Wife called me and told me the Truck was smoking. Since it had oil leaks from the valve covers and I just changed the oil, I figured that it was just oil that blew onto the manifolds.

She later called me and said that the engine light and overheating light was on. You guessed it, it was really steam and not smoke. Told her to turn the heat all the way up and drive to the nearst service station. Before she could get there, it died and I had to have it towed to the shop.

They called me and told me the cylinder sleeves were lilfted and would need a new engine.

A $7500 repair for a truck that even though it is a loaded and very good looking truck, could only fetch $13,000 on a good day. Only gonna get $7000 on a trade in. In the end, even with a new engine, it is a truck with 128,000 miles on it.

Questions.

Should I sell it as is, and if so, who would buy it.
Should I part it out. The rims, factory DVD, seats and so on should be worth something.
Should I fot the bill on the engine, risk anything else going bad, and take a risk on selling it for anything more than $13000?

Any ideas?

 

The 'turn on the heater' trick doesn't work with aluminum engines. Once the light comes on you have to pull over immediately. No way would a '03 bring 13K in this market, even if it the VIN is outside the bad oil pump range..they all just have a bad rep. '04s, the best DII, are going for under 10k. If you're not able to do an engine swap yourself I say part it out.

 

$7500 for an engine? that seems too high.

 

I have said this before concerning values of '03s and '04s...I don't know what part of the country that you guys are in that see these trucks sell for under $ 10k , but here in the midwest, these trucks sell for an average of $12-$15k.

just my 2 cents.

-aaron
2003 SE7 99,000 miles

 

Thanks for all the replies. Anyone have an idea on who to sell it as is?

Appreciate any suggestions.

 

if it were me,,,

i would buy a used engine and swap that in place.

i love my 04 and the cost of replacing an engine with a used or rebuiilt is way under the hassle limit vs. buying a new rig or parting a truck for cash.



and in seattle 03's go for about 9-10k

04's go for 11 for a S. 12k for a SE and 14 for a HSE. that is PP or small dealer. LR dealers ask as much as 18k

 

check around at local wrecking yards or try car-parts.com You can get an 04 complete engine, with secondary air, 62k miles, for under $3000. Probably another $1000 for install and misc. parts. Here in So Cal it seems that 03 models are available all day long for as little as $7000 to $9000. Leaves you in a bit of a quandry, fix or don't fix. If you fix your's at least you know what you have, or don't have. You'd also save on registration and sales tax over buying another one. Which on an $8000 truck would cost you at least $1000. Phil

 

If you still owe on it you must fix it because you will never sell it for what you still owe and you will be making payments on something that you no longer own.
Selling it as is you will only get 2,000 at best.
I agree, buy a used engine out of a wrecked one.
www.roverlandparts.com
www.autosportsunlimited.com
www.car-part.com

 

I might try just replacing the engine myself.

It can't be that much harder than rebuilding and moding dirt bikes.

Is there any special tools I would need?

 

a digital camera, take lots of pics that way you can see how to hook everything back up.