H4aardvrk@aol.com wrote:
> a cylinder head full of carbon, in a high milage engine, that took two
> weeks to get the head off of is not what I would call a minor hickup..
Well, the ACTUAL reason the engine was inspected
was because of oil coming from the dipstick, wasn't it?
From what I can tell from here, I don't see
overwhelming evidence that the bores are destroyed. I
would look elsewhere before getting the engine
rebuilt.
I would want to find the reason why the engine
was misbehaving before telling him to take it in. The
rebuild shop will ALWAYS find many things wrong
and insist on a rebuild, no reason the engine wouldn't
go five years as it is.
Besides, maybe it's a PCV problem or something, and
he'll get the engine back and still blow oil?
Diagnose. Don't just throw money at it.
> Oh well...have fun...spend it now and drive in confidence..spend it
> later
It's a never ending cycle. You spend it now, you will also
spend it later. You always spend.
Car repairs are like taxes, you never get away from them,
but you can defer.
If he rebuild it "now" and gets 5 years out of it, it'll
need it again in 5. If he can forestall it 2 years, then it
won't need it for another seven. Who knows, he might sell
it before then, or drop dead, or who knows.
It's not "spend now, or spend later". It's "spend now,
or don't spend now". Take the latter if you can.
Rebuilding is one of those jobs that doesn't follow
the rule "an ounce of prevention". Obviously, many
problems are best fixed right away because they will
get worse and more expensive. Engine rebuilds have a nasty
habit of costing the same no matter what, most
of the same stuff is changed, the same surfaces
are machined, and so on.
In two years from now, if he has to rebuild,
so what? Then he'll have spent the same money and
he'll have a 0 mile engine instead of a two year
old one.
> drive in confidence..spend it
> later,after a long walk and a good tow bill..
Worn out engines usually make giant oil clouds
eventually, which doesn't involve walking or
tow trucks.
Come on people, we can't turn every MG into a
"$20,000 invested" car, and browbeat everyone
who doesn't. You are insisting he is "foolishly
tempting fate" by driving a less than brand new
engine. Make sense, man.
--
Trevor Boicey, P. Eng.
Ottawa, Canada, tboicey@brit.ca
ICQ #17432933 http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
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