles I check behind them. I have had them not properly tighten drain plugs and even not put the cap back on the valve cover. Hey if hm gave you a riffle and put you in a stand I bet you would check the chamber.
Whatever route you go I would recomend getting a manual for whatever you have. Get one of the Hayne's ones that has lots of pictures. Start by doing simple stuff. While you may never get to the point where you can tear a motor down and put it back together you have a better knowledge of what is going on. There are plenty of mechanics out there that will try and pull a fast one on you.
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Post by flhuntress on Dec 15, 2003 1:19:22 GMT -5
thanks ro.....blue book is around 2400 (if i did it correctly) so we'll see about fixin' it and sellin' it....if we don't then we're either gonna give it to hm for her hubby to fix it or my youngest nephew....just depends how much money it's gonna need.
hopefully we'll find out soon.
kinda sad to see her go...she was my first truck and we've got alot huntin' memories together....guess all good things do have to come to an end.
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) the truck had been in for an oil change a couple days before,it was looked at by my brother n law,and it went to sears for a new battery....i'd think that SOMEONE would have been bright enough to check the fluids...at least the place that did the oil change...they are suposed to check fluids.